You cannot avoid hair on your hardwood floors when you have furry friends in your home. It is normal even for a healthy dog to shed some hair on a regular basis.
This scenario worsens when your canine is poorly groomed or has a skin infection that triggers regular itching and scratching.
Dog owners with hardwood floors sometimes have a tough time cleaning hair and fixing dog scratches on hardwood floors.
But for the love of a pet, this has become part of our household chores, and we have to find an easy way of doing it.
Dogs enjoy playing, scratching, and itching and in the process a ton of hair falls off. The hair tends to accumulate in corners of the room and under surfaces of your furniture.
Hair can also stick to upholstery, area rugs, and on your clothes. While cleaning, be sure to focus more in those areas.
Cleaning pet hair is notoriously difficult, but there are ways you can use to minimize or remove hair from your wood floors.
Cat or dog hair should be removed from the floors on regular basis before it can be tracked to other areas of your home.
Regular sweeping is a common practice for cleaning hardwood floors but a traditional broom cannot be used when dealing with hair. It agitates hair and sends it flying everywhere in the house.
Vacuums not specifically designed for pet hair will also do the same. So, what is the best way to remove dog hair from hardwood floors?
Things You Can Do
1. Using a Microfiber Duster/Mop
A microfiber duster is the best for trapping and collecting hair on the floor.
The material creates an electrostatic charge when moved on the floor and attracts pet hair, fur, and fine dust particles with ease.
Therefore, we found it the best for getting rid of pet hair from wood floors.
Microfiber pads can also be attached to a mop head and used for deep cleaning hardwood floors. During mopping, it is good to ensure that you completely wring out excess water to avoid damaging your wood floor.
Clean or replace the pad when they become heavily soiled or have collected a lot of fur. Microfiber pads are hand- and machine-washable and can be used several times, making them economical.
2. Pet Hair Vacuum Cleaner
There are different types of vacuum cleaners such as upright canisters, handheld, and robotic vacuums that are designed for various surfaces.
The best vacuum cleaner for pet hair on hardwood floor has to have a hard floor attachment, filters, and strong suction power.
Hard floors attachments are always gentle on hardwood floors, so there’s no worry about scratching. Avoid using a vacuum with a beater bar that can damage the floor.
Filters help trap microscopic particles such as pet dander that can cause allergies. Strong power is important for sucking up even the finest fur.
3. Using a Damp Mop
Dampen a mop with clean water and wring out excess to ensure no water is left standing on the floor surface.
Mop your floor or areas with hair and if you suspect any water is left on the surface, immediately follow with a dry towel. A damp mop picks up pet hair from the wood floors effectively.
My friend uses a Wet Swiffer Jet and she has told me it is perfect in collecting nagging hairs from the floor. Be careful when using Swiffer Jet on your wood floor to avoid too much moisture on your floor.
4. Rubber Broom
A rubber broom is an ideal tool for picking up most notorious pet hairs from your floors. Natural rubber attracts and collects animal fur from surfaces with ease.
After using your broom, you will see a lot of hair in the bristles. Simply wash your broom with a detergent to sanitize it and remove the pet hairs.
How to Minimize Pet Hair in your House
You can minimize the amount of cat or dog fur on your floors and upholstery by doing the following:
- Properly grooming of your pets through bathing and brushing on a regular basis to remove loose, old hair before it is shed.
- Moderately trim the dog hair to remove hair that is likely to fall through shedding. Leave a reasonable level of hair on the body to avoid exposing the pooch to cold and insect bites.
- Ensure your canine has a healthy skin and coat through a balanced diet and regular medical checkups.
- Control pests such as fleas and ticks to prevent a canine from scratching and itching due to allergic bites.
- Keep your dog busy and so that it may not get bored and start self-biting and licking the skin
- Train your pets to spend most of their time away from areas floored with wood. You can designate an area you find friendly to clean.
Conclusion
Pet owners cannot avoid the problem of hair in the house.
Since furry friends spend most of their time on floor, this is where you will find most of the hair.
It will be good to remove it immediately before it is tracked to other areas such as on your clothing, furniture, the kitchen, and bedrooms.