Cleaning a Home with Pets — Hair, Odors and Products to Avoid
Homes with dogs and cats need slightly different cleaning rules. How to deal with hair and odors, and what can be risky for your pets.
Living with pets makes cleaning a daily job: hair on the sofa, paw prints on the floor and the occasional accident. But you also need to think about how your cleaning products affect the family member who walks around with their nose on the floor.
Hair: gather it, do not sweep it
- For hair on sofas and fabric, put on a rubber glove and sweep your palm in one direction. Static and friction clump the hair together. Then vacuum it up.
- For clothes and cushions, lint rollers are fast but create a lot of waste. A washable pet hair brush is a good alternative.
- Vacuum filters and brushes clog quickly with pet hair. Empty the bin every time, cut hair off the brush roll with scissors and clean the filter as the manufacturer recommends.
- Check air purifier filters more often than you would in a home without pets.
Accidents: remove the smell, not just the stain
Pets remember places that smell like a toilet and tend to go there again. So removing the odor, not just the visible stain, is essential.
- Lay several layers of paper towel on it and press to absorb as much as possible. Rubbing spreads it.
- Spray a pet enzyme cleaner and leave it for the time on the label. The enzymes break down the compounds that cause the smell.
- Press with a dry towel to absorb moisture and let it dry completely.
Avoid ammonia-based cleaners. They leave a smell similar to urine and can encourage repeat accidents in the same spot.
Products to be careful with
- Bleach (chlorine). Rinse surfaces thoroughly afterwards and keep pets out until everything is dry and aired.
- Essential oils and diffusers. Some essential oils can be particularly dangerous for cats. If you live with cats, talk to your vet before using diffusers or fragrances.
- Cleaner residue on floors. Pets lick floors and their paws. After using a cleaner, mop again with plain water.
- Baking soda deodorizing. While it sits on a carpet, keep pets in another room so they do not eat it, and vacuum it up completely.
Daily and weekly jobs
| How often | Job |
|---|---|
| Daily | Wash food and water bowls, tidy the litter or pee pads, vacuum hairy areas |
| Weekly | Wash toys and beds, remove hair from the sofa, check the vacuum filter |
| Monthly | Wash the carrier and pet house, check the air purifier filter, dust the curtains |
Wash food and water bowls daily, just like your own dishes. Scale and slime in the bowls let bacteria grow. Stainless steel or ceramic bowls scratch less than plastic, so they stay more hygienic.
If the sofa is worn out by hair and stains
For fabric sofas, see how to deep clean a fabric sofa. If your pet shares the bed, see cleaning mattress stains and dust mites too. A washable sofa cover or throw makes cleaning much easier.
