By David DiBenedetto

Besides the occasional “landmine” left by a young puppy, one of the few tell-tale signs that a well-trained dog lives in your house is dog hair…everywhere. When Pritch was young we thought it was cute to sit on the couch with her. But as she grew it became a challenge to snag my favorite seat before she had stretched out and zonked in it. These days we’ve trained Pritch to use her dog bed and understand that the furniture is off limits, but dog hair still seems to find its way just about everywhere.

We tried battling it at first with a strip of duct tape wrapped around our hand, sticky-side out, but that only goes so far. Our vacuum was of no use. I do hear good things about the Dyson Animal Vacuum for pet hair. But I’m a writer, so I don’t have $550 to spend on a pet vacuum. Of course, you can always use a lint brush. And some swear by simply wetting a yellow kitchen glove and running your hand across the furniture.

Recently my wife picked up a Pledge Fabric Sweeper for Pet Hair. I laughed when I saw it, but the thing worked like a charm. Simply run it back and forth with short strokes over the couch, dog bed, etc. and the hair gets deposited in the plastic reservoir. There’s only one downside—when it fills up there’s no way to empty it. You’re supposed to buy another one. But here’s a tip: use your pocket knife to create a small “window” in the clear plastic lid and remove dog hair. Don’t tell Pledge I told you.

Anyone else have any products or tips for dealing with dog hair? Ever use the Furminator? Seems that product has a cult following.

Comments (7)

from pinopolis wrote 2 years 19 weeks ago

i've been considering the furminator, but i've heard mixed reviews. one friend claimed it left bald spots on her golden!

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from WVOtter wrote 2 years 19 weeks ago

Our house has 1 dog and 2 cats, and have had good luck with those mits/brushes that are kind of like red velcro...just brush against the grain and it grabs much better than rollers. A friend bought one of the pet hair specific vacuums and said it was a total bust. it's not cheap, but we've started aiming for leather/faux leather furniture when we've gotten something new...you can just brush it with your hand and sweep later. A shedding blade does a good job of pulling out a lot of excess hair from the coat too. But none of these are really miracles, just things that have made our life a little easier.

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from FOWL_attitude wrote 2 years 19 weeks ago

I don't know if the Furminator was intended for long-haired dogs or not...Maybe. I use it on my Chocolate lab, and have great results!! Nothing works better at getting ALL of the fur (Not just the topcoat) But, be prepared. You may find that you could insulate a house with the pile of fur that is left behind. I highly reccomend using it outside for the first few times.

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from MLH wrote 2 years 19 weeks ago

I brushed my Newfy almost every day he was dry. Skip a day and I'd regret it. In the spring I'd pull out garbage bags of winter fur. We also has a black Persian cat that was a pain with its long thin hair. The best thing I found to get hair off the furniture, car seats and clothes was a lint roller - wide masking tape roll turned inside out. Just use and peel off a layer at a time. Kept one in each car, one the office, and a couple in the house.

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from fitch270 wrote 2 years 19 weeks ago

After getting a Brit last year my wife decided our vacuum wasn't working well enough, so we bought a Bissel pet hair eraser. Money well spent.

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from Wags wrote 2 years 19 weeks ago

I know they are expensive but I will put in my plug for the Dyson vacuum. We have an English Setter, so 2-3 inch white hairs are a constant in our life. The Dyson does a remarkable job at getting up the hair. We even did the "test": vacuumed the entire place with the "old" sweeper, then went over the Dyson. Game, Set, Match for the Dyson. Now, if we could just get one that runs itself and doesn't require me to remember.......

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from k3pack wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

The furminator is by far the best brush I have found. I have not had the issues with the bald spots. I can easily fill a kitchen garbage can with hair in 15 minutes with that brush. Other than that, we keep a lint rollers handy.

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from pinopolis wrote 2 years 19 weeks ago

i've been considering the furminator, but i've heard mixed reviews. one friend claimed it left bald spots on her golden!

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from WVOtter wrote 2 years 19 weeks ago

Our house has 1 dog and 2 cats, and have had good luck with those mits/brushes that are kind of like red velcro...just brush against the grain and it grabs much better than rollers. A friend bought one of the pet hair specific vacuums and said it was a total bust. it's not cheap, but we've started aiming for leather/faux leather furniture when we've gotten something new...you can just brush it with your hand and sweep later. A shedding blade does a good job of pulling out a lot of excess hair from the coat too. But none of these are really miracles, just things that have made our life a little easier.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from FOWL_attitude wrote 2 years 19 weeks ago

I don't know if the Furminator was intended for long-haired dogs or not...Maybe. I use it on my Chocolate lab, and have great results!! Nothing works better at getting ALL of the fur (Not just the topcoat) But, be prepared. You may find that you could insulate a house with the pile of fur that is left behind. I highly reccomend using it outside for the first few times.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from MLH wrote 2 years 19 weeks ago

I brushed my Newfy almost every day he was dry. Skip a day and I'd regret it. In the spring I'd pull out garbage bags of winter fur. We also has a black Persian cat that was a pain with its long thin hair. The best thing I found to get hair off the furniture, car seats and clothes was a lint roller - wide masking tape roll turned inside out. Just use and peel off a layer at a time. Kept one in each car, one the office, and a couple in the house.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from fitch270 wrote 2 years 19 weeks ago

After getting a Brit last year my wife decided our vacuum wasn't working well enough, so we bought a Bissel pet hair eraser. Money well spent.

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from Wags wrote 2 years 19 weeks ago

I know they are expensive but I will put in my plug for the Dyson vacuum. We have an English Setter, so 2-3 inch white hairs are a constant in our life. The Dyson does a remarkable job at getting up the hair. We even did the "test": vacuumed the entire place with the "old" sweeper, then went over the Dyson. Game, Set, Match for the Dyson. Now, if we could just get one that runs itself and doesn't require me to remember.......

+1 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

from k3pack wrote 2 years 18 weeks ago

The furminator is by far the best brush I have found. I have not had the issues with the bald spots. I can easily fill a kitchen garbage can with hair in 15 minutes with that brush. Other than that, we keep a lint rollers handy.

0 Good Comment? Yes | No | Report

Post a Comment

 

All submitted comments are subject to the rules set forth in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.