The vast majority of dogs shed at least a little. Therefore, you can plan on cleaning up dog fur at least some of the time, even if you have a low-shedding dog. Some dogs shed considerably, and you may need to spend time cleaning up dog fur daily.
No matter where you are on this continuum, this article will provide tons of tips to help make cleaning up dog fur a bit easier. Much of cleaning up dog fur is prevention, though, so we’ll also cover that here.
The 11 Tips for Cleaning Up Dog Hair
1. Brush Your Dog
The best way to keep dog fur off of your furniture and floor is to brush your dog. Some dogs need to be brushed once a week, while others need to be brushed daily. You’ll probably need to adjust your grooming schedule based on the time of the year and your dog’s health. Some dogs require more grooming in the spring and fall when their shedding often increases.
Hormonal changes can also adjust how much fur a dog loses. If you have a female, you can expect her to shed more during certain phases of her cycle.
Clean up any fur you brush off of your dog promptly to limit how much ends up on your floor. Every piece of hair you remove will lead to fewer hairs ending up on your floor.
2. Use a Shedding Shampoo
Shampoos can help loosen dead fur so that it’s easier to remove. Plus, a lot of loose fur will be washed down the sink during baths. We highly recommend having a rubber brush that’s designed to be used in baths to help remove fur and work the shampoo into your dog’s fur.
A shedding shampoo won’t replace regular brushing, though. It only helps make brushing more effective. Therefore, if you don’t have a regular brushing routine, this step won’t help.
Of course, different shedding shampoos aren’t all equal. Some are far more effective than others. You may need to try a few to determine if it works for your dog or not.
3. Vacuum Regularly
The most effective way to clean up pet fur is to vacuum. Choose a vacuum that is designed to clean up dog fur, as just any ordinary vacuum won’t do. An effective range of attachments can also be helpful. Dog fur tends to end up in corners, along the edge of your walls, and on couches (even if your dog isn’t allowed on them). Having attachments made specifically for this purpose can be exceptionally helpful.
Vacuum areas where your dog spends most of their time daily. The fur will be shed from these areas to other parts of your house. Therefore, you won’t have to vacuum your whole house every few days if you vacuum the trouble areas even more often.
4. Use Dog-Friendly Wipes
Between baths, you should use dog-friendly wipes to help pick up loose fur and dirt. This will help remove loose furs as much as possible between baths and may elongate the time between brushings. While many dogs are very clean, all dogs could use a little help to stay cleaner, and dog wipes can go a long way to helping with this.
Just like shedding shampoos, you may need to try several dog wipes to find one that works for your canine. Some are scented, and some are not. We recommend choosing the gentlest wipes you can, as irritating chemicals can lead to skin irritation and more shedding.
5. Use a Squeegee
A squeegee may not have been made for picking up dog fur, but it is one of the more effective options. Remove fur from carpets and rugs using the squeegee instead of having to drag out your entire vacuum. To use a squeegee, just move it across the surface that’s covered in dog hair. It often works best if you rub it in the direction of the fur, but you may have to try a few different directions depending on the upholstery.
After using the squeegee to pick up as much fur as possible, it should form into tiny balls, making it easier to pick up.
You aren’t going to clean your whole house with a squeegee. However, you can use it to clean up your couch and spot-clean spots where your dog tends to lay. It can be much more effective and easier than pulling a whole machine out of the cleaning closet.
6. Use Moisture
If you’re trying to clean up a particularly troublesome area, moisture can be exceptionally helpful. Fur sticks to dampness, so dampening a glove or cloth can make it much easier to clean up. Of course, you don’t want to use so much moisture that you get your couch wet, but you can use a slight amount of moisture to increase how much fur you clean up.
Pre-dampened rags can also be helpful, especially if the surface is also dirty.
7. Use a Lint Roller
Lint rollers can also be helpful, but they tend to be more wasteful (and less effective) than other methods on this list. However, a lint roller is easier to take with you, allowing you to remove hair from your clothes or give your couch a quick once-over before company arrives.
Lint rollers are made for removing lint, but they’re most commonly utilized for dog fur today. Not all lint rollers are equally as effective, though. While all lint rollers may seem the same, higher-quality options tend to be stickier and have more sheets on them.
8. Use a Furniture Cover
If your dog sheds a lot, you can protect your furniture by using a furniture cover. You can use this cover when your dog tends to hang out in the living room and then remove it when company comes over. This method allows you to skip cleaning your couch every time someone knocks on the door. Many covers are also machine washable. So, instead of scrubbing your whole couch, you can just clean the furniture cover instead.
Of course, not all couches can be used with furniture covers. Some are weirdly shaped or very large. Not all furniture covers are very stylish, either.
9. Wash Clothes and Bedding
If something can be shoved into your washer, then that’s probably the best option. Lint roll clothes you’re wearing, but don’t try to lint roll your whole wardrobe. Instead, wash clothes in warm water and then keep them in a dog-free closet to keep dog fur off of them until you put them on.
Approach bedding in the same way. Yes, you could lint roll your whole bed. However, this would require much more effort than just washing the bedding to begin with. If you don’t like to wash your bedding often (because of its size or material), consider using a blanket on the top where your dog tends to lay. You can use this as a cover blanket and wash it instead of your whole bedding set.
10. Invest in a Robot Vacuum
If you have many dogs or don’t have time to clean, a robot vacuum can be life-changing. It can run while you’re away, taking care of those troublesome spots and preventing your home from becoming covered in fur.
Robot vacuums aren’t perfect, so you’ll still need to do some cleaning yourself. However, that doesn’t mean that a robot vacuum can’t help. Some advanced models allow you to control where they clean, so you can specifically point them towards areas where your dog spends the most time, picking up the excess fur before it travels through the rest of your house.
There are tons of robot vacuums on the market today, so be sure to do your research before investing in one. Often, you get what you pay for, so keep that in mind before you decide to invest in one.
11. Clean in Sections
For multi-dog homes, it may be best to clean in sections. You don’t have to vacuum your whole house every day, but vacuuming a room or two each day can be much more effective. If you have a robot vacuum, you can program them to do the same, which can help keep things manageable. Alternatively, you can have the robot vacuum clean the trouble spots, leaving you to focus on deep cleaning a single room.
A little bit of cleaning each day is far more doable than trying to clean your whole house every weekend—especially in homes with multiple dogs.
Final Thoughts
There are tons of methods to make removing dog fur easier. However, the most effective methods are probably those you already know about. Brushing your dog to remove fur before it ends up in your house and vacuuming trouble areas regularly are two of the most effective cleaning options. The key is to stay on top of the fur before it becomes overwhelming.
Consider trying some time-effective habits, like vacuuming the area where your dog lays and sleeps every day. Fur tends to migrate from these areas to the rest of your house, so you can limit how much fur ends up in the rest of your home by spending 5 minutes vacuuming trouble spots each day.
- See also: Folliculitis in Dogs
Featured Image Credit: Andrea C. Miller, Shutterstock
