No matter what time we arrive home, they’re the first ones to greet us at the door with pure love and excitement. They are always our number one supporters and with them by our side, we can do no wrong in their eyes. Without a doubt, dogs are so much more than just pets, they are family. However with all of the love, cuddles, and wet kisses, also come the accidents, muddy paws, hair, and funky doggy smells. While we all love our fur babies, what we don’t like is the mess that they leave behind. It can definitely be a challenge keeping our homes clean with pets. Fortunately, though, we have some tips to help keep up with our fur babies' mishaps and playful messes, so we spend more time on snuggles and less time on odor control and cleanup.
Fur Free Home
Is pet hair everywhere? Have you forgotten what it’s like to wear black clothing without having to lint roll yourself before leaving the house? When removing hair from yourself or other items in your home, lint rollers are a real lifesaver. However, lint rollers aren't always the most cost-effective and get used up quickly. Fortunately, this can be solved quite easily. There are other equally viable options to clean up all the fluff.
Dryer sheets
Wet rubber gloves
After cleaning up most of your dog's hair, it's time to get rid of the remaining dander, fur, and dirt, with a vacuum. While any vacuum will be helpful, you may want to consider purchasing one that’s explicitly made for pet hair. These pet vacs often come with extra attachments that deep clean to extract even the tinniest coat hair.
goodbye Urine Smell
Is the first smell once you open your front door the smell of urine? Whether you have an older pup who can't make it outside, or a puppy that gets overly excited, the smell of urine is the last thing you or your guests want as an ambient scent for your home. The issue with urine is that even after scrubbing and spraying carpets and fabrics, there is still a large chance that the smell just never really goes away and lingers unless you want to spray lots of toxic chemicals that could be hazardous to your pets and even you! Don't worry though, there’s a non-toxic solution to cleaning smelly carpets that is most likely hiding away in your pantry: baking soda and white vinegar.
Step 1: Pat the area with paper towels or microfiber towels until all the liquid is absorbed.
Step 2: Mix 50% vinegar with 50% water in a spray bottle, and soak the area with the solution (if the smell is particularly strong, go with more vinegar).
Step 3: Scrub the area with a clean scrub brush.
Now for the baking soda (this is for the real doozies)!
Step 1: Mix 1 cup of baking soda, 5 drops of Dawn dish soap, and a 1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide to create a baking soda paste
Step 2: Scrub the paste into the wet spot, and let it sit until it is dry.
Step 3: Once dry, vacuum the carpeting!
Prevent Stains and smells With Pet-Friendly Throw Covers
Prevent doggie mishaps and smelly scents that follow them with simple, pet-friendly throw covers or sofa covers. Toss them in the wash frequently to keep the smells away. While you can of course purchase a display of designs in-store or online, you can also keep things much more affordable by using whatever spare sheets, blankets, or throws you have already. As long as they’re easy to remove and throw in the wash, you’re sure to have fewer unpleasant odors in your home. One final tip for this topic, getting a water-resistant mattress cover is always extremely helpful for those what-if accidents.
Cleaning the doggy toys
Does your doggo love to chew on their favorite stuffed animal nonstop and then proceed to add an extra touch of drool to top it off? Then, perhaps it’s time to introduce their toys to the washing machine. Now let's not forget all of our fan favorites, the squeaky toys. These are the ones that we were so excited to buy our fur children and then after an hour of nonstop squeaking, regretted all of our life choices and decide to hide the beloved Mr. Chicken in the drawer. These however 100% puppy-approved toys can get extremely dirty very quickly, so let's not forget that we can put them in the dishwasher. All that gnawing, salivating, and licking ends up creating an ample amount of bacteria and germs. So, go on, give those toys a bath, the wash cycle will clean those dirty toys in a pinch. Plus, you can have some peace and quiet while they are being rinsed. It's a win, win for the whole family!
Removing residue and dirt
When cleaning off doggy paws, pet wipes are another must-have item for any pet parent. After you are done with dog walks and other outdoor festivities, just use a gentle puppy wipe to clean off dirt, mud, and anything else they got themselves into, before entering the house. If you don't have any wipes on hand, a simple damp rag will do. When you add a few extra minutes to your routine by adding this quick step, you lessen the chances of tracking things from the outside that may increase unwanted smells or messes. This will also lessen the risk of Mr. Waffles, I should have eaten breakfast before writing this blog, getting dirty paw stains all over your floors, furniture, bedding, and well you! For those of you who are more of a "let's just hose them off kind of parent", making sure that they are fully dried before coming inside is extremely important to avoid the good old "wet dog" smell.
Conclusion
So, that pretty much sums up on how to keep a clean house with dogs. I know that we can't keep up with everything all the time with our busy schedules and such, however taking small steps is how anything great has to begin. When there isn't enough time or energy in the day, there is always The Canton Cleaning Company. Not only will we love your dogs like they were our own, but we will leave your house, fur, and paw print free!
The Canton Cleaning Company is a full-service cleaning company providing Home Cleaning services in Baltimore, Commercial Cleaning Services in Baltimore, Commercial Cleaning Services in Charleston, SC, Commercial Cleaning Services in Philadelphia, and Commercial Cleaning Services in Washington, DC.
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