How to get rid of dog hair in the house and on car seats

It is said that the dog is a man’s best friend. They are always there waiting to welcome you home with passionate kisses while wagging their tail and their loyalty is unwavering. What doesn’t excite most of us however is the mounds of dog hair that we have to deal with. From your clothes to the floors, couches, carpets, and car seats and carpets, it seems to have a knack to be just about everywhere. Herein are a few tips on how to get rid of dog hair in your home and in your car.

How to get rid of dog hair in the House

Video: How to Remove Pet Hair From Your Car

It is rather common to see something along the line of “Dog hair everywhere, help” in online pet forums. Shedding of hair from our furry friends tend to be more common in summer when they shed their winter hair ready to face the heat.

Having to deal with dog hair all over the house is an inevitable but annoying part of having a dog in your house but that is not the worse part either. In addition to the hygiene and aesthetic concern, dog hair often harbors dust mites and can set the trend for chronic allergy problems.

Ridding your house of dog hair ultimately rolls down to frequent vacuuming coupled with using the right tools to remove the strands of hair embedded in fabrics around your house.

Rather than discuss dog hair removal in general terms, we will break it down to specific areas and surfaces around your home including clothes, furniture, carpets, car seats and carpets, washing machines, and hardwood floors.

How to Get Rid Of Dog Hair on Blankets, Bed Sheets and Clothes

Nothing is like a morning kiss from your dog or curling up with your furry friend as you unwind from a busy day. This however carries with it the cost of having to carry little pieces of your pooch – clinging onto your clothing – whenever you go. Below is a guideline on how to get rid of dog hair from clothes and bedding:

Regular Cleaning and Vacuuming

Cleaning and vacuuming your house is the first step in addressing the problem of dog hair on clothes, blankets and bed sheets. It certainly won’t get every strand of pooch’s hair in your environment but will get you started in the right path. Less pet hair in your environment means less hair to cling onto clothing. It is advisable to vacuum your house at least two times a week.

Water the Hair Down

Light and dry hair strand are usually difficult to handle partly due to their light and partly due to static charge that makes them cling to clothes. You can address this problem by dampening the hair. Here is how to use the dampening method to remove dog hair from clothes:

1. Dip your hand in cool water to get it wet
2. Move it downwards on the parts of your clothes that have dog hair clinging to them. The hair strands will become damp and heavier, consequently sticking to your hand. Dampening of hair also reduces the static electricity associated with them and thus makes them unable to stick to the clothing.
3. Repeat this downwards motion until you have wiped all the hair strands off.

Alternatively:

1. Get a clean kitchen sponge and soak it in water.
2. Wring out the excess water so that the sponge is just damp but not soaked.
3. Now use the sponge to wipe dog hair off of heavy garments such as coats using downward motions.

Lint Roller

As the search for the ultimate solution for dealing with dog shedding, many companies have continued to design innovative tools and dog hair and lint rollers come at the top of the list.

Lint rollers are designed to pick the hair up by making it stick to them.

As the name suggests, all you have to do is to roll out on your clothes and any other surface that is in need of pet hair removal.

Force It Out

You can also consider whacking the more sturdy clothes and bedding the likes of blankets and coats against a hard surface. Just make sure that you do it outside lest you end up transferring the dog hair to other areas and surfaces in the house.

Throw Them in the Clothes Dryer

While the above methods will work for most cases, they may still not be very effective, or may be time consuming, where significantly larger quantities of hair are involved. One option you may want to consider in such a situation is to throw the clothes in the clothes dryer for about 10 minutes. This helps to loosen the hair which then end up in the lint trap.

More Tips to Help You Get Rid of Dog Hair on Clothes and Blankets

• Store your clean clothes on a hanger or else fold them and keep them away to avoid having your dog make a warm rest out of them.
• When taking your dog for a walk, consider putting on clothes that you don’t mind picking some hair and dirt.
• Wash the bedding at least once every week.

