Dog hair is the bane of my existence. We love our pups, but the fur they shed is no joke. Thank goodness they are cute.
Sofia is a ten-year old border collie sheltie mix. She has fluffy white and black hair with a black undercoat. Her hair coats my light beige carpet in a gray film. She leaves giant fluff balls everywhere she goes.
Ryder is a one-year old border collie, lab, husky mix. We kind of thought we won the lottery with him, because he has a gorgeous short, smooth coat. We figured that must be better than Sofia’s rough coat. It seemed to be the first few months. But now that he’s a big boy over 5o pounds, he sheds just as much. Turns out his undercoat is light gray. He leaves wirey gray hairs all over my dark wood floors. They just float around forming tumble weeds.
I can’t win.
We survive mostly with a *Dyson Animal vacuum that I use on the wood floors and the carpet. Unfortunately, the brush head stopped working last week, which means it doesn’t pick up anything from the carpet. Boo! Thankfully it’s under warranty, so while we get that fixed I’ll rely on my secret dog hair weapon.
Before we listed our last house for sale we had the carpets professionally cleaned. I marveled at how amazingly hair-free they got the carpet before cleaning them. They showed me the tool they used and I bought one from them on the spot. It’s a carpet rake and it works like magic to effortlessly pull up ALL the dog hair. This is a similar, less industrial looking *carpet rake.
If you’re allergic to dogs you may want to avert your eyes. The sight of this just might make you sneeze. Just look at the fur the rake picked up.
The real secret to making the carpet rake work its magic is a spray bottle. Before raking, spray a section of carpet with water. In a pinch or if your spray bottle stops working, you can run the rubber part of the rake head under water. Keep it damp to pick up the most hair.
What I love most about the carpet rake is while it grabs out all the dog hair, it also fluffs up the carpet. We have cheap, builder-grade carpet that mats down easily. The vacuum just goes right over it not making much of a difference. The carpet rake makes every fiber stand on end for instantly new-looking carpet.
I am not exaggerating here. Just to show you, I didn’t vacuum or rake for the last two weeks. (Really I did it all for you, not because I was off playing with the kids at the pool all week. In my defense, the vacuum isn’t working.) Look how it pulls out two weeks of fur build up and makes the carpet look new again.
My favorite place to use the rake is on the stairs. It’s so much easier to maneuver than the vacuum and easy to flip over to get the vertical carpet on the risers. Plus, don’t forget the added benefit of fluffing up the carpet fibers, which always look the worst on the high-traffic stairs.
I’ve mentioned before that if I could only pick one chore to do before company came over it’d be to vacuum. Carpet raking comes in a close second. The vacuum (when it’s working) only wins out because it does the hardwood floors too. In an ideal world, I’d do both every single week and before guests come over.
Last week I had the honor of chatting with Becky of CleanMama.net and naturally the dog hair dilemma came up. For vertical surfaces she recommended a giant lint roller. I also shared how I use a dryer sheet to grab up the pet hair and dust from our upholstered headboard. So my pet hair arsenal includes the Dyson animal, carpet rake, giant lint roller, and dryer sheets. What am I missing? Share your favorite pet hair removal tricks in the comments below.
*This post contains affiliate links denoted with an asterisk. I may receive a small commission on purchases made after following an affiliate link.
Where can we get a carpet rake!!!!
Michele, I linked to one in the post that’s under $20. Happy raking.
Thanks for sharing this awesome tool! We only have one furry friend at our house, but there’s still plenty of fur!
My daughter has been persuading us to get her a Maltipoo (Maltise * Poodle). Though these kind of dogs don’t shed as much, I gather I may get a rake handy (just in case). Provided if we give in to her request ☺️
Bonnie, sounds like you are already planning to give in :) Those giant lint rollers are great too for mild fur build up. For my dogs, the lint roller sheet fills up too fast to be worth it. But for dogs that shed less, the lint rollers work well to clean up the furniture once a week.
I will be buying one of these fur rakes ASAP. Thank you for this post!!
