Keeping your house free from dirt and smelling fresh can be a difficult task when you have pets. Not only are they prone to shedding hair or fur, but their bodily functions, such as passing waste, can cause foul odours that permeate every surface.
Also, with the debris collected on their paws from times spent outdoors, the result is a recipe for a foul-smelling and dirt-filled house if care is not taken.
Maintaining a clean home requires expending additional effort and following some strict rules or guidelines that will help you effectively curtail the presence of dirt.
The following practices can be useful in keeping your house clean despite the presence of pets.
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Groom Pets Regularly
Regardless of how much your pet sheds, you should endeavour to establish a grooming schedule.
Keeping the fur brushed and trimmed regularly means that the amount of shedding will be significantly reduced.
You can choose to tackle the task of giving your pet a haircut by yourself. Better still, you could hire a professional groomer and set up regular appointments. Your pet’s breed should determine the intervals between scheduled dates.
Keep the Outdoors Outside
A trick is to ensure that all the dirt accumulated on your pet’s body, hair, and paws while frolicking and playing outdoors is not brought into the house.
At the very least, keep a low pile doormat outside the door and just inside the entryway to catch the worst of the sand and mud from your pet’s paws.
A small bowl or tray filled with water where you could wash them down and dry towel dry them before they enter the house is a better solution.
Clean Spills and Accidents Immediately
Spills from food and water bowls and passing of urine in undesignated spots are significant factors that contribute to foul odours.
Hence, it would be best if all spills are thoroughly cleaned as soon as they happen. This is to prevent stains and stop the smell from seeping into carpets, grout, and fabrics, making it more difficult to clean.
Use enzymatic cleaning solutions to tackle stains and neutralizing substances like baking soda, vinegar, and charcoal to remove bad smells.
Invest in a Good Vacuum
A good quality vacuum cleaner is an essential tool in your mission to maintain a clean house. Not only will it suck up all the hair and dander that your pet drops, but it can also remove dirt and filter out unpleasant smells.
An upholstery vacuum is also a required addition as you could use it to get shedding out of your furniture.
You might have to vacuum your home every day or once every other day, depending on how frequently your pet sheds.
Get Your Carpet Cleaned
Your carpet is a prime spot for the accumulation of debris, dander, stains, spills, and hair, all of which are responsible for stinking up your house.
Hence, you might need to hire a professional carpet cleaning service to perform a thorough washing.
While you could probably get a fair bit of embedded dirt out of your rugs on your own, cleaning services have specialized experience and equipment that will produce a cleaner result.
Wash Your Pet and Their Accessories
Just like humans, pets need regular baths to remain clean and fresh. Get them soaped up at least twice or thrice a week.
Keep them confined to a spot until they have been dried off to limit the spread of the wet dog smell throughout the house.
Toys, beds, leashes, bowls, and other accessories used by your pets should also be cleaned regularly.
If you find it challenging to get items free from foul odour, then consider replacing them.
Use Durable Fabrics and Materials
The right material can serve an essential role in keeping a space clean when you have pets. Chairs and drapes made with strong, scratch, and stain-resistant fabrics will reduce the effort you need to expend while cleaning the house.
You can place silicone or plastic trays beneath food bowls to catch spills, and a sheath can be used on couches or other spots used by your pet.
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