It’s official: We’re a nation of pet lovers with 68% of U.S. households having at least one pet.
More pets, however, means more grooming to consider. Our furry friends have a mind of their own, and plenty of hair to come with it.
That’s why you need to be prepared for the cleanup if you decide to take in a dog. Do you know what to do when your dog starts shedding into your carpet?
Let’s solve the problem with you—here’s how to remove dog hair from carpet flooring in your home.
Use Adhesive Tape or a Lint Roller
How do you get dog hair off your clothes? You’d use a lint roller.
Why not apply the same principle to your carpet? If you want to remove dog hair from carpet floors, a lint roller can be a useful ally, especially in small patches. You can also use it on other fabric surfaces.
If you need to tackle a larger area, think about using adhesive tape like duct tape. Wrap the tape around a suitable surface, like the bottom of a flat mop or around your hand, and rub it across your carpet.
The tape will stick to any loose hairs and remove them for you.
Carpet Raking
Using tape might work for loose pet hairs, but what about hairs that have been compacted into the carpet fibers? Removing dog hair from carpet flooring in these circumstances is going to need a little bit of elbow grease.
That’s where a carpet rake can help. A carpet rake has hard brushes to pull up grime and dirt (like your pet hair) from carpet surfaces.
Treat your carpet like you would a set of leaves in your back yard. Firmly press down onto your carpet and pull the rake towards you. You’ll need to remove the excess hair from your rake brush as you go.
Invest in a High-Powered Vacuum
Cleaning up pet hair shouldn’t be an emergency job. It should be part of your regular cleaning routine. That’s why you need to invest in a powerful enough vacuum cleaner to handle the demand of owning a dog with hair.
Not every vacuum is equal. Some hoovers will be rated with higher suction and include special brushes to help you pull out hair (similar to a rake).
It’s best to go for a bagless vacuum, so you don’t have to invest in bags that get clogged up with hairs on a regular basis. Firms like Dyson sell vacuums that are specifically rated for pet carpet cleaning.
Use a Sponge Mop or a Wet Cloth
If dry methods aren’t proving effective, water could help you pull up those troublesome hairs.
The first option is to use a wet sponge mop to run over your carpet. Getting your carpet wet with a sponge will pull out some of the hair and cause it to clump together into balls, which you can hoover up afterward.
In smaller areas, you could use a wet cloth. Run over your carpet with the cloth and keep a spray bottle of water handy to direct water straight onto your carpet. The same effect will happen, so you can hoover up excess hair after.
Be careful, though. Water might bring up other dirt and grime that’s hidden in your carpet. If that happens, learn how to clean up your carpets and remove those stains with our helpful guide.
Use a Balloon
Pump up a balloon and rub it across your head (if you’ve got hair). The hair will stick up, thanks to the magic of static electricity.
You can use the same principles on your carpet to help you remove dog hair. If you’ve got a problematic patch, or you need to bring up some of the hairs, rub a balloon across your carpet surface.
The hair will stick to your balloon like glue. Just remove the hair and repeat until you stop seeing hair. It won’t necessarily bring up every hair, but it should help you remove large portions of it.
Deploy Fabric Softener
We’ve already mentioned how water can be used to your advantage when you want to know how to get pet hair out of carpet.
Rather than just using water, if you’re not seeing the results you want, use fabric softener instead. The clue is in the name—fabric softener helps to soften up your carpet and bring out any deeply engrained hair follicles.
Combine the softener with some water (1/4 mix of softener should do it), spray over your carpet surface, then let it dry out. Once it’s dry, vacuum over the carpet to remove the hairs that have been loosened.
Be careful if your flooring is vintage, as introducing chemical cleaning fluids might damage it. If you’ve got a vintage oriental rug, you should take extra precautions, so be sure to read more now about how to clean these properly.
Use a Hairbrush
Stubborn carpet surfaces aren’t always going to play nice with your efforts to clean them. If you don’t have a rake on hand, use a hairbrush to brush out any hidden dog hairs in your carpet instead.
You don’t want to damage your carpet flooring by doing this, so while you’ll need to be hard, don’t be excessive. Short, hard strokes with your brush should help you disturb the surface.
Once the hairs are loose, pick them up or vacuum them away.
If you’ve got a large surface area to deal with, this might not be the best method, but it could work well for areas that get a lot of traffic, like your staircase.
Know How to Remove Dog Hair from Carpet Without Damages
If you have a dog, you need to know how to remove dog hair from carpet without causing unnecessary damage.
Try gentle options first with a balloon or a wet sponge. If that doesn’t get results, you’ll have to go in hard with a rake or a hairbrush. Once the carpet is clean, keep up with it by using a high powered vacuum cleaner.
Looking for other helpful advice for around the home? Then don’t forget to check out our other home advice articles for ideas you can try out yourself.