Also, for my own sanity, I have started vacuuming every day (when possible) or at least every three days. This has become wildly easier for me than doing it once a week (which I used to do) because once a week just.is.not.enough when you have a dog with a double-coat. Also, a toddler. Also, a spouse who likes to wear shoes inside the house. The more frequent vacuuming has actually made it easier because I know that even if I do a half-hearted job of vacuuming, I’ll just pick up whatever I miss tomorrow, plus nothing has time to get ground in.
Jess, That is so true. The more often you vacuum the better with both toddlers and dogs. When we got our Dyson animal, we kept our really old (like first generation) Dyson to use in the basement. It’s a luxury, but having a vacuum on each of the floors with the most carpet makes it so much easier.
I assume it does the same with cat hair? We too have builder grade carpet that looks matted! I can’t wait to try one of these! Also, I’ve been following the Clean mama calendar and I am very very gradually getting a better cleaning routine going! And, the kids seem to have more respect for my efforts! We haven’t tackled their rooms yet, but they are helping out with less resistance. In part because we mark on the calendar “treats” they are earning. Ex: One week they got to eat dinner on TV trays while they watched Teen Beach 2. Soon we will tackle the play area…..yikes!!!!!!! Her calendar really improves my whole mindset toward cleaning! Thanks for the tips on tackling pet hair AND cleaning! I can tell I will be more interested in decorating when the house feels cleaner!
Jackie, you are a lifesaver! I’ve been threatening to give our 4-year-old yellow lab away because her shedding seems to be out of control and I can’t keep up. Now I’ll agree to keep her for a while longer while I give the carpet rake a try. :) I know that I really couldn’t go through with something so drastic as giving away a beloved pet, but there are days when Scout’s hair is just too much….
I do have a related question for you. You mention vacuuming your hardwoods, which is something I’ve also been doing to keep the hairballs at bay. However, I’ve seen a lot of warnings against doing that by people who claim that the vacuum head roller action damages the hardwoods. Any thoughts or research on that claim that you could share? Any other products you recommend (or steer clear of) when cleaning and maintaining your hardwoods, especially knowing that little ones and furry friends constantly cause wear and tear to the floors?
Thanks!
Missy
Missy,
I was always paranoid about using the vacuum on my wood floors. I wasn’t worried about the roller brush, because the Dyson has a bare floor setting. But I was always worried sand or something on the vacuum wheels would scratch the floor. We have a lot of sand come in the house during the winter and from playgrounds in the summer.
I got over it last year when we got our puppy. Our two dogs and two boys have bruised and battered our floors. They are lived in now and that’s okay. The vacuum is the least of my worries. In the end we know we can refinish the floor down the road or replace it someday. We certainly don’t take that lightly, but I just couldn’t worry anymore. It’s a floor…we walk on it everyday. It’s doing a great job, but it’s unreasonable to expect it to remain in pristine condition.
Would this work for any hair? We’re a house full of girls, and we shed as well, so I’m wondering if this would help save the vacuum as well from all our hair that’s everywhere.
Melissa, yes it will. It grabs up any fur, strings, hair, and fuzz. My dog used to shred those rope toys into strings and I use the carpet rake to clean them up.
I just bought your affiliate carpet rake. I have a lab and his hair is everywhere. Our stairs look like a fur donation station.
I have a golden lab her fur is every were the steps are the worse. We’re can I get the carpet rake. What stores sell it and how much.
Jackie, we have three cats, so we’ll surely give this a try! It sounds similar to the roller with “fingers” that I use on my sofas, which works really well.
Your description of the pup’s “undercoat” had me smiling as it reminded me of the Decoragraphy lesson on underTONES … decor must be in your veins – lol
I just ordered one under your affiliate link. I have three dogs at home (and three kids and a messy hubby), I am actually scared about what is going to come out of my carpet. We use the good Dyson vacuum too, but it never seems to get it all. We are redoing the “new to us” 1992 house and the man we purchased it from put in white berber carpet right before we bought it. I always wondered who put white berber in their homes, now I know. Can’t wait to rip it out and put in some good carpet. But until them, the carpet rake will have to do.