How to Clean Pet Hair off of Furniture, Rugs and Floors

Having pets around the house can be fun, comforting…and sometimes messy! That’s especially the case if your dog or cat sheds a lot, because you can expect to be finding fur on everything from your couch to your floors. If you want to keep those areas free of fur, get some ideas on how to clean them and even prevent the fur from covering the same spots tomorrow.

How to Clean Pet Hair off of Furniture

If you think your sofa or recliner chair is cozy and nice to lounge on, odds are your pets think the same. That's why they're constantly jumping up and leaving their fur everywhere, resulting in some shaggy "fur-niture." Fortunately, you can remove the fur from anything that's covered in fabric or upholstery by taking a damp sponge and running it over the pet hair to collect it. If you have rubber gloves, you can use the same tactic by getting them wet and then pushing your hands over the fur-covered furniture.

If your wood furniture has pet hair all over it, you can get rid of it by spraying wood polish on the surface and then wiping it off with a cloth. You can also wipe the furniture with dryer sheets, or spray fabric softener on it and then wipe it off. The bonus of this technique is that pet hair will be less likely to stick to the furniture in the future, thanks to the reduced static electricity.

How to Clean Pet Hair off of Floors

Even if you're able to keep your pets off the furniture, their fur will still get all over the floor. If you have carpet, you can start by vacuuming frequently, preferably with a vacuum that is meant for cleaning up fur. For those days when you don't feel like vacuuming, try scraping a pumice stone on the surface of the carpet to quickly pick up pet hair.

If you have tile, laminate or hardwood floors, you can get rid of fur with a microfiber dry mop. You can also try sliding around the floor with socks on, as this is an easy way to pick up fur!

Prevent Fur from Getting Everywhere

If you don't like spending time picking up pet hair, the best option is to prevent it from getting everywhere in the first place. But how? First, choose furniture materials that fur won't stick to, like leather or pleather. Then consider wiping everything down with dryer sheets to repel fur in the future.

You can also solve this issue by making sure you brush your pets regularly, such as a few days per week. This way, you're ensuring the fur mostly ends up in the brush, not on your floors and furniture!

How to Clean Pet Hair off of Rugs

If you have rugs on your floors, you can keep them free of fur using the same tactics you would with carpet. You can also try a lint roller to quickly remove fur from your rugs, or simply throw the rugs in the washing machine. But first, put the fur-covered rug in your dryer with a dryer sheet for a few minutes so you end up with most of the fur in the lint trap.