Those aren't tricks - those are chores. Can you recommend a magical cure that doesn't involve me doing any actual work?

Yes. Have only leather seating in your home and wood or tiles floors throughout. Also get a short-haired animal--they still shed but it's less noticeable!

I shed more than a Labrador... only my hair is shoulder-blade length, thick, and dark. It's just awful. I have to do all of the above just to keep it to a minimum hair horror. (My drains are a whole other issue.)

elaineb- I've got it! Dyson needs to invent a pet vacuum where the animal walks through the device, kind of like the metal scanner thing at airport security. It would suck all loose hair from the animal. It would come in various sizes, or better yet, the size could be adjustable. And it would be very quiet so as not to freak out skittish types. The only work you would have to do is to turn it on and open a package of treats and get one out to entice your pet through it. And empty the hairball canister periodically.

Problem solved.

"daily dusting of the floor is essential" ... if you can't tolerate any hair whatsoever. In which case, you'd be better off bald and pet-free.

We have two cats and two dogs. Weekly vacuuming is critical, and I am a believer in a high-end vacuum. We invested in the Dyson "Animal" (retails for nearly $700 with tax these days) and I will never go back to a mid-range vacuum.

In the summer we have the dogs shaved and this helps tremendously. Our long haired cat hardly sheds, while our short haired cat probably sheds proportionately more than the dogs -- so she does in fact get a daily 5 minute "currying" with a rubber cat curry. It's our regular cuddle time together, and it keeps the pet hair problem to a minimum. Oh, and I get endless amusment over her funny little curry-brush-dance-and-roll antics. It's great youtube material for other kitty-porn lovers.

@ElaneB: get rid of your pets.

I have hardwood and tile throughout my house and still have massive hair issues even though only one of my two cats sheds. His white hair shows up very clearly against the dark wood. I've been thinking of investing in a Roomba so I don't have to do daily sweeping.

PS

Or ask your husband not to shave his face for several days so he's nice and bristley, and then have him cuddle with the pets. Pet hair will be magically removed from the pet and be perfectly adhered to the husband.

I actually have asthma as a result of a 3 month bout with chronic bronchitis. I also have two cats that I am allergic to. Good times!

I have found that rotating my air filter religiously and running the fan function of the AC, as well as air purifiers (one next to their litter and one in my bedroom) makes a huge difference as to dander.

As for their hair, we have found that the best thing is to set up the environment to minimize our upholstery. We removed carpet from our main living space and used hair trapping fabric for the places they tend to nest.

We do vacuum and dust on a regular basis (ideally once a week but sometimes every other week) but definitely not every day. I will confess that I am in love with my little microfiber push brush - it takes all of 30 seconds and it picks up everything!

Most people are surprised when they come over - several people have mentioned that it doesn't smell like we own cats and we don't have a lot of hair everywhere.

Am I the only person who finds that dusting and Swiffer really don't capture hairs? I've never used dryer sheets because they're not great for the environment, but I may cave and buy a package if they're actually effective (and they're certainly no worse for the ecosystem than Swiffer products, which I buy, hypocrite that I am).

What basically happens is that I Swiffer or dust, and the hairs fly away then immediately settle back down a few minutes later. The only thing that's really worked is a dampened paper towel but it's still not ideal.

When I pull up all my shades and the light floods into my loft, I am in shock by the hair everywhere. It was at its worst in our last apartment which had dark walnut floors and black countertops. Dark surfaces are pretty unforgiving.

No matter how neat my house is, you'll find at least one furball that I've missed somewhere. It's a never-ending, and losing, battle for me.

Jess, I owned a Roomba when I ONLY had a cat (now I have a long-haired dog). It quit on me two months after I purchased it and I couldn't get it fixed. I know some people really like them but mine was a huge waste of money. I wish I had just bought a vacuum for $350-400 instead.

I use portable air cleaners which helps make the hairs & dust stick to surfaces, so I can easily pick them up, instead of letting them fly through the air. I turn on the air cleaners for an hour before I clean house. Then I use a high quality vacuum - a reusable microfiber cloth for swiping surfaces - and - instead of a lint roller a pair of rubber kitchen dishwashing gloves (rub those over the furniture, before vacuuming, and all the fur balls up for easy pick-up - and - at far less expense than regularly replacing lint rollers).