How to Remove Dog Hair from Carpet, Floors, and Furniture

Your pooch likes to take a rest or nap on your sofa or carpet, leaving you with a dose of hair to take care of? Don’t worry, below are a few tips on how to manage pet hair on not only furniture but also carpets and floors around your house:

Rubber Gloves and Brooms

This is a simple yet very effective way to remove pet hair on furniture. For this, you will need a good pair of rubber gloves. Simply swipe it across the affected couch or chair in one direction and within no time, you will notice the hair strands accumulating on the gloves. Once you have significant action going on at the surface of the gloves, rinse it with water and repeat as needed.

A rubber bristled-broom will do an equally great job when used for the floors.

Wet Sponge

A wet sponge will also do a great job for furniture and carpets. All you have to do is to just run a damp sponge across the furniture or carpet in one direction and once enough of the offending hairs have accumulated into a pile, pick them with your hands and discard them appropriately. Ideally, you should use a wet sponge or wet mop (for carpets) after vacuuming.

For upholstered furniture, you can increase the effectiveness of this method by throwing a fabric softener into the mix. First mix fabric softener with water and then spritz it onto the couch before wiping it off using the wet sponge as described above.

Vacuum with Baking Soda

It goes without saying that regular vacuuming forms the core of a dog hair cleaning regime but did you know that you can increase the effectiveness of your vacuum cleaner by throwing in some baking soda?

According to Melissa Maker the founder of Clean My Space, Toronto baking soda helps to loosen the strands of hair embedded into fabric of the furniture and carpet. All you have to do is to dust a bit of baking soda powder onto the work area before vacuuming.

Also, when vacuuming the carpet, alternate the directions, moving forward, then backwards, and finally diagonally to loosen stubborn hairs more effectively.

Anti-static Dusting Spray

For wooden furniture, you will get great result by using an anti-static dusting spray before wiping the lint off with a soft cloth. This spray helps to curb the static electricity problem and thus make for easier removal of the dog hair.

Pumice Stone

A pumice stone also works great for the carpet and you will want to consider adding it to your dog hair management regimen. After vacuuming your carpet, swipe a pumice stone such as furzoff along the surface in one direction. The hair will collect in a single pile as you move along. Once you have enough hair, pick it up with your hands and trash it appropriately.

How to Get Rid Of Dog Hairs in Washing Machine

Pet hair can stick on your clothes and bedding and with them get into the washing machine. A spin in the washing machine will surely reduce the amount of dog fur on your clothing, but where does the fur then go to? It gets stuck in the washer. Here is a guideline on how to get rid of dog hairs in your washing machine:

Step 1: Dry the Washing Machine:

The first thing you want to do is to open the washing machine door and leave it that way for enough time to allow the drum and the hair strands stuck on it to dry.

Step 2: Vacuum out The Pet Hair

Now vacuum the dog hair with the help of the soft brush attachment.

Step 3: Unclog the Drain Pump Filter

Dog hair can also get stuck in the drain pump filter, in which case it might then cause inefficient drainage in the washer. Remove the drain pump filter as per the manufacturer’s instruction – check with your manual – and then remove any hair inside.

How to Get Rid of Dog Hair from Dogs Themselves

You can have the most stringent house cleaning regimen, but so long as your dog continues to excessively shed hair, your problem will keep recurring. You will thus want to consider taking care of your dog as well to limit its degree of shedding. You of course can’t stop dog shedding of hair but you can certainly minimize it. Below is brief guideline on how to do that:

Groom and Bathe Your Dog Regularly

With time, dogs accumulate loose hair on their coat. This is then left behind all over your house- on sofas, carpets, floors, and any other surface that your dog comes into contact with. The hair then gets literally everywhere in the house due to factors such as wind.

Video: Pet Hair Removal: Professional technique and professional tips for detailers

To address excessive dog shedding, you should groom your furry friend regularly with a combination of baths and brushing with good quality grooming brush. Grooming brushes help to comb off loose dog fur.

