We love our animals as much as if they were our own children. They are as much a part of our family as our partner, parents or other family friends. And they show that love back all of the time. But they do make a bit of a mess, don’t they? Sometimes it can feel like having extra kids when you have to clean up after them. So we wanted to share some tips to help you to keep a fresh animal house to live in.
Use Bicarbonate Soda To Clean Carpets
Sometimes a pet will pee on your carpet, So if they have had an accident you need to clean it straight away. Put a mixture of bicarbonate soda and soda on the spot of the accident and leave it to dry. When it has dried, work some more bicarbonate of soda powder deeper into the carpet pile. Leave it for a while and vacuum it up so there is no bicarbonate soda visible. Your carpet should be fresher now.
Oh, and if your pet is prone to peeing in the hallway, perhaps, because you do not get to the door fast enough, then a runner rug could be ideal. Not only will it look great, but it will protect more of your carpet from your pet, and you can pick it up and clean it whenever you need.
Clean Away Pet Hair
If your pet loses a lot of hair, it can be embarrassing when you have people over. They won’t want to sit down on the sofa that is covered in pet hair. Also if you have an important meeting at work, can you imagine turning up covered in pet hair? Here are some tips to help you to remove pet hair and keep a fresh animal house.
- You can remove pet hair from your furniture and clothes by getting a damp sponge and wiping the hair away.
- You can get a lint roller to use to remove pet hair from furniture and clothes. But with a bit of masking tape, gaffer tape and sellotape wrapped around your hand will also work. You need to wrap the tape around your hand so that the sticky part is on the outside. Then dab the furniture with the palm of your hand, then the back of your hand.
- You can put some kitchen rubber gloves on your hands and rub your hands all over the furniture, this is a really gentle way to gather hair and roll it into a ball, before binning it.
- You can vacuum the furniture, but you also need a really good pet brush head too.
Preventing Cats From Scratching Furniture
If there is a particular chair that your cat likes to scratch, you can save the legs with an easy step. Try putting an old bit of carpet or rug around the legs and securing them. Then the cats will scratch that carpet and not the actual legs of the chair. If the cats have their own scratching post, they are less likely to scratch furniture anyway. So if you cannot afford to buy a scratching post, you can make one with some wood and some old carpet.
You can also use double-sided sticky tape over places that your cat scratches on. This will stop them from scratching because they won’t like the sticky feeling.
Get Rid Of Unpleasant Smell And Keep A Fresh Animal House
Just like our kids, that stink our house out – animals do too. If there is a really bad smell on your carpet or furniture, you can clean it away easily with vinegar. Vinegar is a natural disinfectant so it can clean and disinfect the affected area. Pour it onto the area of the accident and dab it with a sponge. Try not to rub it because that will make the smell and stain spread. Leave it for a few minutes to soak through. Then take some warm water and wash the area until the vinegar is gone. Dab it as much as you can to dry it out, then place some towels over the area. This lets the water soak up into the towels and the area dries.
Coffee beans also help to neutralise pet smells. You can easily do this if you drink coffee a lot and use a coffee machine. But if you have people coming to visit and want a quick fix, you can heat some coffee beans up in a pot and pop them in a bowl in the affected room. This releases a lovely coffee smell – the perfect disguise.
Prevent Dogs Chewing Things
Puppies chew things – it’s a fact of life. But there are ways to stop dogs from ruining your furniture. To keep a fresh animal house, you can get dog chews to chew instead of your furniture. Make sure that you schedule walks and playtime to keep your dog from chewing the furniture or other things.
