Disclosure: This post about Tips to Keeping Your House Clean When You Have Pets contains affiliate links of pet products I truly love and have used with our pets.
Keeping your home clean can be a challenge as it is but trying to keep your house clean when you have a pet is an entirely different ball game. Being a pet owner, it is easy to find yourself frustrated from time to time when it comes to the mess that can be associated with pets. No matter how cute, cuddly and adorable they are, the mess can be overwhelming. If you share your humble abode with furry friends, chances are you frequently find yourself struggling to keep things clean. I have some simple helpful tips for keeping your house clean when you have pets though. You CAN be a pet loving household, without your home having look or smell bad.
TIPS FOR KEEPING YOUR HOUSE CLEAN WHEN YOU HAVE PETS
Don’t Skip the Bath
Ensuring that your pet has regular baths is one of the most important steps to keeping your home and pet smelling clean and fresh. Too many baths can dry out your pets skin though, so make sure you only give your furry friend a bath every few weeks. If your pet has sensitive skin like our beloved Trinny Dog did, talk to your vet about what products you can safely use on them. Ours was even able to give us sort of the equivalent of dry shampoo for her. It was gentle and the perfect product to use in between her baths or in place of some baths (especially when she got old and it was difficult to get her in and out of the tub).
Brush Them Frequently
Pets with thick or long coats should be brushed daily. Brushing frequently is a great way to keep your pets skin and fur healthy, but it also minimizes shedding. No more fur tumble weeds popping out from under the furniture! I highly recommend The Furminator for long haired pets or those with undercoats. It is what worked best for our German Shepherd and did an amazing job on her undercoat. I suggest brushing pets with long hair/undercoats outside to minimize the cleanup.
FUR BUSTER Rubber Broom With Squeegee – Pet Hair Removal -Dog Hair – Cat Hair – Water Spills – Multipurpose Surfaces – Extendable Pole Makes Cleaning EasyHome-X Multi-Purpose Pet Hair Removal Brush
Furminator deShedding Tool for Dogs, Large, Long Hair
Furminator Long Hair deShedding Tool for Cats, Large
Furminator Nail Grinder Professional Grooming Tool for Pets
Burt’s Bees for Dogs All-Natural Oatmeal Shampoo with Colloidal Oat Flour and Honey | Best Oatmeal Shampoo For All Dogs And Puppies With Itchy Skin
Wipe Them Down
Use a dampened towel to remove any loose dirt and dust from your pet in between baths. Not only will it help to keep that dust and dirt off your floor, but it will also keep the house from smelling like your pets. I actually did this with the dog on a daily basis. She was one that loved to go out and roll around every time I let her out in the backyard. A good wipe-down of her body, paying particular attention to her paws was so helpful in keeping the dirt to a minimum.
Vacuum it up
Regularly vacuum your furniture and floors to make sure that you don’t have to follow everyone around with a lint roller. Make sure to get right into all the nooks and crannies to avoid stray hairs accumulating. With the dog, we found it effective to first use this sort of rubber broom to sweep up her fur first – at least during the spring and fall when her coat was changing over for the season and she had a super thick undercoat.
Being rubber, this broom functioned as a regular broom would but the fur stuck really well to it. I found it left far fewer little stray hairs behind that a traditional broom would. It also had a squeegee side to it as well. When the dog got old and had accidents inside the house, that was really helpful for cleaning up those messes.
PRO TIP: I have a colander that is dedicated just to dirty jobs and never used for food. I would place that in my bathtub and then rinse out the rubber broom over it. The colander caught all the bits of hair and kept them from going down the drain.
Keep Dirt Outside
When your yard gets muddy it’s a good idea to have a towel near the door to wipe your pet’s feet when they come in. It is also a good idea to invest in some door mats that can capture some of that dirt and keep it from being tracked inside. I put them both inside AND outside each of the doors for double the protection.
Having a pet is an amazing experience. They are sweet, fun and cuddly, but they can also be messy. Make sure to take the appropriate steps to ensure that your home stays clean and smells fresh. After all, you want it to be a fantastic place for you and your family to enjoy. Cleaning your home when you have pets, doesn’t have to be stressful.
Filip says
Maybe one of the best solution is buying a robotic vacuum cleaner. Most of the latest ones work really well with dog/cat hair. Great article by the way!