Oh my goodness, me and boyfriend have this discussion ALL THE TIME! Both of us have very long dark hair, but his is the thick type that seems to explode everywhere! I call him "the hair factory". I have had a long haired dog, and I swear, living with the boy is worse for hair!! Should I get rid of him? (Only joking...)

Seriously, the time for us to invest in a decent $300-400 vacuum is coming quick

I find that the Swifter dry mop works really well in addition to vacuuming, especially in the bathroom.

@archdarling - I was helping my friend make knitted hats and ended up not sending her the first hat because it was too small. I discovered that it was AH-MA-ZING for dusting! It picks up so much without making it all airborn. I also love my microfiber dust cloths. I have also used socks, turns inside out, over my hand.

I have threatened to make my dog a zippered tyvex bodysuit because he sheds so much.

2 adults, 1 toddler, 2 cats.

We recently got a Neato vacuum robot (we've had a couple of Roombas die on us). A month in, we love it. It doesn't do a perfect job vacuuming, but it does a really fine one every day on a schedule when we are not home. The scheduling, recharging (it always finds its way 'home' to recharge) and larger size of the dust bin mean that we don't have to do anything to have clean floors.

It is expensive and loud (if you happen to be home), but so far, we really like it.

http://www.amazon.com/Neato-XV-11-Robotic-Vacuum-System/dp/B003UBPB6E

I have butt-length hair and when I lived in my mother's house and had carpet in my bedroom, every now and then, just for fun, I'd rub my hand against the carpet around my deskchair and "harvest" a massive hairball. >.> (Well, it was also to save me the trouble of cutting them off of the vacuum's beater bar later....)

I comb my hair while conditioning it in the shower; they say not to brush when your hair is wet, but I don't think it does my (not particularly thin) hair much damage (no yanking because the conditioner makes the comb slide through my (straight) hair easily), and the massive clump of loose hair that winds up in the mesh strainer and not elsewhere in my apartment is kind of gratifying. In the morning I also comb my hair while leaning over the bathtub. I still shed a bit outside the tub, but not so much that it stresses out the scooba, although I forgot about my rugs for a couple of months and had to lint-roller them for hours. >.>

@ *SPANKY* - I'm sold! Just tell me when you bring this dream machine to market

We have three cats and the weekly dust bunnies are seriously ridic. I touch up with a cordless stick vac throughout the week and vacuum with the big canister vac on the weekend (including upholstery). If that's not good enough, I throw my hands up in defeat, for I have a life.

I have a velour lint-brush mitten that is great for picking up cat hair. I use it to wipe down the couch once a week, and any other surface the cat claims while I'm at work. I also have a beach towel that works with my bedroom decor, and spread it on the foot of the bed where the cat sleeps at night. Just toss it in the wash with the sheets.

Me and my dogs shed horribly. Its still all over the place but having leather sofas and getting a nice pet-specific vacuum have helped a lot. Getting seating that pet fur can't stick too is the easiest and best thing you can do in these situations.

I have three sheepdog-esque Bearded Collies with loooong hair that tangles in the vacuum. (That vacuum brush is called a beater bar, who knew?) I have to pre-brush the carpet with a rubber lint brush, then pick up the bigger tumbleweeds by hand before I vaccuum with the hose attachmen,t otherwise their hair wraps up the beater bar and freezes it in action. I always have to stop after 5 minutes to disassemble the thing and cut the hair out with scissors. Would love to find a vacuum that could accommodate extra long hair so I don't have to do my carpet cleaning trifecta weekly!

Wow, I thought I was the only one with this problem! For those of us who don't want to spend hundreds on a vacuum, I've found that the $80 Eureka Pet Lover works great for me. I bought it at Best Buy (the link is too long to post here). Has lasted me two years so far, using it on carpet.

