Cleaning a multi-pet home

[bluest]

For those of you with multiple pets, how do you keep your homes clean? What do you do and how often? We just have our one dog and a cat but they generate enough dust and fur to drive my family mad. I think it's the exact combination of kitty's thin black fur with Ginger's thick yellow fur that causes it to spread everywhere- in fabric, under furniture, in corners, etc. I've accepted the fact that our house will never be 100% clean. We keep it tidy most of the time, and vacuum, mop and dust once a week. But yesterday I ran the vacuum (a Shark with a clear canister you empty after use), and I was disgusted by the filth it left behind. The vacuum now needs a deep cleaning. So I'm thinking we need to up our game. Also maybe replace our carpets with hardwood floors?

[shellbell]

I have three labs. We have all hardwood floors, I don't think I could ever have carpet again. I vacuum at least once a week, twice a week when I can. I'd love to vacuum more than that, but my husband works nights and whenever I want to vacuum he is usually sleeping. There is always dog hair and dust around, but it doesn't really bother me. I hate dusting and am bad about that part of it.

[POPTOP]

I strap the vacuum behind me and keep it on constantly, LOL.

Really, with a lab and a GSD the fur is never ending. It's part of our house, part of our life. In fact, I just finished washing nose prints off windows. I vacuum about twice a week along with Swiffering the hardwoods and the tile in the kitchen. Depending on the weather conditions, mud or no mud, the kitchen floor is washed once or twice a week. Have hardwoods throughout the house with large area rugs in the living room (easily replaced) and carpet runners for Mardi who needs the traction. The house may not be pristine clean but we are a very happy house with the dogs and would not have it any other way.

[ZoeysMommy]

I have 3 dogs and 3 cats. If I wanted a spotless house I wouldn't have animals. I am used to the hair. I deep clean once a week and that's about it.

[smartrock]

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!!!!!

It's a never-ending challenge. We have hardwood floors except in the kitchen. I have large area rugs and runners throughout so the dog's don't slip. Since my dogs are both black, I selected dark-ish oriental style area rugs and dark, patterned runners and throw rugs, which help to camouflage the hair. Not if you look carefully, of course, but at a cursory glance, the rugs don't look as haired up as they truly are. They get vacuumed about once a week. We've visited family with the dogs where there is either a light colored or medium blue colored wall to wall carpeting and it is amazing how much more visible the hair is on those carpets than on our darker patterned rugs. It's a cheat but how much vacuuming can one (reasonably sane) human do?

The kitchen floor is an off white vinyl so it shows every hair and foot print. It gets swept pretty much daily, washed less often than it should. I try to brush the dogs several times a week to try to keep the worst of the hair outside. There's still so much hair I'm not certain it really saves me any sweeping or vacuuming time, it's just a little less volume to vacuum up.

What's more annoying to me, almost, are the places that Chase leans up against the walls. Our walls are mostly a pale yellow with white woodwork. Keeping the walls looking decent is hard- there's only so much washing you can do on flat paint. Lark isn't as much of a leaner as Chase. Those Magic Erasers do a pretty good job getting the dirt off but rub too hard or too often and you'll be removing paint as well.

If I was really OCD about the dirt and hair, I wouldn't be able to have labs.

[Anna Scott]

I have 6 and half dogs (neighbour's is here all the time). This morning 3 went for a swim and my husband let them all in the house. I give up! It is a case of love me love my doggy house. Right now I should be cleaning the computer room but here I sit. Instead of doing it I am going out to run a drill with M. My doggy house never seems to put people off as I have been roped into hosting another 3 day training seminar. Our winters are long the house will get a complete overhaul then. Until then it will be a lick and a promise because I'm having fun with my dogs.

[JenC]

A lab doesn't lend itself to keeping a clean house. I vacuum every day and as soon as I put the vacuum away, about 5 dust monsters show up for the next day.

[bluest]

Ok, glad to hear this is normal! I appreciate everyone's tips. It sounds like hardwood with replaceable area rugs is the way to go. I've been putting off refinishing our floors because they're original pine (a softer wood) and aren't in the best shape. Our carpets and sofas conceal Ginger's fur ok, until someone sits down and is covered in it. This really bothers my parents who, not being dog people, don't understand the impossibility of keeping surfaces fur-free. I will admit we're bad at remembering to remove nose prints and only wipe down our windows and doors once or twice a year. I'll add it to my weekend cleaning task list.

[smartrock]

We don't really let our dogs up on the furniture or our bed, although I will find Lark up on a sofa now and then but as soon as she sees me, she slinks off. I can tolerate dog hair on my clothes, in my food, in the refrigerator, but as much as I love these pooches, I don't need them up on the furniture. They have several beds all around the house if they need too lie on something soft rather than on the bare floor in front of an air conditioning vent. I may be a bit of an exception on here in not letting them on the furniture but even though I don't mind the hair on my clothes when we're not going somewhere nice, my adult kids and friends and relatives are a bit less enthused by the fur. And I don't really want the dirt, the secretions, the saliva from licking themselves, wearing out or yucking up the furniture any sooner than necessary.

As for your own "fur"-niture, some people cover their furniture with sheets or other throws that can be removed when guests are coming over and washed easily.

Also, I have a Hoover steam cleaner for the rugs that I use 2-3 times a year, if there's no barf to clean up in between times. Now that's an eye-opening procedure! My washing machine discharges the water into the utility sink in the basement. I have put a wire mesh basket strainer in that sink to try to catch some of the hair that comes off our clothes, especially my husband's socks, to try to avoid drain clogs.

[Meeps83]

We have 2 dogs (1 is an Alaskan Malamute) and 2 cats. I vacuum usually twice a week. I sweet or vacuum our kitchen and bathrooms every few days. I just deal with it and if someone doesn't like the hair on the floor or the couch or the pillows and blankets then they can leave and stay somewhere else