The FURminator deShedding Tool is one of the most popular dog grooming tools and the manufacturer claims that it can slash shedding by as much as 90 percent.

Reviews of FURminator seem to support this claim and its rating on amazon is just as impressive- 4.7 out of 5 based on 6954 reviews (for the short hair version- there is also a long hair version of the FURminator deShedding Tool which is just as highly rated) as at the time of this writing.

Pay Close Attention to Your Dog’s Diet

Dogs with healthy coat usually shed less compared to those with unhealthy coat. Your dog’s diet goes a long way in promoting a healthy coat. It is advisable to give your pooch high quality food with lots of proteins.

Pet Vacuum

These days there are as well many tools designed to vacuum the hair off your dog’s coat. Of these, Dyson Groom Tool is perhaps the most popular. Bissell Shed Away is also relatively popular and is somewhat cheaper than Dyson Groom Tool.

Control Fleas

Fleas and other skin parasites and conditions that causes itching make your dog scratch frequently which could culminate in excessive shedding.

How to Get Rid Of Dog Hair on Hardwood Floors

Hardwood and tile floors are arguably the best type of floor for dog owners. But they still won’t rule out the problem of dog shedding entirely. You will still have to clean them to get rid of dog hair, but with them the problem is significantly lower compared to carpets. So how do you get rid of dog hair from hardwood floors and tiled floors? Here are a few tips:

Use an Electrostatic Dust Mop

Instead of regular vacuum cleaners, use an electrostatic dust mop or a microfiber dry mop for cleaning of hardwood, laminate and tile floors. Unlike vacuums which tend to blow hair around, which then goes back to the cleaned surfaces, electrostatic dust mops and microfiber dry mops suck up hair in its actual spot.

Minimize Shedding

Keeping the amount of hair that sheds off your dog in the first place will go a long way in protecting your hardwood floors. You will in particularly want to bathe and groom your dog regularly to get rid of loose hair accumulating in its coat.

Train Your Dog to Avoid the Hardwood-Floored Areas

This will work if only a small portion of your house has hardwood floor.

Reapply the Sealer If Necessary

It is possible to find that your dog’s hair keeps getting stuck on certain parts of the hardwood floor. If that happens, it may be an indication that the sealer coat has thinned out or is uneven. To stop that, consider re-applying the sealer carefully so that you end up with a smooth, even layer with soft edges that don’t easily grip on the pooch’s hair.

How to Remove Dog Hair from Car Carpet and Seats

If you are a dog owner and travel with it often, you know how much of a pain it can sometime be to remove the hair off the fibers of the car carpet, seats, and head liners. Here are some of the best option in addition to vacuuming which should form an important part of the whole process:

Rubber Gloves: Many people will swear to the effectiveness of rubber gloves in eliminating dog hair in car seats and carpets.

Its concept is really simple but it works magic and some people claim that is it even more effective than most commercial hair removal products. It is probably the best way to remove dog hair from car seats and carpets.

Video: How to Get Rid of Dog Odor in a Car

Those dish-washing gloves with nubs are particularly good

Furzoff pet hair removal tool helps to remove hair embedded into the fiber of the carpet. To make it more effective start by misting the carpet with fabric softener diluted by 7 parts water. After you have brushed the hair into a pile, finish by vacuuming it off.

Duct tape: The adhesive in duct tapes removes the hair strands embedded in car seats very effectively. All you have to do is cut a strip of the duct tape and stick it on the area with the furry remains from your pooch and then pull it out. Repeat several times until you have achieved the desired results.

Rubber pet hair brush: This is particularly great for hidden hard-to-reach areas and those are close to plastic or painted metal surfaces that could be harmed by the furzoff. Brush the carpet, pulling the hair towards one direction. Once the hair has accumulated into a pile, vacuum it off.

Pet hair and lint roller: Online feedbacks and reviews seem to suggest that a lint roller is not nearly as effective as the simple and cost-effective dog hair removal options the likes of duct tape and rubber gloves, but if you want, you may as well give it a shot.

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