A few tricks that I've found helpful with my two cats:
--Dyson Animal vacuum (expensive, but many available on CL and make sure to wash filter thoroughly and it'll last forever)
--Bissell Pet Hair Broom with rubber bristles (running a rubber glove over furniture also works)
--The Furminator brush for weekly brushing
--Haircuts in the summer (my cats shed much more in warmer weather and they appreciate a haircut one a year)

My husband and I have come up with a workable solution for the two of us with our dog and cat in about 400 square feet:

I took a pattern off re-nest from a long time ago for a swiffer cover. That works great on our hardwood floors and flat surfaces, but not so much on the carpet or the upholstery. My solution has been to use a rubber upholstery brush on furniture and rugs once a week. It takes about an hour for me to get everywhere, but the whole process gets everything remarkably clean. When we're really desperate, we throw the slipcovers in the wash with no harm done.

If we don't touch up throughout the week, it can get pretty hairy, but we also do periodic touchups.

It seems like a lot of you have really long and thick hair like I do (and 2 dogs)! Here is a tip to make your vacuum cleaner last longer, as I had already given up with mid-range vacuums in the past due to burning them out.
I now own 2 Dysons - a larger animal model and a smaller stick vacuum for smaller pick ups. Each time, before or after you use it, check the rollers on the bottom as hairs probably wound itself around it. Pull out the hairs and any other pieces of string, fibers...The hairs do not break, they will keep stretching themselves around the roller, probably adding stress to the motor. Since I have been doing this, never had a problem with my vacuum and had my animal model for about 6 years now!

@ArchDarling I know how you feel with the Swiffer cloth issues: that's why I made a swiffer cover. Works great, has one side with a ton of ridges for sweeping and is reversible to a flat mopping/scrubbing side.
I just throw it in the wash when I'm done. It works better than almost any other broom I've used.

Fuller Brush company makes a brush with a Velcro surface and reversible handle that is the best thing I have ever used for cleaning up the hair my Persian cat leaves on my furniture. I have one in every room of the house and they last for years. If weekly vacuuming isn't keeping up with the hair then perhaps it is time to step up the grooming sessions.

Wow, I'm really, really glad that both I and my cats have short hair!

To keep the dust rhinos down I tend to sweep regularly and vacuum the rugs when I remember. I'm a lazy housekeeper and am only bothered when there are drifts of fur so it works for me. I've given up on keeping the furniture cat-hair free so it's good that the cats kind of match the upholstery. The couch gets lint-brushed and vacuumed before company shows up, though.

Longer haired dogs are easier to clean up after. The fur forms nice dust bunnies you can easily suck up with a vacuum cleaner. The three pit bulls in my house have short coarse hair that falls and stays on the floor and weaves itself into microfiber sofa. I will never buy upholstery again! All leather from here on out, and I have hardwood floor throughout the house.

To help control my dog's dry skin, I started adding salmon oil to his food. I am sure there is a more intelligent way to administer it than what I do, which is just buy the very expensive version made for dogs (human-grade would work, too), but a side-effect is that it has seriously curbed his shedding. He sheds dramatically less after just a couple weeks of salmon oil... so less hair to sweep up.

Do check with your vet, though, especially if you use human-grade salmon oil. You can overdose your dog with Omega-3 as is in salmon oil, so be careful!

Kate, thanks much! Your homemade cloth sounds great. I am not a sewer so I end up just knotting an old t-shirt around my Swiffer most of the time. I should try to convince a friend who sews to make me a proper cover in exchange for a good dinner or something. :-)

We have a huge dog..(Anatolian Shepherd)... after months of daily vacuuming I decide to invest in a Neato robotic vacuum.. best purchase ever! As long as it runs daily I have very little fur lying about.

A hairy house is something I struggle with everyday (we are a family of 4 plus 1 very sheddy beagle). I try to vacuum and run the shark steamer daily across our slate floors and at least twice a week use the lint roller brush on the couch but no matter how much I do it the very next day the hair is back (I absolutely can not stand the gritty feeling of bare feet on my floors because of the hair). I love these tips, especially the dryer sheet, I've never heard that one before (I'm going to have to try that right now). Thanks for the tips!

