If you own a furry pet, you’re going to get pet fur on your furniture and your clothes. You can easily recognize a pet parent and their pet’s color by the hair adhering to their clothes.
The first step in preventing pet hair from sticking to your clothes is taking care of the problem at its root – stop the excessive shedding from the source itself – your pet. There is a lot of information available on how to prevent shedding from cats and dogs.
Unfortunately, no matter how careful you are about your cat’s grooming needs, it will naturally shed. And any textured fabrics (corduroy, loopy wools, or suedes) will attract the hair. But there are some ways to reduce that fur ball look:
How to Get Cat Hair Off Clothes
Quickly Remove Cat Hair From Clothes
- Reduce static cling on your clothes by applying an anti-static spray like Static Guard on the pieces to help unfix the hair and make it easier to pluck out the rest with a lint roller or a brush.
- Put the fur-covered piece of clothing in a dryer on low heat like a permanent press along with a pair of wet microfiber cloths (the fur will stick to the microfiber cloths) and drop until slightly damp. Take out the clothes from the dryer and use a sticky lint roller to eliminate the leftover fur.
- For woolen clothes coated with hair, hang them in a hot bathroom before using the clothes brush or use a clothes steamer. The dampness will help loosen the fibers and release the pet hair, making it easier to brush them away.
- While a sticky clothes roller is often the best tool for getting rid of pet hair, it’s not the only one. If you don’t have one at home or can’t find any at your local shop, opt for some packing tape, wrap it around your hand with the sticky side out, and you’ve got yourself a homemade sticky roller.
- If you don’t have a lint roller or packing tape, look for some dishwashing gloves. If you lightly moisten them and brush them over your hair-covered clothes, the static they generate will cause the hairs to stick to the gloves. Once they become overlaid with hair, give them a rinse, and start over.
Get Rid of Pet Fur on Upholstery
For cat hair on upholstery, start by vacuum-cleaning with the upholstery setting on your vacuum. Empty the vacuum bag regularly to enable as much suction as possible. Then, spray the fabric with an anti-static solution. Brush the upholstery with a microfiber cloth, rubber-edged squeegee, cellulose sponge. Lastly, vacuum again and finish up by brushing a sticky lint roller on the fabric.
How to Limit Pet Fur in Your Home
- Vacuum your house and upholstered furniture regularly. Much of the pet hair on your clothes originate from the furniture rather than your cat itself.
- Wash your cat’s bed regularly. After washing, run another rinse round to get rid of the remaining pet hair. Inspect the washer after washing your cat’s bed. If you notice any hair in there, run a cleaning cycle to flush it all away so that it won’t cling to the next batch of laundry.
- If you plan on drying your cat’s bed in a dryer, clean the filter so that it can collect as much hair as possible as the bedding finishes drying. If you don’t empty a clogged filter, pet hair may redeposit on the next load of clothes.
- For washable clothes coated with cat hair, put the items into the dryer on an air/no heat cycle first before washing them. The whirling action of the dryer will release most of the hair, and it will be sucked into the lint trap. Make sure to empty the lint trap immediately after doing so to increase airflow.
- Put one-half cup white distilled vinegar into the washing cycle when washing clothes with clusters of cat hair. The vinegar will help the fabric fibers loosen and release the hair making it easier for you to brush it off after.
- When washing fur-covered clothes, try not to stuff the washer. The clothes need enough space to flow freely in the water so that the hair can be released and flushed away.
- The use of a liquid fabric softener in the last rinse, particularly one like Bounce Pet Hair and Lint Guard Sheets, will cover the fibers of clothes, decrease static, and help prevent further hair cling.
Takeaway
We all love our furry little friends – whether it be a cat or a dog. Some of us love them so much that we let them lay on our couches, sleep in our beds, and our cars. Before we know it, everything is covered in fur. And unfortunately, removing pet hair on clothing and upholstery isn’t quite as easy as tossing everything in the washer then the dryer once a week. Hopefully, these tips will help you get rid of those extra hairs and prevent your pet from shedding so much in the first place.
Further reading:
- Best Cat Teeth Cleaning Tips That Every Owner Should Know
- Tips On How You Can Give Your Cat a Pill
- Cat Grooming: Tips & Things You Should Know About It
- Low Maintenance Pets: The Easiest Pets to Take Care Of
