Comments on: Techniques for taming pet fur tumbleweeds

By: Laetitia in Australia

Laetitia in Australia — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:32:49 +0000

Suggestion – keep the pets outside – give them their own houses to fur up. If that’s not an option, get a poodle or one of those ugly hairless cats.

Yes, I am half joking. But my DH is allergic to cat dander so my cat had to learn to live outside and only come inside on special occasions (like, we’re moving anyway, what does it matter if she walks through the house so long as we don’t accidentally box her). Into the bargain, we rent and most rental properties that allow pets only allow outside pets.

By: kbfenner

kbfenner — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:55:50 +0000

Have a German “Shedder” Dog and a Weimaraner. The Weim is only a problem a copuple of times a year, but the German Shedder…I bless the Furminator. It’s too expensive, but it really really saves me on vacuum bags. I never have to bathe my dog because she has a new coat every week, it seems, and the Furminator keeps 80% of it outside now. We get her brushed after every morning walk, unless she got wet.

The Zoom Groom, or just a red rubber curry comb, works great on the Weim.

We call them dust puppies, by the way.

By: Kate

Kate — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 16:41:15 +0000

I have an Austrailian Cattle Dog that blows out his undercoat twice a year. The Furminator is a lifesaver! I had the dog’s coat shaved down to an inch in spring 2008 (in prep for the summer months). I then used the Furminator to catch whatever grew out.

By: Victoria

Victoria — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:18:17 +0000

HI was just reading your comments here, looking for a low tech way of regularly removing dog fur from an area rug, and have a tip.

We have 4 furry dogs that we don’t get groomed (yes I know that would make it easier if we got them cut but that’s another story) – but I also live in Mexico where I don’t think I could easily find the vaccuums mentioned anyway(+ they’d be more expensive).

Now, the tip: My son was visiting, and just by kicking along the rug with his athletic shoes on, he cleaned it better than the results from the 3 step-process of beating it/brushing it/vacuuming it with an industrial vac!

I’m thinking it could make an excellent indoor work out for the legs, LOL… but made me wonder if there was some type of tool that would work this way. The rubber glove idea came the closest but I think it’d be easier to kick than rub…

By: Janet, The Organizing Genie

Janet, The Organizing Genie — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 20:49:51 +0000

We have 2 cats and I highly recommend the Roomba too.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:27:14 +0000

I as well am a Roomba fan. Bonus points if you can get your (small) pet to ride on it as it goes around the room. Efficient and entertaining!

By: Tere

Tere — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:31:54 +0000

I put cut-to-size folded over cheesecloth in the heating/AC ducts and misted each of them with oil. This is replaced once a year. No restriction of airflow. I also got rid of all my carpeting; had laminate flooring put down, my place is much cleaner. Much easier to run the vacuum with only the floor brush attachment, I don’t bother to change attachments when I do the upholstered furniture. I can tell which piece of furniture my cats sleep on by the amount of hair gets stuck on the brush. Since my 3 cats sleep on my bed, I do the bed too. Surprising how much hair clings to the brush. Something else for many to think about. How often do you open your windows and allow fresh air to come in? I haven’t used my air conditioning at all this summer. I have an indoor/outdoor thermometer/hygrometer and let the combination temp and humidity level outdoors determine whether to run the window fan or close my place up and run a table fan. Opening your windows (but not during allergy season, of course) makes all the difference in the world.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:58:27 +0000

I can heartily recommend Dyson, an English brand of vacuum cleaners. I adore mine. It’s a joy to use. Friends and family who raised an eyebrow at the initial investment have been converted (I’ve even taken it to friends’ houses for a demo!). Who would have thought I’d enjoy vacuuming?!
Regarding pet fur, I have a few lint rollers around the house – I’m in Australia, and a good one here is called the Aussie Lint Roller (nice ‘n’ simple!).

I’m concerned at the various suggestions here to bathe cats twice a month, shave them etc. Pets mean fur. Get over it. Cats have natural oils in their fur. Washing too often upsets the balance in their fur/skin.

Love this site.

Jenny
Australia

By: Shelly

Shelly — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:57:15 +0000

Get kitty a shave! I have a long haired calico kitty and once or twice a year she goes to a groomer (who will do cats) and she gets a “lion” cut. The lady is so good at it, she even puts cotton in kitty’s ears so the noise doesn’t bother her. Doing this, made a HUGE impact on the amount of kitty dander in my house and the added bonus was…no more hairballs for her! When her coat does grow back out, it’s really beautiful. Of course, I don’t have her trimmed during winter, but she’s a house cat anyway so it probably doesn’t matter.
Consider doing this…I’m amazed at the LACK of hair around the house!

By: Caroline

Caroline — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 09:12:10 +0000

Hi! I realize it’s kind of too late to comment on this, but I have a German Shepard mix, a rottweiler mix, and my boyfriend has a cat. I also recently purchased the FURminator (www.furminator.com), and it’s freakin awesome. I filled up tons of grocery bags full of hair, and it made a noticeable difference in the furry tumbleweeds throughout my apartment. I use it about once every other week. A word of advice though, get the smallest size they make for dogs, the bigger one is just the same except wider and costs $30 more. Plus it’s easier to brush around their ears and necks.

By: Dr. Patty Khuly

Dr. Patty Khuly — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 16:25:18 +0000

OK, I’ll jump on the Roomba bandwagon myself. As a vet, I also recommend the Furminator pet brush–it gets out all the dense, flyaway undercoat most likely to bunch into dustbunnies. I talk about it so much on my blog you’d think this company would cough up some sponsorship $. Bathing helps immensely and fatty acid supplements and skin/thyroid checks are critical for those that lose huge hunks of fur. Great blog!

By: wiezy

wiezy — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 20:34:02 +0000

I 100% agree with Rachel. The Swiffer Sweeper Vac hangs on my kitchen wall charging and is nothing like pulling out a big vac. I also use both sides of the Swiffer clothes to reduce waste.

By: dog houses

dog houses — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 04:08:28 +0000

Well, I suggest Roomba too! I think that’s better cuz as compared to other vacuum, it cleans under the bed.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:07:09 +0000

My husband is an AC Tech and even the reliable filters may need to be changed more than seasonally. Make it a habit to look at your filter in your return at least monthly.

Microfiber rags are amazing and reusable–a big plus over Swiffers. I wince at the thought of how popular microfiber upholstery has become. We’ve got chenille and it’s challenging enough. A quick swipe with a lint brush gets the worst of it.

By: lana

lana — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 01:00:09 +0000

I just gotta give props on the dog portrait. I saw it flickr a few months ago and fell in love. Excellent job, Matt.

I’m also a fan of the Roomba. Not only does it perform better than expected, it seems to have helped all of our allergies too since I use it more often than our regular vacuum. My only complaint is that it’s seriously noisy (and it takes too long to dock itself when done), but overall the pluses outweigh the minuses.

The microfiber mop is another great suggestion. It fits under low tables and things that the Roomba can’t get under.