In my house we love animals. In fact our love for animals holds no prejudice, openly welcoming cats, dogs, birds, rabbits, ferrets, even rats. We set no limits when it comes to sharing a home with fury companions.
As great as my animals are I DON’T love the hair and odors that come with them!
For me it’s crucial to welcome guests without worrying whether or not they can smell my pets. And I need to be assured that when my grand-daughter crawls on the floor she won’t be eating animal hair. So, among my other many talents I decided I was going to add “animal hair and odor eliminator” to the list.
Breathe Easy with Odor Free Air
Pet odors come from a variety of sources including; natural skin oils, anal glands, ear infections, litter pans, dirt and odors that are picked up outside. Regardless of the source your pet’s odors go everywhere they go, depositing on your floors, furniture, even your clothes. From there these odor particulates attach to dust and are carried through the air you breathe.
To effectively eliminate odors you need to focus on both the surfaces in your home and the air you breathe.
- Neutralize Odors On Your Floors. When it comes to hard floors experience has shown that mopping alone isn’t always enough. To ensure you destroy odor causing particles on your hard floors invest in a simple steamer and run it across your floors once a week. If you have a large number of animals like we do I recommend a daily steam after you mop.
- Remove Odors From Furniture. Upholstered furniture could be a little tougher at getting some odors out but it’s not a lost cause. I have found the most success in using baking soda and a high quality vacuum. Let the baking soda sit for 30 minutes before vacuuming off once a week and you may be surprised at the difference.
- Eliminating Odors from Your Carpet. Baking soda and a high quality vacuum have always proven to be the best choice for eliminating odors in your carpet. I’ve tried the “pet products” that seem to continually burn holes in my wallet but to no avail. I always come back to baking soda and my trusty vacuum.
- Clean Odors From the Air. Everybody knows the best way to clean your air is with an air purifier. What many may not know is that you have two primary types to consider, the widely known HEPA purifiers and the less known ionizers. The first uses filters to trap particles and the other uses an ionizing effect to neutralize particles, causing them to fall out of the air. Whichever purifier you prefer just be sure to pick one designed for animal odors and you’re set.
Have you ever gone to someone’s home, took one look at their floors and then spread out the blanket before putting your baby down? Has that ever happened at your own house?
Let’s face it with animals comes animal hair and try as you might you can’t seem to get ahead. While many products on the market brag on their ability to “release the static cling” for easy hair removal this won’t necessarily eliminate animal hair. Let me explain.
The static charge that exists in hair merely serves as an “attraction” causing hair and fabric to come together so to speak. But this static charge is not what causes hair to cling to fabric. As hair grows it overlaps in layers resulting in a scaly affect. These scales make perfect hocks for snagging and holding onto fabric. This is why releasing the static cling is useless in removing animal hair. So what does work?
Brush. Brush. Brush. Perhaps the most effective way to eliminate animal hair is through prevention. Through regular brushing you can trap a lot of the hair before it hits your floor.
Sweep hard floors daily with a microfiber dust mop. These mops are designed to attract hair and dust using the same static charge that attracts hair to fabric. If you can trap hair before it clings to your carpets you’ll have fewer hairs to fight with.
Vacuum daily. Once the hair attaches to your carpet it gets harder to remove but daily vacuuming will cut your efforts in half. The longer hair is attached to your carpet the more tangled it becomes. I recommend using a vacuum specifically built to remove animal hair like the Miele Cat and Dog Vacuum.
No matter how many animals I have running around my house I feel confident that my floors and air are free of hair and odor. After all eliminating both has been added to my list of talents.
About the Author:
Mikki Hogan lives in North Carolina with her four children and nine-month old granddaughter. Active in animal rescue and homeschooling her three younger children not a moment goes by that there isn’t something to occupy her time. Whether chasing kids or chasing dogs some of the best moments of her life are spent at home with her family.
