If it seems like pet hair is everywhere you turn lately, it may not be your imagination! Both dogs and cats can go through a period of heavy shedding in the spring, due to warmer temperatures signaling that it’s time to lose their warm winter coat.
And since we’re all spending more time at home these days, the evidence of spring shedding is impossible to ignore! But the good news is that in today’s blog post, I’ll be sharing some brilliant pet hair hacks that will help you clean up all that hair as quickly and easily as possible.
But before we get to those, I want to share a few tips about prevention. Mom always said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and that’s definitely the case when it comes to pet hair! These simple tips will help you minimize shedding and prevent a full-on pet hair invasion!
2 Simple Tips For Minimizing Pet Shedding
Tip #1 – Check Your Pet’s Food
If your pet seems to shed heavily outside of the usual spring and fall shedding periods, your pet’s food may be to blame. Dogs and cats who eat high-quality food that is rich in vitamins and minerals shed less than pets who don’t.
For the best advice on what foods and/or supplements to feed your pet, consult your veterinarian.
Tip #2 – Brush Your Pet Regularly
In addition to feeding them a healthy diet, you should also be brushing your pet regularly (at least once a week) with a deshedding brush. Regular brushing helps remove loose hair, promotes healthy circulation, and is good for their skin and coat!
When brushing your pet, use a good deshedding brush that can reach your pet’s undercoat. Many pet owners swear by Furminator brand deshedding brushes, but they can be a bit pricey (around $30 for most brushes.) DakPets makes a very similar deshedding brush for half the price, and has rave reviews on Amazon!
So now that we’ve covered the two important pieces of the prevention puzzle, let’s talk pet hair solutions! Here are 7 clever pet hair hacks you can use around the house.
7 Brilliant Pet Hair Hacks Every Pet Owner Should Know
1. Duct Tape
To clean up a lot of pet hair spread over a large area, all you need is some duct tape and a paint roller! Wrap a long piece of duct tape around the roller so that the sticky side faces out.
Your extra sticky DIY lint roller will pick up much more of your pet’s hair than the average lint roller! Get more details here.
2. Dryer Sheets
Dryer sheets make a surprisingly effective tool for picking up pet hair on solid surfaces. Use a dryer sheet to pick up pet hair from baseboards and furniture.
For pet hair on hard floors, attach a dryer sheet to a Swiffer sweeper and you’ll have it cleaned up in no time!
3. Dryer
Have clothes, blankets, or pillows that are covered in pet hair? Toss them in your dryer for 5-10 minutes! The spinning action and airflow in your dryer will remove the majority of the hair and collect it in the lint trap.
To remove the remaining hair, use a lint roller or wash the item in your washing machine.
More Ideas You'll Love
4. Squeegee
If you have a squeegee at home for cleaning shower doors or windows, you can also use it to clean up pet hair! A squeegee works great for removing pet hair from both carpet and upholstery.
5. Rubber Glove
Pull on one of your rubber gloves for cleaning, then swipe your hand over hair-covered surfaces to collect the hair. You can make a rubber glove even more effective against pet hair by adding lines and dots of hot glue to the palm of the glove.
6. Pumice Stone
Certain surfaces are particularly tricky to remove pet hair from, including car upholstery. In these cases, a pumice stone may be your best bet! Rub the pumice stone lightly over the area to remove those stubborn hairs.
7. Reusable Lint Roller
With two dogs in the house, we desperately needed to step up our pet hair removal game! After reading many positive reviews, my son Kell bought a ChomChom Roller on Amazon that ended up working like a charm!
It’s sort of like a hybrid between a lint roller and a lint brush, and it’s very easy to use. My favorite thing about it is that it doesn’t produce any waste—just empty the hair out of the receptacle and it’s ready to use again!
Do you have any go-to pet hair hacks?
I love my Chom Chom lint roller for pet hair! Love it, love it, love it! I have a number of other tools, also, but love the Chom Chom the most!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.The Lily Brush has a few great tools for getting pet hair off anything; clothing, furniture, carpeting. The best one looks like a thick plastic credit card with rubber edges, and it is the best hair removal product out there, in my opinion. Auto detailers have been using the Lily Brush for years, to get out every last dog hair from our car seats and floor mats. Kurgo also makes a good pet hair removal brush; very odd looking, but very effective!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.That furmintor brush has such short teeth I know it wouldn’t work for a dog with a coat like my Bernedoodle’s. We use this brush. https://www.amazon.ca/Maxpower-Planet-Pet-Grooming-Tool/dp/B07P2N8HQH/ref=pd_day0fbt_sccl_1/139-7382959-9388928?pd_rd_w=LOnqX&pf_rd_p=acc65436-fc4e-45ed-98e6-1cea96557795&pf_rd_r=ZTX2G1WHB83WCPYDMHZR&pd_rd_r=db22def6-6902-4320-b6b0-a81808122eb6&pd_rd_wg=uJayl&pd_rd_i=B07P2N8HQH&psc=1 Any undercoat rake is better for long coated dogs.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use my stick vacuum as a hand-vac on our bed to vacuum our comforter and sheets (if needed) and it works great. Then I toss my linens in the dryer with wool dryer balls. This removes nearly all the cat hair. I can see a huge difference in my lint filter if I don’t do this. For the floor and rugs – my Roomba and stick vacuum. It’s a good thing our pet are so much fun – we wouldn’t go through this if not:)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.he usado la técnica del guante de goma y el resultado es increíble, mi gata le gusta acurrucarse en el sillon y lo deja lleno de pelos
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Our bunny sheds like crazy and it’s getting everywhere! We are definitely hyped about that rubber glove trick. Allergies are hitting especially hard this spring without being able to get out of the house. We’re glad that carpet cleaning crews are still around if there’s an accident, but boy do we need some help with all the fur. Thanks for sharing.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.A rubber broom and handheld rubber brush work well for us.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.A rubber broom and handheld rubber brush also work well for us. I found ours on Amazon and they were very inexpensive.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use Norwex! The microfiber picks up everything. No more paper towels waste and no toxic chemicals! Check it out on my facebook page or email me.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I use a damp (not wet, just damp) washcloth or tea towel to clean pet hair off furniture and clothes and it works great. Terry cloth fabric helps grab the hair, but any cloth will work in a pinch.