I used to have long hair, now it's a pixie, WAAAAY easier to live with! Anyhow, we got a Dyson Animal (with cats & rabbits in the house) and absolutely love it except for having to clear the beater bar of MY hair every so often. (A big chore.) A Dyson Animal is the ideal machine for pets with hair not longer than about 6 inches.

For humans exceeding that, I suggest using the open ended tools (no beater bar) first to suck up the long hair, then the beater bar for deeper cleaning. (I just used the attachment tube with no attachments or the little "round" upholstery brush.)

I also have a rubber "bristled" broom "as seen on TV" a few years ago. (Mine was the Home Depot version...) It is another way to collect and remove the long hair before getting to the dirt and dust beneath it.

The main thing is that if you choose to have long hair and long haired pets, there will simply be special cleaning issues.

I have long dark hair, two cats, and a husband who cleans up inadequately after shaving. =) These work for me:

- Dyson animal vacuum <3

- I only brush my hair in the bathroom and in front of the dresser in the bedroom to keep shedding localized, and use a lightweight stick vacuum on these two areas every day - couple minutes

- Groom kitties everyday. It's relaxing and a way to spend time with them.. five minutes

- The extra furry cat gets a shave every summer

- Put down cozy throws on the back of couches, on pet beds and other comfy spots the cats like to sleep on, throw in the wash every week to get rid of accumulated fur

Still working on the husband ><

We have 2 dogs (1 pitbull 1 american bulldog) and 2 cats (1 burmese and 1 short haired)

We also have wood floors. I bought a hoover floormate from walmart for $100 on sale, and it has been a life saver. It vacumes, washes, and dries. The cleaner you use for the floormate smells really fresh and clean, and it picks up all of my beautiful Bella's tiny hairs. I really should wash the floors every other day.... but I don't.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hoover-Floormate-Hard-Cleaner-H3032/5723667

If you could empty out this Pledge Animal Hair Remover from time to time, it would be better than any lint roller on furniture. Works on my sofa, which has a nubby weave...what was I thinking??

http://www.pledge.com/en-US/Products/Pages/fabric-sweeper-for-pet-hair.aspx

I read this and I just now went around the baseboards in some of my rooms with a dryer sheet... everything is so clean now! I'm pretty impressed with how well that works, and it doesn't spread any of it around like other things I've tried do... Awesome!

LOL ElaneB!!! What's helped in my house: getting a leather sofa and replacing wall to wall carpet with hardwood (LR/DR) and tile (basement). Huge difference in the amount of work.

LOL katalyst! I didn't realize how much dogs shed until I got my dog. Add that to my own waist-length dark hair, and it's quite a chore to keep up with all the hair/fur. I got a Mint robot floor cleaner, but haven't given it a try yet. You can attach swiffer wipes to it and it automatically cleans the floor (but only in one room, I think). If it works well, it will be fantastic!

I live rurally. We heat with two wood stoves. We have three dogs and two cats. As an investment toward my ongoing sanity we purchased the Dyson Animal and the Dyson stick (portable - no chords, just recharge) vacuums. We have leather covered furniture, some area rugs, but hardwood in the living room and study and ceramic tile in the kitchen. I never have to deal with much hair around any longer. I do a deep vacuum with the
Animal on the weekends and during the week zip around every few days with the stick vacuum. I have in all truthfulness tried EVERYTHING ELSE - dryer sheets, alternative vacuum brands, dusters, sprays of various types, electrical air purifiers that trap hair, mops covered in a variety of things from paper towels to T shirts etc. etc. etc. Carry on with these alternatives if you must however the two above suggestions are the only things that will work.

Not that I'm a fan of their footwear, but rubber Crocs on your feet are a great way to pre-clean any carpets before vacuuming - it spares your vacuum dealing with long hair. And you don't have to get down on hands and knees to do a whole room.

I'm also a fan of the Furminator pet grooming brushes. They work wonders. I use that once a week, and excess shedding is kept to a minimum.

To protect my sofa, I just throw a nice cotton blanket down to keep pet hair at bay. Then I can shake that outside on the weekends, and toss it in the wash. If we have company coming, the blanket is super easy to remove for an instantly clean sofa.

