Getting pet hair out of carpet
Pets are great to have around the house but they do tend to make a mess. I love having a dog or a cat living with us. They always share their love with everyone and they provide beauty and companionship. My children love to curl up with both our dog and cat-they feel safe and loved with them. Because our pets do so much for us we like to do nice things for them. A special treat now and then seems to make them so happy. However, recently we have had some problems with pet hair in our carpet and furniture. Don't get me wrong-we love our animals-but they seem to be constantly shedding. Whenever anyone with alergies comes to the house they start sneezing and coughing. I have tried to vacuum the hair out of the carpet but this only seems to get the hair on the very top. I know that there are layers of hair pushed deep down into the carpet that should be removed. A friend told me about some techniques for pet hair removal that have really made a huge difference in our lives. Described below are just a few of the methods that she uses to get both cat and dog hair out of her carpet.
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One method involves spraying fabric softener on the carpet to loosen up the hair. Start by adding three parts of water to one part of fabric softener. Spray the mixture onto the carpet, but don't get it too wet. Just a light spray should be good enough. Wait until the carpet is dry and then vacuum. The fabric softener should have freed up the pet hair so that the vacuum cleaner can do its work.
More time consuming methods involve things like running a balloon or other rubber substance over the carpet. Squeegees and rubber gloves are a good alternate if you don't have a balloon. There are some companies that also make excellent vacuums designed to remove animal hair from carpet. Although they might be a little more expensive than the average vacuum, these devices could make a huge difference. For very deep or thick carpet I recommend a carpet rake.
Another method involves running a slightly damp sponge mop over the carpet. Using a clean and slightly damp sponge mop (never use a dirty one on your carpet), you can draw out most of the hair from the fibers. You should then be able to vacuum or otherwise remove the hair.
If the problem seems to be really severe-such that you simply cannot get the hair out of your carpet-I recommend that you have a professional clean your carpets for you. Although this is pricy and time consuming, it does help to ensure that almost all of the hair is out of the carpet. When you look for a carpet cleaning company see if there are any in your area that specialize in pet hair removal. The average shampoo might not really do much to clean out hair that has been pressed deep into the fibers. Often hair becomes entangled in fibers and requires a much more heavy duty cleaning.
Although it is not a method for getting pet hair out of your carpet, you can help to prevent it from getting their in the first place by brushing the hair from your dog. Whenever brushing an animal be sure to do so outside. If you can get rid of most of their loose hair every time they come in, you will have eliminated most of your problem.
