Tricks for managing your pet’s summer shedding

January 27th, 2012

Small Appliances

Pet owners know that summer has arrived from the day they start finding their pet’s winter coat being shed throughout the house. Whether it comes from a dog, cat, ferret or woolly mammoth, shed animal hair gets in everywhere, which is especially bad for allergy sufferers.

Here are a few ways to manage your pet’s shedding this summer, with the help of Appliances Online:

Low Tech Tricks

• Get it wet – A few drops of water on a sponge will dampen pet hair, making it heavy to keep it from floating away and making it clump together for easy removal.  For extra-stubborn hairs, try adding a touch of fabric softener to further loosen them.
• Use static cling – Has your pet’s hair ever stood on end with static electricity?  It still works when the hair isn’t attached to the animal. Rubbing a surface with latex gloves can pull pet hair away, as can a sneaker’s rubber sole.  Even an inflated balloon can do the trick!
• Try grabby surfaces – If you don’t have a lint brush handy, some everyday household items can be pressed into service removing hair.  Velcro is one, old towels are another.  I’ve found that some woolly socks turned inside out can do in a pinch, though you do end up with a sock full of hair.  If you don’t have one of those sticky lint rollers, you can try a little masking or electrical tape.
• Washing your clothes – Even if you can’t get all of your pet’s hair off your clothes before washing them, it doesn’t have to spread through the rest of your laundry.  Using washers and dryers with good lint filters can help, as can adding fabric softener (or vinegar in a pinch) to reduce the static cling that helps attach hair to clothes.

Take it up a notch

Completely cleaning your house of hair requires a vacuum cleaner with a bristled head to collect the hair and an extra-powerful suction to remove it.

The Vortex and Ultima vacuum cleaners from Volta as well as the SuperCyclone and UltraActive vacuum cleaners from Electrolux include different heads to suit different floors, including one that’s dedicated to pet hair. A separate brush head is available from Miele to turn most Miele vacuum cleaners into a dedicated hair removal machines.  Dyson offers the Animal line of vacuum cleaners, which includes barrel, upright, and long and short handheld models, all specifically designed to manage pet hair.

Tackling hair at the source

Keeping your pet thoroughly groomed helps prevent excess shedding.  But even the best grooming tools quickly become matted with hair, meaning you need to keep cleaning them and disposing of the hair as you brush.

The Dyson Groom Tool attachment fits to many Dyson vacuums to let you literally vacuum your dog, giving Man’s Best Friend a healthy grooming while sucking away the removed hair.  The attachment splits Dyson’s trademark powerful suction to make it just strong enough to safely remove your pet’s excess hair.

See the Groom Tool in action for yourself:

IMPORTANT – This attachment is designed specifically for medium to long haired adult dogs.  It should not be used on short-haired dogs, dogs with thick woolen coats such as Poodles, puppies, or any other animals.  Once you’re sure that your dog is of the right breed, check that they are not wet and that you’ve brushed out the worst of their coat’s knots and tangles before using the attachment.

It can be tricky getting your dog used to having a vacuum running nearby, let alone over their back, so it may be some time before they’ll accept grooming from the attachment without heading for the hills.  Once they’ve adjusted to it however, they’ll be in for the grooming of a lifetime.

Now if only they’d design one for cats…