Hairy beater bar solution: get a Dyson and their "Low Reach Tool" attachment. As far as I can tell, it sucks just as hard as the vacuum in beater bar mode, but without a beater bar.

It'll set you back about $450 full retail, but what the heck. Beats snipping hairs out of the beater bar. Plus the attachment goes under the sofa and up the stairs and stuff like that, and it works better on hard surface floors than the vacuum in upright wood floor mode. (The attachment is $50, vacuum is about $400, at least the last time I looked.)

Also, back when we had a dog I noticed that if I took her outside and brushed her every few days, there was a lot less hair in the house. Brushing inside the house wasn't such a hot idea as a fair amount of hair would fall out but wouldn't get caught by the brush.

Big fan of the hand vac "Shark" for pets. It is great for the nearly daily touch-ups on the furniture and carpeted stairs. I use a washcloth (barely damp with a bit of fabric softener/water) on my Swiffer mop to round up hair on the wood floors between real mopping. I subscribe to a constant rotation of cheap vacuums...rather than one expensive vac. I have the aforementioned hand vac, an upstairs and a downstairs vac. I find that I get about a year out of the vacs (when the belt breaks, the washable filter becomes too hideous, I have trimmed hair out of the brush 50x, etc) then I freecycle and buy another $40 vac. On the surface that seems crazy--but honestly I wasn't getting much more of a lifecycle out of expensive vacs due to discontinuation of filters or belts or general failure.

search for "swiffer cover" on etsy and you can find lots of knitted swiffer covers that you can throw in the washing machine. i haven't tried it myself, so i don't know how it does on hair, but it would solve the trash problem as it is re-useable.

Who on earth would brush their carpet!?

I agree with Nailbunny, the Eureka Pet lover vaccuum works great! I didn't want to invest in a Dyson or other high-end and so the tank, hose, and wheels are a bit cheaper quality, but I've had mine for almost two years and it works great. I use the pet attachment on all the upholstered furniture -- and scratching posts -- and use the regular attachment on my hardwood floors and rugs.

I think cleaning the floors every day is overkill, personally, unless you've spilled something sticky. A small bit of dog, cat, or bunny hair is okay, I mean, if you're going to have pets you're going to have some hair around; kind of like having kids means having horrible plastic toys everywhere. It's just part of the deal.

I clean my place thoroughly once a week and it always looks pretty great. And even that is primarily motivated by the fact that my CAT has allergies!

I have my daughter Swiffer and vac once a week. Other than that, I just ignore the shedding my six cats and I do. Lazy? Yes, but a whole lot less stress.

I've got a cat who is 98% fur, and I have to say my best tip would be to hire a cleaning lady if you can. I resisted for a long time but it is 100% worth it! Second would be to not buy/rent a house with carpet (especially carpeted stairs, such a pain to vacuum) and to furminate at least weekly. Apparently I am the only one, but I had the Dyson Animal vacuum and hated it - my old house was a three-story townhouse with hardwoods, area rugs and carpet. The Dyson did an awful job on thinner area rugs, it did not have different rug settings so it was too powerful and would try to suck them in - I would have to vacuum them on my hands and knees. It was also awful on the carpeted stairs, because the canister didn't detach and so it always felt like the vacuum was fighting against me as I pulled the hose up to do the stairs. The worst was that it died a few months out of warranty. I replaced it with another much cheaper vacuum that I much prefer - I think it's the Bissell pet vacuum and I've had it for several years now with no problem. It has a detachable canister for the stairs and different rug height settings so it was much better with the various floor types in my old house. This was about 5 years ago so maybe they've improved the Dysons since then.

Our dog is a mystery Northern breed (most likely an East Siberian Laika), who, like all Northern breeds, sheds A LOT. We tried swiffer, but my problem with that is it works a little too well. Aka, I end up going through a whole box of clothes by the time I'm done. I wish they made a model that has more surface area. Anyway, we have found that good old fashioned sweeping is the best for us. Our broom has really soft synthetic "bristels" so it sort of picks up the hair instead of just tossing it around. My biggest suggestion: whatever method you choose, do it EVERY DAY. It only takes a few minutes a day (I guess that depends on how big your place is) and is easier than facing a month's worth of fluff. Also, Salmon oil is a must! And daily grooming really helps too!

