Thursday, October 4, 2012

DoggyStyle: Easy Carpet Cleaning with Dogs

My apartment was actually much dirtier when I didn't own dogs or have rugs. E is only confessing to me now that he dreaded coming over to my place where things seemed a little extra dusty and the hardwood floor had an extra film. Having the pooches has given me an extra awareness of cleaning, and I think our home is even cleaner because of our two extra furry family members.
My biggest cleaning push has been considering how to keep our rugs clean with the pups. We love having rugs as a place for the pups to lay, and as extra consideration for our neighbors, and after many discussions and trial and error, these are some easy things we've learned to about having rugs with dogs:

Let the Machine Do the Cleaning:
For spot cleaning, I still love my Natures Miracle which actually uses enzymes to break down dirt and odors. Though sometimes it is just more cumbersome to sit with a roll of paper towels and blot and spray for an hour. We ended up buying the Bissell SpotBot Pet Deep Cleaner.  You put it over the stain and just let it run and scrub on its own. The only problem is it does leave circular, super-clean, spots in the middle of your rug. Eventually you are able to vacuum them out.

The 'Disposable' Rug:
It was actually on a search for a square-shaped rug that we discovered  FLOR tiles. We love that you can use the individual tiles to configure your own rug shape and create your own pattern. The best part is they are super durable, but something does happen all you have to do is replace an individual tile instead of the entire rug. We like FLOR's toy poodle which we use under our table and in Mr. B's tepee.


Buy a Vacuum You Love to Use

I know this might sound impossible, but if vacuuming is something you already dread it will be even worse if you're trying to vacuum with something heavy and hard to use. Our vacuum is lightweight, maneuverable, and it has easy to use attachments. Plus it has extra strong suction for any pet hair that rolls into crevices. We are lucky enough to have bought the Dyson DC15 Animal (which we bought as a prior model, though I think you can get substantial savings using the 20% off Bed Bath and Beyond coupon) though we rationalize that so many people spend a lot of money on home-cleaning services that we actually save money by buying quality products and doing the cleaning on our own. It has made any stray hair clean up much easier.


What has everyone else found to make cleaning easier? And I've always wanted to hear thoughts on the Rooma...does anyone have one?

PS.This is what we figured out about our couch/upholstery cleaning
And, Eliminating shedding

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

We have a Roomba, which we loved...UNTIL we got Oscar! The Roomba works great for light everyday dirt and grime, but if it has any "heavy lifting" to do it gets overwhelmed and short circuits. You also have to clean it out (essentially take it apart and pull out all the hair and stuff that gets tangled around the wheels) after every time you use it. It started to take longer than vacuuming, so we retired it. That being said, ours is several years old and I know there are some newer models out there, so they may have one now that's a little more durable, maybe even one specifically designed for pet hair?

How Sam Sees It said...

We are fond of our Dyson too - it's amazing how much hair it can suck up. Our problem currently is that our house is really too big for us. We only live in about a 3rd of it, but the dog floof and dust get into every space. It makes cleaning a lot harder!

Sam

goosie mama said...

I could do commercials for Dyson I love my vacuum so much. I have never gotten such pleasure out of seeing the dirt and dust and animal hair that accumulates in my home. It it the best!

That being said, I've been using the "disposable" rugs from IKEA for awhile and need to get a new one soon. I think I'm going to investigate these Flor Tiles you mention as they're more cost effective than dealing with the constant spot cleaning (and stressing!) I do with my current carpets!

Great post :)

Rebelwerewolf said...

Okay, this comment is going to make our apartment sound really disgusting, but my excuse is that we have two people and one dog (Badger) who are constantly shedding long, dark hair. We pick up all the visible hairballs before we vacuum. Then, after we vacuum, we go over the edges of the room with the detachable hose. It also helps to have the threat of parents visiting -- that made our apartment extra clean last time!

Kate said...

We keep breaking vacuums at our house :( We have a horrible vacuum graveyard hidden away because of it. Someday I will find a vacuum that will last for more than six months in our house, haha.

Anonymous said...

We also have a Dyson but I've found that as it's getting old it's not working as well now matter how much we clean it. So it's about time for a new one!

Anonymous said...

What a great post. With three large dogs in a some-what small apartment, I am quite the clean freak as well! I've been thinking about getting a Roomba too but it sounds like maybe that isn't such a great idea. Hmmm, I'll have to investigate further.

kasia077 said...

Getting a Dyson changed my life. I have a smaller canister model, as my apartment is tiny but it's a life saver.

Since Max has longer hair and tends to shed, I find that furminating him at least once a week really helps with the hair situation.

Regina Hart said...

I loved my Roomba, but it was almost as much of a hassle to set the room up for Roomba Day as it was to simply vacuum. I had to move any chairs or ottomans it might get stuck under and block off low shelves it would get stuck beneath. A good vacuum (got a small Dyson canister) is just much simpler.

Unknown said...

I know this is going to make me sound crazy, but I lint roll our dogs! We have a Fur-minator that works well on our staffie mix (who has slightly longer, coarser short coat) but it does NOTHING on our chihuahua mix, who has a super short fine black coat that sheds like nobody's business! I'm amazed she has any fur left. Our staffie mix LOVES being lint rolled and leans into it like he's getting a doggy massage. The little dog was unsure of it but I went really slowly and now she loves it too. I started with having her "touch" the lint roller for treats, then sit and stay while I lint rolled something near her, then used it on her for a quick second while treating, etc. We only have hardwood floor but this really cuts down on the amount of fur on our furniture and clothes!

Carrie C said...

I know this post is a bit vacuum specific but I want to call out the wonder of the steam mop. I have hardwood floors and the combo of dog hair and general grime was annoying! I spent less than $100, with coupons at Kohls, on a Shark steam-mop. It vaccums up the dog hair and than can be switched over to steam my floors. I feel like I am super disinfecting everything-including my bathrooms!! It was a game changer for me. And it takes like 10 minutes from plugging it in until my wood floors are dry!!

Two French Bulldogs said...

Natures Miracle really is miracle stuff.Moms big mistake was buying white shag from Ikea...UGH!
Benny & Lily

PoochesForPeace said...

I have been determined to get a Dyson Animal for a while now...waiting for the right time to buy! Maybe tax return season :)

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John Lali said...

I have read your blog about Rug cleaning and trust me it was all worth written. You have mentioned everything really well. Thanks for sharing

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