For many a family just isn’t complete without the addition of a four legged fury member. In fact many households are “multi-pet” households meaning they own more than one fur baby. As much joy as pet ownership brings there is always one family member that will complain about animal hair or odors that have crept into their living space!
In my house that one family member is my 18 year old daughter, who with her new found adulthood has grown much more outspoken in her complaints. While making her happy isn’t my ultimate goal I will agree smelling my pets and eating their fur is not my preference either. And so I devised a plan to keep both to an absolute minimum.
There’s A Hair In My Soup!
photo credit: lasop
To begin, here are three steps I have found that effectively drop my floating animal hairs to near nothing:
- Believe it or not simply brushing our pets daily goes a long way in reducing the number of stray hairs floating around your house. Both cats and dogs love an affectionate grooming session when done with care and kindness so take advantage of snuggle time and remove some of that loose hair.
- It seems that hair first hits hard floors where it then gets kicked up with air flow. You can best trap this hair by using a dust mop specifically designed to attract hair and dust. Sweep using this every day and you’ll quickly notice fewer complaints coming from your family at meal time.
- And finally your carpets. It seems that once hair reaches your carpets it becomes rather tangled and difficult to remove. Most allergy vacuum cleaners are designed with a unique brush and powerful suction that is more effective at removing animal hair than your average vacuum.
Trust me, once you start utilizing these three steps on your daily approach to removing animal hair your family will stop complaining and start thanking you!
Do You Smell Something?
Perhaps more embarrassing than stray hairs during the perfect dinner are lingering odors that has guests wandering just what is for dessert? Whether or not you have guests, lingering odors at dinner, or any time for that matter is a real mood killer!
At my house the moment I can “smell” my animals is the moment I’m ready to start bleach cleaning the whole house. So after learning where and how odors build up I developed a simple daily approach to help minimize odors, with the exception of those unfortunate days my dogs find a not so pleasant smelling mud patch to play in!
First let’s begin by understanding where your pet odors are coming from. The majority of odors come directly from your animals’ skin oils, ears, anal glands on dogs and paws tracks from litter bound kitties. Each of these odor particles tracks around with your pet and is conveniently deposited everywhere your pet can go. If you’re sick of smelling your pets then consider trying these four steps:
- Eliminating odors from your hard floors is likely your easiest approach. I personally like to use a solution of ¼ cup ammonia mixed with ½ cup of Lysol all-purpose cleaner and mop my floors with that once a month. In between I use my $40 steam mop to kill bacteria on a daily basis.
- Your carpets can prove to be a little more challenging when it comes to removing odors. I have found that the most effective way is to vacuum daily with a high quality vacuum with a proven powerful suction. If I have tough odors I sprinkle baking soda in a thick coat over my carpet, take my broom and “brush” it in and let set for 30 minutes. Then I vacuum. Doing this on a monthly basis works really well to keep odors off the floors.
- Don’t forget your furniture, especially your upholstered furniture. Like any fabric upholstered furniture is a prime target for trapping and holding odor particles. The most effective way to neutralize odors on your furniture is by making it a no pet zone. But, if you’re a softy like me always turn to your trusty baking soda and vacuum again!
- Cleaning the surfaces is only the beginning. You need to be sure you take steps to clean odors from the air as well. Most of the home air purifiers are designed to eliminate odors caused by pets. Do some homework and decide on the best purifier for your space and needs and you’ll be breathing clean air in no time!
Are you ready to have that perfect dinner with happy guests? Maybe you just want to hear your family say, “Thanks mom the house smells great.” Whatever you’re after now you have the tools you need to make it happen.
About the Author:
Mikki Hogan, owner and publisher of TheAllergySpot.com is a homeschooling mom of eight that proudly works in animal rescue. Living in North Carolina she and her family are able to enjoy the quiet side of life, completing lessons, enjoying good friends and saving lives!
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