Two words: shop vac.

Canadian Tire special. Works better than any vacuum ever- both wet and dry. AND it's easy to clean out. It works like gold on the hardwood and leather couch and the bed :)

Oh...I have occasionally hacked my shop vac with the beater bar hose attachment from one of my regular vacuums...and that is the turbo way to handle the sisal rug and my patio furniture--both of which really cling to hair. Good call, HERSELFTHEELF!

I thought it was just me that has my own hair floating around everywhere! I'm so relieved to hear that other people do as well. The dryer sheets sound like a great idea - I'm off to buy some.

Get thee a Roomba. It makes all the difference. I can't believe how much cat hair it collects, which then doesn't get on other things.

I have velvet sofas, so I have to brush them. I use a boar's hair clothes brush, and a brush attachment on a hand held vacuum. That is work, but the sofas look new.

I haven't read all the comments, so don't know if anyone has already mentioned this, but the absolute BEST thing in the world for cleaning up pet and/or human hair is a rubber broom. I bought one a while back at Bed Bath & Beyond, but recently they don't seem to have them. Search "rubber pet hair broom" or something of the sort on Google and buy one immediately. Works awesomely on wood floors and rugs.

Yuck!! Especially when pets are allowed in bedrooms and kitchen area.

I think the best trick (and the one that a site like AT should be promoting) is to match your furniture or floors or rugs (or all of them!) to your pets :) Don't put in dark floors if you have a golden Labrador or a white cat. Don't put in pale rugs or get white furniture if you have dark-haired pets. Our cat matches our grey rug exactly, and her fur is approximately the same darkness as the wooden floors (although obviously not the same hue), and the chair she sleeps in is also a similar shade. So even when the hair builds up, it isn't apparent unless you get down on your hands and knees and look closely.

You can get a damp cloth and rub down your sofa in one direction. Comes off easily. I used to have a Malamute and they leave hair everywhere! Lol.

I just got the Bissell ARGH Pet Hair broom and works wonderfully on my wood floors! (I've also noticed that swiffering doesn't actually do all that much) I have a furminator too although my cat sheds *so* much it doesn't seem to make that much of a difference. Brushing your sofa with a rubber glove definitely helps too.

I thought this was why the Dust Buster (handheld vacuum) was invented! I have a cat, but I shed more than she does. I go around the baseboards of my bathroom, etc. twice a week or so with the Dust Buster and that handles it. I also use a Wet Brush in the shower to brush my hair and it gets rid of lots of the loose hair so it doesn't end up on the floor. As for cat hair, the Furminator is the best thing ever--who knew you could brush that much hair from a cat?!

I highly recommend this stick vac! It's cordless and great for daily vacuuming:

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=16850870

I have the Shark vac and it comes with a pet attachment that I use for furniture (no pets - I'm the culprrit). I would like to try a Dyson one day to see if it really is better. And constant long hair removal from the beater bar is necessary!

I was at Marshall's today and saw these weird cloths called "No More Chemicals." They had one for the bathroom, kitchen, etc., and one was labeled "Dust Magnet." I paid $1.99 for it and WOW IT IS AMAZING. It works better than any microfiber cloth or swiffer-type product I've ever tried. It has a slightly bizarre texture but it REALLY captures dust and hair. Supposedly you can machine wash them up to 100 times.

I can't find them for sale anywhere online except through the UK-based company that produces them. Not even Amazon carries them so I'll be going back to Marshall's tomorrow to buy out whatever's there.

If you guys see these, definitely pick them up! I'm pretty amazed since the packaging is really gimmicky, but wow, they work.

I've vacuumed our dog before. He actually seems to really like it, and it worked really well! He sheds less afterwards than with just a brushing. Of course, he's also a very large dog (weighs 180 lbs), so he's got about as much surface area as some rugs :)

Loved my Roomba, but the battery life is a total joke. The one really great thing I took from it is to use one of those little envelope openers (looks kind of like a credit card but with a hook cut out that has a blade in the corner). Just zip that thing down the rows of your beater brush and it cuts all the hairs and makes them super easy to remove. I vacuum twice a week, steam mop at least once, and dream of replacing all the carpet with cork. Until then, I know I can never commit a crime because the hair I would leave behind would definitely be enough to convict.

