We love our pets in the UK. As a nation, we definitely consider dogs to be “man’s best friend” and a cat is wonderful company. Despite this unconditional love, however, there are a few annoyances that can come from having a furry pet, and one of those is finding dog or cat hair all over your sofa and clothing. If this sounds like something you experience, don’t worry, here are some great solutions that will help you to remove fur from your sofa, your clothes, as well as other soft furnishings around your home.
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| Love your pets, but not everything being covered in hair? These tips will help |
7 Ways To Remove Dog and Cat Fur From Your Sofa And Soft Furnishings
1. Use A Lint Roller
Get something sticky and roll over the surface and hey presto it will be covered in hair, this is how lint rollers work. They work really well on clothes or furniture where there is only a small amount of hair, but it has it's limits. It only really removes surface hair, it's not very good at removing large amount and it involves a large amount of waste as you have to throw the used sheets away. If you like them then check places like poundshops, B&M and Home Bargains to look for large packs that are great value.
2. DIY Tape Glove
We have all done it at one time or other due to the sheer convenience. Just get some sellotape and wrap it around your hand sticky side out and then pat the fabric surface to remove hairs and fluff. It's easy, cheap and quick to do, but like lint rollers it's not great for large amounts of fur.
3. Vacuum
For everyday purposes on carpets and soft furnishings using your vacuum is the fastest way to remove hair from large areas. How effective this method is will depend on your vacuum with most models offering "animal" designs that are best suited to those living with a furry animal. If your pet pooch or feline sheds large amounts of hair or is long haired then you might worry about it clogging the vacuum cleaner or need to remove the hair wrapped around the base regularly.
Obvious solutions right? And not very environmentally friendly. If you are looking for a more eco solution or something more effective for large amounts of hair keep reading.
4. Rubber glove or window squeegee
Spray a fine mist of water over the area then put on a rubber glove, like those big yellow ones and wipe over your carpet or sofa with a firm motion wiping the same direction. The fur should ball up together and be easy to remove. A window squeegee with a rubber edge works in the same way, but the advantage of a glove is you can get into smaller spaces.
5. A rubber brush
Rubber is a great way to get all types of dog fur out of upholstery, soft furnishings, and even clothes. Using gloves or a squeegee (which you can get for around £1 in bargain shops) is a cheap way, but if you want an effective tool that will last you a while then a rubber lint brush is great. It's covered in rubber fingers which grab onto hairs and it can easily be cleaned so you can use it time and time again.
6. Run a damp microfibre cloth over the fabric of your sofa
The damp microfibre cloth is a brilliant trick that works really well on
sofas, as well as hard-to-reach areas of carpets that vacuums can't get to
(such as the edge near the walls). Beware that although a slightly damp
microfibre cloth may help when it comes to removing dog fur from clothing,
it’s really better suited to rough fabrics such as sofas and carpets. To
remove dog fur from your sofa using a microfibre cloth you need to ensure your
cloth is wet all over before squeezing it out over the sink to remove excess
water. Then run the cloth over your sofa and let the microfibres do their
thing. Once you’ve successfully wiped down the sofa using the microfibre
cloth, use a vacuum to collect up any fur that was missed.
Make sure you
don't wash your microfibre cloths with fabric conditioner as that will repel
hair instead of attract it.
7. Remove fur from your sofa using hair spray
Get a towel and spray it with hairspray and let it dry. This makes it anti-static and rougher which will catch the hairs easier when wiped over your sofa. Don't try this on delicate fabrics.
Prevention is the best medicine…3 Ways To Protect Soft Furnishings from pet hair
If there is an area that your pet loves to sleep then covering the area in a towel or blanket will help protect your soft furnishings from the fur as well as dirt and fleas. You can also try spraying surfaces with a fine mist of anti-static spray to reduce the amount of hair that settles on it. One of the most effective ways of reducing the fur on your furnishings though is to regularly comb or brush your pet. This is especially important in the spring and early Summer when they will shed more hair as the weather warms up. This can be a great bonding exercise between the two of you and keep your pet looking good. With short hair cats try using a flea comb so you can check for the little biters as well as remove loose hair.
