(Photo courtesy of my brother Jonathan)
Pet hair seems to stick to everything: car upholstery, carpet and especially clothes. It can be incredibly annoying when you’re wearing a nice outfit and it has dog hair all over it.
So how do you get rid of pet hair?
Here are a few methods that are worth trying if you’re completed frustrated with the amount of pet hair in your life. And the amount on your laundry.
- Try using one of the green Scotch-Brite scrub sponges and lightly brush across the item that needs to be de-haired. This method might even work better if you wet the sponge and wring out as much water as possible.
- Do you remember old velcro curlers? The larger the curler’s barrel, the easier it is to brush the surface of the fabric. You can still find them at most drugstores.
- Use a yellow rubber household glove – the kind you use to wash dishes. Put the glove on and get it wet. Shake off the excess water and run your gloved hand along the clothing surface.
- While it is not very economical, you can try tumbling the clothes in the dryer for 15-20 minutes. The lint trap will catch a lot of the hair, but you’ll usually need to use one of the other listed methods to be completely pet hair free.
It might be easier to prevent pet hair from covering your favorite clothes and linens.
- Does your dog or cat sleep on your bed? Then definitely don’t fold your clothes there! Find another surface. Folding clean laundry on top of a pet hair covered surface is just asking for hair covered clothes.
- Hang most of your clothing items. Dogs and cats don’t lie on your hang-ups. Usually.
- Don’t let your animals sit in your clothes baskets. You wouldn’t believe the ridiculous amount of pictures on CC Flickr of cats in laundry baskets. Apparently it is the cool thing to take a picture of. But all of those people have cat hair covered clothes…guaranteed.
What are the most effective ways you rid your laundry of pet hair? Any special products you use?
(Please note: This Mama has absolutely no inside pets. I have 3 young children so I have plenty to clean. And I have a sincere affection for truly clean laundry. However, I have washed more loads of pet hair covered laundry than you could ever imagine.)
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Just to look at this from the preventative perspective, one way to avoid pet hair everywhere is to bathe & brush your animals regularly. I really like the Zoom Groom product when bathing Chaucer (that adorable Great Dane at the top of the page). For animals with longer hair, the Furminator products are quite good.
Thanks for the suggestions…
Thanks for these tips! I just spent 30 minutes vacuuming out the car today and was frustrated to no end with pet hair that would not leave the seat! I found that brushing the hair with my hand helped to clump it, then it would go into the vacuum more easily. I’m going to try that with damp rubber gloves next time!
Thanks for the comment, Bri! I hope these tips work for you! 🙂
-Lauren
I just tried the Furminator groomer on my Siamese cat tonight and the amount of unshedded hair I removed was insane! Looks like my days of clothing covered in white pet hair might come to an end!
We have two dogs and a cat. The chiweanie doesn’t shed much but our Rottweiler and the cat… alot. the only thing I’ve actually found to reduce the pet hair was to shave them! I know, it sounds crazy, but its summer and they’re hot anyway outside. Tyson (the rottie) actually looks pretty good without all the extra hair so i may just keep it up and get him a coat or something this winter lol. The cat looks kind of sad though… but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. We’re having our first baby soon and I’m in more of an OCD nesting phase, animals beware!