Tricks for Dealing With a Hairy Home

I have long, dark hair and lots of it. You’d know this if you went into my home even if you’d never met me because it is everywhere. Whether the hair in your home is your own or belongs to your pet, dealing with shedding hair is a challenge. Here, some tips on how to deal with it!

Dust with a dryer sheet: Yet another use for the all-purpose dryer sheet! They’re a magnet for hair (the used ones work just as well as the new ones) plus they leave behind a fresh scent.
Swiffer daily! Whether you use an electrostatic cloth, a dryer sheet, or a piece of fabric or towel wrapped around a mop, daily dusting of the floor is essential. I’m constantly shedding hair which seems to gang up with any dust in the vicinity to repopulate my dust bunnies as quickly as I eliminate them. Daily dusting keeps them to a tolerable minimum.
Brush carpets before vacuuming: Start by giving the carpet a light misting (water with a few drops of fabric softener ups the static to attract hair), then use a stiff bristled brush or broom to gather up the loose hair. Finish with a quick vacuum.
Lint roll your furniture: You can buy lint rollers, tape wrapped around your fingers or that aforementioned dryer sheet but a good swipe is necessary to pick up stray hairs, especially on fabrics with a nap or a texture.
Finger comb or brush your (or your pet’s) hair daily. We all lose about a hundred hairs a day. The challenge is that when your hair is long, those hundred hairs can look like a good handful. Spread that around your house and you see the problem. I’m sure the “100 strokes a day” axiom was coined by a frustrated housekeeper. A good gentle brushing will pick up the naturally shedding hair. Dogs love to be brushed; make it part of your daily dog lovin’. Cats are a different story. For your feline friends, a Cat-A-Comb brush might become your new favorite object. Mount it on a corner your cat likes to rub up against and it’ll give them a massage while grabbing shedding hair.

(Image: Gretchen Weiner, used with permission)