How to Clean Pet Hair Off Anything

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If you have multiple animals like I do, then you’re probably always wondering how to clean pet hair off your carpet, your couch, your car or more. I know I am.

That’s why I’ve put together this list of tips, tools and tricks to get dog and cat hair off of pretty much anything in your house or around your home.

Also, I’ve provided shopping links so that if you like something I’ve shared, you’ll know where to buy it.

How to clean pet hair from floor

If you’re dealing with smooth floors, it’s a good idea to use an electrostatic or microfiber dry mop to trap hair on hardwood floors before vacuuming.

You can use a brand name like a Swiffer mop or another brand of microfiber dry mop head.

By the way, it is perfectly safe to use a Swiffer Wet Jet to clean your floors. Those Internet rumors have all been debunked.

Finally, if your vacuum cleaner has a setting for smooth floors (versus different levels of carpets), that’s the setting you want to use to get the pet hair.

If you’re dealing with pet hair tumbleweeds, then it’s been way too long since you vacuumed your floors.

For example, when my dogs are stressed out, they tend to shed more. So I need to vacuum more during those times.

These big dog breeds don’t really shed.

On the other hand, big, fluffy dog breeds definitely shed — a lot!

Invest in a iRobot Roomba

In our next house we’ll have all hardwood floors (we’re moving in 2023). So, I plan to invest in an iRobot Roomba.

This way the machine will run regularly and stay on top of my dog’s hair on the floor.

Of course, I’ll still vacuum to touch things up.

But I think the idea of maintenance vacuuming or sweeping of the floor is probably the best overall way to deal with pet hair on hardwood floors.

Get pet hair out of carpet

There are two ways to get pet hair out of the carpet. You can use a good vacuum or you can invest in non-vacuum tools. 

I’m going to share tips for both methods.

How to get pet hair out of carpet with a vacuum

One of the best ways to use your vacuum to get up pet hair is in turbo mode. Or on a setting that is meant for the “toughest” carpet possible.

What that really means is that it has an adjustable head setting, much like your lawn mower. So, the closer to the floor you are, logically the more the vacuum should be able to get up.

Just make sure that you’re vacuuming on an empty bag or canister. As soon as either of those start to fill up, then the suction could start to decrease.

How to get pet hair out of carpet without a vacuum

Recently, I discovered the absolutely best tool for cleaning pet hair from carpet without using a vacuum. You’ve probably seen TikTok videos or Instagram Reels about it.

Called the Uproot Clean, it’s a handheld tool that “shaves” pet hair from the carpet without actually cutting anything.

Not only does it get clumps of dog and cat hair that you didn’t even realize were there but also it leaves your carpet looking so clean. Like you just shampooed your carpet clean.

Look at this before picture above and the after picture below.

The stairs didn’t look that dirty to begin with, right?

But in under five minutes and about a dozen passes of the Uproot Clean tool, that’s all the dog hair I got out of the carpet with nary a vacuum in sight.

clean pet hair from carpet featured image

How to remove pet hair from furniture

How you remove pet hair from your furniture depends on what kind of furniture you have. So I’ll offer tips for both of the most common kinds of furniture covers–cloth and leather.

How to clean hair from cloth-covered furniture

If you have cloth-covered couches and chairs, then I would recommend a two step method.

One, put the furniture attachment on your vacuum cleaner and go over the furniture.

Then, two, follow up with the Uproot Clean tool that I described above for getting pet hair out of carpet without using a vacuum cleaner.

How to clean hair from leather furniture

On the other hand if you have leather couches and chairs (as we do in our house), then a microfiber cloth (reusable or disposable like Swiffer) will do a great job attracting hair.

You can always use a soft brush attachment on your vacuum. Just be careful not to scratch the leather.

Gloves can help remove pet fur

Finally, with both kinds of furniture, consider using a damp rubber glove to pick up hair that’s collected on furniture.

The fur will automatically be attracted to the dampness and stick to the rubber. Or vice versa. Either way, it works.

To keep your furniture relatively pet hair free going forward, use throw blankets to cover surfaces. That way when fur collects on the blankets, you can toss them in the wash.

Clean pet hair from car

We were fortunate enough to be able to afford a new car a few years ago. One of our must haves was leather seats.

Not because we’re fancy or anything, but because we have two dogs. And I’m that crazy dog lady that likes to take her dogs in the car with her to go everywhere.

My dogs know that when we get to a drive through window (bank, pharmacy), they’re probably getting treats.

Anyway, we got leather seats because they’re harder for the dogs to destroy and don’t attract pet hair as much as cloth seats.

Pet hair all over floor of car

Now, we do have pet-proof seat covers on the backseat, where they sit. However, the floor of the back seat is traditional car fabric. So that’s where all of the hair ends up, especially since my dog Oscar prefers to lay on the floor behind the driver’s seat.

Anyway, when trying to get his pet hair from the car, I’ll remove the floor mats and place them on the ground. Then, I’ll run the vacuum cleaner over them like I would carpet inside the house. It works great.

After that I’ll use the vacuum hose to go over inside the car, getting into all the nooks and crannies I can.

Finally, I’ll take that aforementioned Uproot Clean tool and go over any surfaces the vacuum couldn’t reach or didn’t do a great job reaching.

Another cleaning hack: packing tape. That is, I’ll wrap a piece of packing tape around my hand, sticky side out, and run it over the fabric. It picks up so much.

Final thoughts on how to clean pet hair

Have I missed any area of your home where you find that pet hair collects? If so, let me know and I’ll try to come up with a solution for you.

Now if you’re dealing with a flea infestations, you’ll want these tips on how to get rid of fleas in carpet.

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