How to get pet hair out of your apartment
As a pet owner, you know shedding is a fact of life. Pet hair gets everywhere: on your clothes, your furniture, and, of course, your floor. But at some point, there comes a time when it needs to be cleaned up. Despite its ubiquity in your apartment, pet hair can be cleaned up fairly easily, especially with these simple tricks.
Furniture.
If you let Fido or Fifi on your couch, chances are good that he or she has left behind more than a few pet hairs. When the light hits upholstered furniture, the unsightly hair becomes obvious, which is not a good look. Moreover, if you’re entertaining guests, you don’t want to suffer the embarrassment of having them sit in a pile of dog or cat fur!
Fur on the sofa or easy chair can be removed easily with a simple textured rubber glove, the kind you would normally use for washing dishes. By running your gloved hand over the surface of the furniture in a circular motion, you pull up the pet hair and simultaneously roll it into twine-like fibers, which can be cleaned up without much fuss. Alternatively, you can lightly spray a simple mixture of water and fabric softener onto the upholstered surfaces and wipe off. A vacuum attachment designed for pet fur can also make quick work of the task.
For hard furniture, particularly those made out of wood, you can use anti-static dusting spray with a soft cloth to remove pet hair. This combination keeps things looking neat and won’t destroy your furniture.
Carpet.
Cleaning pet hair from carpet might seem simple enough, but even a thorough vacuuming can leave stubborn strands embedded in the fibers. Similar to the rubber glove method for furniture, rubbing a pumice stone gently over your carpet can loosen and gather pesky pieces of hair. Another great way to eliminate carpet-ingrained hair is to take a clean kitchen sponge mop and lightly spray it with water. Running the damp mop over the carpet will do a deep clean of sorts and collect anything vacuuming may have failed to pick up. And speaking of vacuuming, be sure to remove stubborn hairs by going over each area of your carpet twice with your vacuum, alternating directions each time.
Hard floors.
Have you ever tried vacuuming the pet hair off of your hard floor? If you have, you might have discovered that the vacuum does not pick up your pet’s hair so much as merely blow it around. Instead, try using an electrostatic dry mop. It is designed to pick up what vacuums can’t, without using any solutions or sprays.
Clothes.
You may be so used to pet hair by now that you don’t even notice it when it’s all over your clothes. But a simple lint roller is a great way to remove it if you do. Keeping one next to your keys can help you regularly leave your apartment without pet hair as part of your outfit. If you need to rid your clothes of hair en masse, drying your clothes with a dryer sheet or a dryer ball loosens up the hair and lands it in the lint collector.
Groom your pet regularly.
Let’s get to the source of the problem: your pet! While most pets with fur do some amount of shedding as part of their natural processes, you can keep it under control. Regular brushing and washing of your pet proactively removes excess hair, and keeps it out of the rest of your living space. Be sure to check with your veterinarian first to understand how and when to groom your pet.
How to Remove Pet Hair Everywhere [Apartment Therapy]
The Best Way to De-hair Your Couch [Thrifty and Chic]
How to Clean Pet Hair from Carpet [How to Clean Stuff]
Excessive Shedding in Dogs [WebMD]