I second the Furminator - I have 2 German Shepherds (*cough* German Shedders) and a long-haired cat in 700 square feet. BUT furminate in an outdoor area b/c sucking up the aftermath killed my dyson.

Also have newly acquired asthma and two cats am allergic to (we could start a club). Here are my go-to's. Shark steam/vac for the hardwood floors. No beater brush! No tangling of my long thick hair. Plus the steamI did have to declog it once in the 6 months I've owned it. Cost $150 at Target. For upholstery, I use the Fur Fighter by Scotch, also from Target with replaceable sheets. $8 initial outlay. I also use an electrostatic micro fiber cloth by Casablanca purchased at Whole foods. No chemicals. I've also found, believe it or not, that dragging my cross-trainers' edge, while on my foot, will scrape hair into piles on an area rug, for those who don't want to get down on their knees.

@archdarling
So it picks up things well, but does stuff wash out/off of them easily? That's my issue with the microfiber cloths I've used....

Lepidoptery, I haven't washed mine yet. Supposedly they're machine washable. I imagine a spin in the wash would shake off all the gunk but I can't say for sure!

I vacuum our dogs and have to sweep or vacuum everyday.

Ugh, this was one of my least favorite parts about undergoing chemo. There was hair eeeverywhere, but while my immune system was under all that strain, I wasn't really supposed to do any cleaning that stirred up dust.

Herselftheelf, what brand of the Shop Vac do you have? Is it Mastercraft? (I believe that's the Crappy Tire brand). I have always planned on getting one but it has not happened yet. I was think of the Home Depot one ... Ribit? Ridit? Some such.

It is hard to believe how much greyhounds shed (especially the white ones. I am on my 3rd white greyhound and all three have had extremely thick yet very silky hair and they shed 365 days a year (though there are seasonal peaks).
I love my Dyson and it is worth every penny of the exorbitant price. For the non-carpeted floors, I sweep with a special rubber broom that helps the hair and dust stick together (instead of swirling through the air) and then I use the wet Swiffer pads.

The Hoover LINX Cordless Stick Vacuum is the best little cleaning tool I have found so far. After endless research for pet hair vacuums this was what I bought when my vacuum died. The LINX is only for hard floors not for carpet.
What I love about it- does not scratch my wood floors like the other vacuum did. Its cordless, runs on chargeable lithium battery, no bags, no gross filters. Its light but well made. It sucks up hair better than my very expensive vacuum did. Best value for under 200.00. Easy to use no fussing with cords or dragging a canister around.
Then I use damp mircrofiber towels at the end of my bona mop and some cleaning spray three times a week. Done.
My dog can sit on the sofa that is covered with a quilt. I give the quilt a good shake outside every few days, washed every two weeks. I bought a quilt that does not look like a "quilt" its a simple solid gray west elm one. I choose the dark color so I can see the hair, as soon as I do I shake it out.

My little JRT slept in the bed with me all of his precious 19 years but the dog I have now does not. He sleeps in his bed in my room. I am happy I made that decision.
My house is pretty hair free.

After 5 years of avoiding sitting on the couch for fear of getting up with "fur butt", my husband and I sold all of our fabric furniture and invested in leather sofas and chairs. Best money we've spent on our house! Now it's just a quick swipe with the hand and I have a fur free place to lounge.

I have Pet Hair Sponges in drawers and closets around the house. They are used dry and work great on any surface, including upholstery, to pick up hair. I buy them at my hardware store but Amazon carries them also.

I have very long hair too. Sometimes I wonder how still have any hair on my head given how much ends up on the floor, in my hair brush, in the shower drain, etc.

I guess I am lucky in that it is a pretty close match to the colour of the carpet, but it also seems to cling to he carpet. After vacuuming I go around with my hand and roll it into balls then throw it out. I wish there was an easier way.

