If you’ve never experienced the joy of living with pets, you may not be familiar with the amount of dander, dirt and general grime they can bring into your home. But even if you’re a clean freak, the fact that pets can mess up your home should never be a reason not to embrace pet ownership, or to banish them to the yard.
Fortunately, there are plenty of things you can do to reduce the dirt and keep your home just as clean and tidy as you like it, even with pets:
- Hire a professional cleaning company
If you have a busy schedule that doesn’t allow for additional cleaning following the addition of a pet to your household, simply schedule regular visits from a professional cleaning company, and put all thoughts of cleaning behind you. That way you can concentrate on simply enjoying all of the benefits of sharing your home with pets.
- Step up your own cleaning efforts
If you take on a pet, such as a dog or cat, you will simply have to expect to do a little more cleaning around the home to keep it hygienically clean and tidy. Some dirt, debris and general grime tracked into the home by your pets, may potentially carry germs or diseases, so it’s important to clean their bedding, all surfaces they have contact with, and food bowls etc, on a frequent basis.
Fail to clean more often, and you will always be left feeling as if your home is dirtier with the addition of pets.
For those who can’t step up their own cleaning efforts, as mentioned previously, hiring a cleaning company is a convenient alternative.
- Stay on top of pet hair
The best way to prevent too much pet hair from being spread all around your home (you’ll never eliminate it completely), is to frequently groom your animals, and ideally, out in the yard or somewhere outside.
To tackle what pet hair remains, use a lint roller for furniture and upholstery, a regular vacuum cleaner for all floors, and a lightweight handheld vacuum cleaner for hairs in other, harder to reach places or where a lint roller isn’t appropriate.
- Use pet-friendly cleaning products
Particularly when cleaning floors and other surfaces that your pets might come into contact with, it’s important to use natural cleaning products where possible, either ones you’ve made yourself, or store bought. The ideal cleaning tool is a steam cleaner, as no products are required for this to get surfaces hygienically clean.
If you hire a professional cleaning company, once you tell them that there are pets in your home, they will take the necessary precautions to ensure that the products they use, are safe and pet-friendly.
- Create dirt traps
The best way to stop dirt from getting into your home altogether (although as mentioned, it’s impossible to eliminate hair and dirt entirely), is to clean your pets up when they come in from outside. If possible, create a cleaning station inside the entrance to your home, where you can wipe off grubby paws, and towel down soggy dogs, before they make a mess of your home.
Pets are a joy, and the fact that you will need to do a little extra cleaning around your home when you share it with them (or hire a cleaning service), should never deter you from experiencing the joy of pet ownership for yourself.
