We love our pets, but the truth is that they shed – a lot. For some of us it might seem like no matter how much we clean there’s always more pet hair and it gets absolutely everywhere.
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Even when you wash your clothes, bedding and towels it might seem like the hair sticks to the fabric or gets caught in the washing machine. If you’re looking for some tips on removing your pet’s hair from the laundry – either the machines or the clothes you’re washing – here’s a help.
Why is it an issue?
You know when you give your dog a bath, and you get those clumps of wet fur that don’t quite drain as quickly or might be preventing the water from quickly draining? This is the same thing that can happen in your washing machine, over time.
When the water doesn’t drain from your washing machine as it should it not only puts unnecessary wear and tear on your machine, but it can also put undue stress on the plumbing of your house.
This is why it’s important to try and remove as much pet hair from your clothing before it enters the washing machine as possible.
If there is too much hair, and it clumps together enough, you might find yourself having to take apart your washing machine to remove the clog.
In a worst-case scenario, an issue that isn’t addressed due to pet hair clogging the machine, you might have to buy a whole new washing machine because it just can’t be fixed. The best thing you can do is to make sure you prevent it from happening in the first place.
Prevention
Like with so many other things to do with your pet, preventing the hair from getting to the laundry is a major help when it comes to keeping the hair to a minimum.
We all know that you can’t stop your pet from shedding – although they are breeds that shed less than others if you search them out – but there are steps you can take to make sure they leave less of their hair laying around.
Brushing
Every day, even for just 5 minutes, give your dog or cat a quick brushing outside the house. Now some of us live in an area that experiences very cold winters, and it’s no fun to hang out outside and try to brush you dog or cat.
If this is the case, you can designate a spot in your home where you’ll always brush the dog so you know where to sweep up after.
Vacuuming
This might seem obvious when you have pets, but life gets busy and some of us might forget to vacuum on the regular. Depending on how many pets you have, and how much each sheds, vacuuming once or twice a week can really keep the hair they shed from settling into your home and keeping it away from the washing machine.
This includes the beds your pet has designated as their own bed. The more often you vacuum your pet’s bed, blankets and other designated areas the less hair will settle their.
You should also vacuum them before you put the items into the washing machine as this will prevent hair from building up in the machine later on.
Lint Roller
These are sold almost everywhere and come in a variety of sizes. The sticky paper on lint rollers can definitely help, and they will remove the pet hair that’s trapped or woven into the fabrics of our clothing.
They can also definitely help with making sure there isn’t any pet hair on you before you leave the house. Keeping a lint roller in your drawers, car and even purse can help reduce the amount of fur transferred from your clothing to the washing machine.
You might also like to read about: Best Vacuum for Pet Hair Under 150
Removing Pet Hair from Your Clothes
Pet hair, unfortunately, doesn’t just stick to your pet’s beds and blankets – it will get all over your clothes and your bedding, too. With clean clothes, the last thing you want to see – especially on your favourite black sweater – is your dog’s hair adding a new design, no matter how much you love your dog.
Before you put your clothes, bedding and towels in the washing machine run them through a cycle of about 10 minutes in your dryer, on tumble without any heat. You might be thinking well, I dry my clothes after I wash them but there is a reason this is suggested.
Putting your clothes into the dryer before you wash helps to soften the fabrics, which will actually loosen the pet hair trapped in the fabrics of your clothes. The pet hair, once loose, will actually get caught in the lint trap of your dryer, which means it won’t be building up in the washer.
After you take them out of the dryer, give them a good shake to get rid of any pet hairs that might still be on the clothes and then throw them in washer, on whatever setting you’d normally wash them at.
TIP:make sure you clean out the lint trap of your dryer after this so that when you put the freshly washed clothes back in the dryer they don’t have the same pet hair deposited back into the clothes.
Adding Vinegar
Some people may already wash their clothes with vinegar as it has been known to get your clothes that much cleaner, but when it comes to pet hair it can serve an additional purpose.
During the rinse cycle, adding in about a half cup of white vinegar can help remove the pet hair from your clothing if there was some trapped there. Doing this acts in a similar way that the pre-wash dryer cycle does: it relaxes the fabrics so that any trapped pet hair can be release and won’t be on the clothes when you move them to the dryer.
After Washing
If you have done a lot of laundry lately, or maybe just a few loads of laundry that had a lot of pet hair – like the dog’s blanket – there’s an additional step you can take to help keep your washing machine running smoothly.
When you’re done with the laundry, run an empty wash cycle to help keep your washing machine clean and pet hair from building up. When the wash cycle is complete, wipe down the machine with a wet cloth to catch the stray hairs left behind.
Regular Grooming
For certain breeds of dogs, regular grooming can help minimize the amount of pet hair you find in your home. Some dogs will require actual hair trimming or grooming, while others need a good bath and scrub to keep them clean.
While some of us give our dogs a bath at home, others will take their dog to a salon or grooming place so that the mess doesn’t get everywhere in their house. If you take your dog to a salon for regular bathing, some places offer treatments – either shampoo or a special kind of brushing – that can help minimize the amount of shedding your dog experiences for about 6 weeks after the treatment.
Special Gadgets
There are some special tools you can purchase that you throw into the washing and/or dryer to collect up pet hair and keep it off of your clothes as they wash.
These gadgets work by dislodging the pet hair from your clothes, bedding and towels and collect it into the gadget. Some of them are made of a sticky material that pet hair will be more likely to cling to than your clothes. You can find these at most pet stores.
We love our four-legged family members – they bring so much joy and happiness to our lives – but they also require extra cleaning because they shed far more than humans do. We do our best to make sure we keep the hair contained, and out of house, but sometimes it just seems like it’s always going to be there.
When you wash your clothes, you don’t want fresh, clean clothes to have dog hair stuck to them already so there are things you can do to prevent or minimize the amount of hair you see on your clothes. Regular brushing and grooming of your pet can go a long way to removing pet hair from clothes before it even gets to the washing machine, which means it won’t clog up your washer over time.
Other things like frequent vacuuming will not only keep the dog hair from your clothes and washer, but it can help to keep the pet smell out of your house and keep your house looking much more clean.
If you do find your clothes still have some pet hair on them when you’re washing, using white vinegar will not only help remove the hair from the clothes but it can also help to get your clothes cleaner. Keep your home and your clothes as clean as possible, and pet hair free, with some of these quick and easy tips.