Rake your floor. Seriously! I have a rubber rake-kind of thing that is great for both hard floors and carpet. It acts almost like a squeegie on hard floors and will get huge piles of hair off carpeted surfaces. Here's an example of one:

http://www.amazon.com/As-Seen-217412-Sweep-Broom/dp/B000H1RMWQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1326936035&sr=8-2

For floor dusting, I use a mop that has a replaceable microfiber cover/pad. It works better than a swiffer IMO and less waste.

Honestly, at some point I have to throw up my hands and relax a little. I have a dog, she gets bathed at least once a month and the fur on my floor is clean, at least. ;-)

I do, however, sweep and vacuum at least twice a week and dust with a microfiber cloth (best $3 I've ever spent on a cleaning product). Also, instead of using a dustpan I sweep the floors into little piles and then vacuum up the piles.

I have 2 roombas that I rotate from room to room. They work great. Yes, you must replace the battery approx. once a year. And you must follow the directions for cleaning them; after all, they are basically a computer and it is picking up hair and dust! Not a great combination. Clean thoroughly after each use and blow out the underside with some canned air and it will last a whole lot longer. Also, iRobot have phenomenal customer service. Any hint of a problem with the unit or battery and they will ship you a replacement. Second only to Apple for customer service in my book. I wouldn't be a dog owner without one. You can get them on sale for 150 bucks. You don't need the fancy version with all the bells and whistles.

When I used to own Australian Shepherds, my simple, inexpensive solution to remove vast quantities of fur was to take a slightly damp sponge mop (dipped in a dilute solution of liquid fabric softener and warm water) and run it lightly over the surface of my colorfast carpeting. The amount of fur that collected on the mop was astounding and after the carpet was completely dry, the fabric softener deodorized the room. Who needs a Dyson or a Rhoomba?

The Roomba is an awesome solution to pet hair (so long as it's 560 or after - that's when they encased the chassis enough so that dust didn't mess with the mechanism, I know, genius, right, for a vacuum?) ... until it breaks, in which case you'll pay as much to repair it as it cost new (~400) or do the repairs yourself (~200). Oh wait, I'm saying "you" but I really mean me. I did love my Roomba, but they're still working out bugs and the repairs are ungodly expensive.

We just got a P3 robot vacuum (~50 at Amazon) and it works great so far -- we have only wood floors and Amazon reviews indicate it does not deal well with carpets. Similar cleaning mechanism (looks like it's vacuuming randomly but it gets everything). Not quite as strong sucking as Roomba (but it does the job), and a bit more inconvenient (doesn't dock itself so you have to find where it stopped, unloading the dust bin has 1 more step, have to manually block doorways instead of e lighthouses)... but at 1/8 the price I figure we can use it till it dies, and then get another. And another. And another. And still be ahead of the Roomba. Plus it has a Swiffer sweeper on the underside to get dust as well, you just stick in a duster sheet (you can dampen with water or your favorite dusting spray). Oh, and it's way quieter than Roomba.

So that's my answer to how to deal with dogs. I don't work for P3 or Roomba, just sharing my 2 cents from owning both brands.

I used to put used dryer sheets to work for dusting the computer, picture frames, TV and whatnot, but I gave up using dryer sheets so now it's all about the swiffer. Everything that I can reach I swiffer. Even the spiders in the most remote corners get swiffered (I have a bit of a seasonal spider problem that I've just learned to live with; they're kind of like pets now lol).

Has anyone figured out a way to put swiffers on the feet of your pets? I think that would be a great solution for hardwood floors!

LOL at swiffers on pet's feet.

Here's something that might help... I was getting frustrated whenever I would need to vacuum up long hair off the tile floor and the "brushroller off" setting for my vacuums was not the answer. The long hair would not get vacuumed up because it would stay stuck to the brushroller, even when the roller setting was not activated. I needed a stick vacuum that functioned like a dustbuster handheld that was suction-only and didn't even have a brushroller for the hair to caught in. I decided to try removing the brushroller from one of my old 2-in-1 stick vacuums and basically convert it to a suction-only stick vacuum. This works! If you don't have a stick vacuum, you can find many for under $30. Just remove the brushroller and you now have a suction-only stick vac.