Home Cleaning Advice for People with Pets
Keeping your home clean is one of the biggest challenges when it comes to owning a pet! You love your pet and you have experienced the challenges – first hand – of keeping your home clean. It’s easy to feel like your home has slowly been taken over by pet hair and dander.
Here are some of the most important cleaning tips to keep in mind if you share your home with a pet.
Minimise The Amount of Pet Hair In Your Home
Use A Lint Roller
Lint rollers are a must-have if you’re a pet owner! A lint roller can pick up hair from virtually any surface. A vacuum cleaner is always the best for general cleaning but a lint roller is an affordable and quick way to pick up the pet fur or hair without having to lug out a big vacuum cleaner.
Consider A Small Handheld Vacuum Cleaner
If you don’t want to always use your larger vacuum, consider buying a handheld version. They’re easy to use and incredibly convenient for cleaning up pet fur quickly and easily.
Coming back to the lint roller, another handy benefit of using a lint roller, is to use it on any surfaces right after you vacuumed. This will help pick up any stray hairs or dust that were stirred up, but not sucked up.
Brush Your Pets
Brush your dog every day and your cat as often as allowed. This is especially important if you have multiple dogs like I do. You’ll be amazed how spending a short five minutes a day brushing your dog, will cut down on all that hair collecting around your home. Brushing daily also reduces the flaking of the skin by distributing natural oils through your dog’s coat. You’ll notice that your dog looks and smells better. And since most dogs love being brushed it counts as quality time with your dog.
Stop Dirt at the Door
Dogs, especially, may track in large amounts of mud and dirt when they come in the door after being outside. Rather than spending hours of your time scrubbing dirt from your floors, keep a towel and a shallow container of water by the door!
This way, you can wipe off your pup’s paws as soon as she comes in the door. You could also place mats inside and outside of your front door, and train your dog to wait there while having their paws wiped. I have also trained my pups to wait before jumping into the car after a walk in the woods so that I can wipe their paws to keep my car cleaner.
Deep-Clean All Pet Collars and Toys
For an effective and deep clean, we recommend putting dog shampoo into a bowl with hot water and then letting any collars and toys soak for thirty minutes. Then rinse everything with cold water and let them dry. Deep-cleaning your pet toys and collars will help both your home and your pet stay clean and smell fresh.
Use White Vinegar to Deodorize Your Carpet
White vinegar is one of the all-around best home remedies for removing pesky smells and stains from your carpet.
Simply fill a spray bottle with white vinegar and spray any stains evenly (just take care not to soak the stain). Then, let the area dry. You’ll be amazed at how well the vinegar soaks up any lingering smells!
Note: It would be wise to test a vinegar cleaning solution in an inconspicuous area prior to spraying it all over.
Also, for a quick, easy, and cheap air freshener that really works mix 1/4 cup baking soda with water in a spray bottle. Shake well and spray. The baking soda absorbs the odor. You can also add a couple drops of essential oils, vanilla extract, or even cinnamon for variety.
Use Baking Soda to Clean Your Pet Beds
Choose a pet bed that has a removable cover. This makes it so much easier to clean them. Use regular detergent or mild soap to wash beds and add a cup of baking soda can really get them clean and fresh.
Baking soda is a fantastic tool for helping to neutralize odors. In addition, it is also a great anti-bacterial agent. Simply add a cup of baking soda to your regular load when you’re washing your pet beds. Always wash your beds on a hot cycle.
Clean the Litter Box and Surrounding Area
If you have a kitty, then you know: the litter box can easily become foul-smelling and can seriously stink up your home.
If your litter box is consistently smelly, then this may be because you’re not cleaning it enough. Most people only empty their litter boxes once every couple of days (after it really starts to smell). Ideally, you should be emptying your box at least twice per day.
In addition, every week or so, it’s time for a deep clean. Empty the litter. Fill the litter box with sudsy water, and maybe even using a bleach solution to thoroughly clean your litter box. Rinse and repeat if necessary.
You may also be interested in this post which is titled A Self-Cleaning Litter Box – Our Take. In this post, we outline the pros and cons to help you with your decision if you are considering a self-cleaning litter box.
Keep a “Clean-Up-Kit”
To avoid a mess that could be much harder to clean properly, later on, consider these “must-haves” in your cleaning closet:
- Spray stain removers
- Old towels
- Paper towels
- Disposable disinfectant wipes
In case you are out of pet stain remover here’s a stain remover you can make yourself.
Mix 1 quart of hot tap water, 1 teaspoon of dish soap, and 1 teaspoon of white vinegar (it gets rid of the odor). Shake or mix together; blot the area with towels and wet with this cleaning solution. Let it sit 10 minutes and blot again. Repeat as necessary.
Using these tips will help you to keep your home clean and smelling fresh even with a pet or two. Our pets bring so much joy into our homes and we can reduce the dirt and smell while keeping the joy by applying some of these home cleaning tips for people with pets.
Upper Valley Home Cleaning
If you are seeking a professional cleaning service for your home or office and you are located in the Upper Valley then give us a call at 802-295-6065 or use our contact form. We are a professional residential and commercial cleaning service and have been serving the Upper Valley since 1993.