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have a ChomChom and it is the next best thing since sliced bread! Cleaning cat hair off my bedspread use to take 20 minutes with the brush attachment of my vacuum and was such a pain – now it’s done in less than 5!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Oh, me too!!! It’s super-great on bedspreads or comforters.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Crocs! I was sitting talking on the phone and saw that my dark blue Persian rug had a light coating of white cat fur. I rubbed my Croc (shoe) across the patch and it instantly clumped into a strand I could pick up! All my rugs get the Croc treatment now after the Dyson “Animal” vacuum picks up the majority of fur. Plus it’s good leg exercise!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Wow! What a great tip! Thanks for sharing this… and you get a bonus of getting extra steps. :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.You. Are. My. Hero!!!!! This article caught my eye because I could see the hair-covered chair that is a favorite kitty napping area. Kicked off the Croc on my foot, rubbed it over the chair and >poof< all balled up and ready to toss!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hair salons use a machine to suction in hair. It works well for her dog hair also.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.My sis has a suction machine , like used in hair salons to sweep up hair.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have upholstery seats in my car and use a microfiber cloth to gather the pet hair. Works great and I have a 127 pound Newfoundland!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.thanks, Jillee!
Thanks for this additional tip. I bet your dog is beautiful!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I also have the same question — how to get fur off of my slacks since washing them doesn’t. I can’t put them in the dryer for long since they need to be line dried. I have a front-loading washer, which is probably most of the problem since it uses so little water. A while back, I read one of your follower’s comments from a different post; she suggested using a certain type of bath sponge(??) and putting it in the washer. I wasn’t clear on what she was suggesting, so I tried one of the mesh poofs that one uses with shower gel, but it didn’t work at all. Any suggestions on what to use for a front loading washer, so I don’t have to de-fur each pair of pants individually? Thank you so much! I enjoy your posts!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Here is a great article that I found that should answer your question. Hope this helps!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.How to Remove Unwanted Pet Hair from Laundry
I think the ‘fur zapper” may be what you are looking for.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.great
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Any suggestions for getting hair off in the laundry? My daughter has 2 long haired dogs, and even the clean towels still have hair on them. She also uses the wool balls.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.How to Remove Unwanted Pet Hair from Laundry
Please log in or create a free account to comment.For 14 glorious years I had a long-haired cat who insisted on being indoor/outdoor. After a few years of ticks along with tons of shedding every summer, I got him shaved every spring. Huge difference in the shedding problem as he couldn’t shed what he didn’t have. The tick problem almost completely stopped. He hated the shaving appointment but we got along much better.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.They still shed. It is just shorter and less noticeable
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Roomba!! It works overtime picking up pet hair & dirt from floors. It’s not as thorough as my full size vacuum cleaner, but it works — the proof is in the dirt bin!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have two LARGE, FLUFFY dogs in my house, and Rebecca, our Roomba is a lifesaver! Second best addition to the household – after the doggos!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.We plan to get one of those once we’re in our “furrever” home…our two cats alone create enough dust bunnies to keep our vacuum cleaner hopping.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Please make your print option.. to ask..
Please log in or create a free account to comment.1. w/ photos
2. w/o photos.
15 pages of printing is a BIG waste of paper. :(
thanks.
Just follow the steps in this video to use our Print Friendly feature:
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Great ideas. I haven’t had a cat for several years . I would have liked to have replaced her after she died , but we have too many extended family members with allergies. Certain breeds just tend to shed more. I thought because we had a short haired breed she wouldn’t shed as much. There are breeds that won’t shed as much, but they are expensive. Brushing their coat is a great idea – but our cat would only tolerate so much before getting mad . I’m sure if I had started brushing her as a kitten she wouldn’t have fought me so much.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I saw a link on the blog awhile back for what to do when your spray bottles get clogged and won’t work. Could Jillee or someone give me the link?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I have a short-haired black with white cat (lucy) known as lucifer when younger, that wouldn’t tolerate even a few strokes with a brush. Lord knows we’ve tried. Even as a small kitten (abandoned) hissed and swatted at us and the brush. We finally gave up
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thank you for pointing out the importance of quality pet food. However I would also recommend doing your own research and reading ingredient lists, as some “veterinary” formulas contain corn and/or corn gluten as a primary ingredient. When one of our cats started shedding more than usual I took him to the vet and found that he was diabetic. In addition to giving him regular insulin injections I fed him a prescription canned diet for a few months before, realizing that the main protein source was corn gluten, I switched him to a more natural canned food with lots of real meat. After 6 months of being on insulin his condition reverted so that his blood sugar levels became normal again.
One thing that made hair cleanup much easier for me was to buy a back seat cover for my car, with loops that slipped over the front and back headrests. My dog was a German Shepherd/Husky mix that went to the park and pet store frequently, so lots of hair would get trapped in the floorboard. But this was one of the best investments I ever made as vacuuming the car became much easier!
Another ounce of prevention for us was to simply not allow our dog on the furniture. We loved her but she was never allowed on the couch or bed as a puppy so she never came to expect it. This was our personal choice as from what I’ve read allowing dogs on the furniture elevates their status in their own minds, but I know people have different feelings about letting their furbabies snuggle on the couch with them.
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