If you have allergies, want to reduce the likleyhood of inviting miniture pests, or simply have too much unsightly hair in your enviornment, don't fret! There are a variety of effective solutions for cleaning up after your furry family, no matter your situation. The first line of defense starts with your hair habits. For human hair, cleaning out brushes, making sure loose hair makes it into the trash, and regularly washing (or just drying) hairy clothes will help you with overall house cleaning. When it comes to your pets, taking bedding outside before shaking them off, and regular baths and/or brushings will keep the majority of pet hair off your walls, clothes, furniture, and carpets. After the hair gets through that first line of defense, most articles on the subject seem to agree that hair problems start with static caused by dry, low-humidity enviornments, so the next thing I recommend is to get a humidifyer for the spaces you tend to have the most trouble with. Start the humidifyer at least 30 minutes prior to any planned cleaning to help speed up the process.
Next, clean the furniture:
Lastly, to the floor. Once at the floor level, sweep or vacuum all edges and corners, using a finger (beware of painful carpet staples!), toothbrush, or vacuum attachment to drag hairs out of cracks and corners. After that is done, simply vacuum the remaining floor (for carpets) or sweep/vacuum and mop hard floors. If for whatever reason you do not have a vacuum, you can use a pummice stone, FURminator, or the glove method to get by.
Useful vacuum techniques for carpet:1. Pick the right vacuum: A vacuum built to handle pet hair is highly recommended. Pet vacuums generally have higher suction, specialized attachments, and stronger filters to catch allergy causing dander-and other particulates- brought in by our furry housemates. We feel the Shark Navigatior (NV360) and the Hoover Windtunnel Pet Preformance (UH72630PC) are great for everyday use in pet friendly homes (each with their own pros and cons, of course). 2. Vacuum Slowly: In my experience, most people do not seem to realize that making passes slowly with the vacuum is more effecient at cleaning up hair than saving time by moving quickly. Moving quickly does save time, but only picks up the surface layer of hairs and other particulates. Moving slowly allows the agitatiors (brushes) to loosen hair and for the suction to pick up the hair. 3. Switch directions: Go over areas at least twice and alternate directions to loosen stubborn hairs. For high pile carpets, you may need three or more directions to get all the hairs pulled up to your satisfaction. 4. Use the correct brush height: Most vacuums have the option to raise or lower the 'foot'. Listen to the vacuum: If it sounds like it is having a hard time (deeper tones) or is difficult to push, raise the foot. If it is too easy to push or seems to be leaving particulates behind, lower the foot until you get the results you are looking for. On bare floor, lower the foot as needed and turn off the agetatiors, if that is an option. This prevents particulates from being thrown out behind the vacuum, which can be very annoying to say the least! Beware of any hard particulates, pebbles, small rocks, or parts of childrens toys that may scratch your bare floors as you try to vacuum over them. I recommend you pick up those tiny hazards by hand (or with a broom) beforehand. Your Turn!We all have our favorite-or at least preferred-ways of cleaning those pesky hairs.
Please feel welcome to share your successful (or not so successful) experiences!
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AuthorI am an adventurous homemaker with a passion for wandering the forest trails of Alaska. When not exploring under every leaf, twig, and rock with my husband and two year old son, I tend to busy myself with keeping habitat trails from forming around the house. After more than 10 years of experience cleaning under various companies, we decided to make our own path and that is how Southeast Clean & Care started! Archives
January 2019
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