The beauty of living with our pets comes with the work of cleaning up after them. It's worth it, of course, but the cleaning can easily become time-consuming, especially if the animal's a heavy shedder.
But to make things easier, there are simple ways to make sure you're cleaning more efficiently and getting pet hair out the right way. Even if yours is one of the best vacuum cleaners, there are still ways to improve your routine.
Cleaners develop habits over the years and find their own tips and tricks to eliminate pet hair, so we spoke with professional cleaners and flooring experts to find out how to properly vacuum pet hair for a cleaner, more allergy-free home.
7 tips to vacuum pet hair the right way
We spoke to professional cleaners, property experts, and floor cleaning business owners for their advice on how to properly vacuum pet hair.
1. Vacuum against the grain
It's notoriously more difficult to vacuum pet hair from carpets than hard floors. 'Carpets are fibrous, so pet fur tends to stick around once it gets in contact with the fabric, as opposed to getting swept away by wind or foot traffic,' explains Keith Wroblewski, master technician at Colorado Carpet Masters.
To help remove pet hair more quickly, Keith recommends vacuuming in alternating directions: 'When vacuuming your carpet, you want to be able to clean "against the grain" as much as possible. This prevents fur from just "going along" with the fabric fuzz and not budging as a result.'
'To do this, you need to run the vacuum cleaner several times in alternating directions. This will tousle your carpet a bit, but a final run in a single direction will fix that.'
Andreis Bergeron, property expert and VP of sales from Awning.com, shares the same view: 'An overlooked but essential tip is to use short, overlapping strokes when vacuuming.'
'This technique helps to ensure that you’re capturing pet hair from every angle, especially for pets with finer or shorter hair that might be more difficult to see but still present in significant amounts.'
2. Establish a routine
One of the most guaranteed ways to keep on top of your home's pet hair is by understanding how often pet owners should vacuum, and where you should be focusing your energy.
Pets love to spend their time in some places more than others so it's a smart move to clean these areas more often. And depending on how many pets you have, you should be vacuuming pretty frequently to stay on top of it.
'This will mean high-traffic areas and places where your pet is constantly in may require being vacuumed daily or at least 2-3 times a week to tackle all the many loose hairs,' advises Josh Miller, professional cleaner and CEO of Clean Carpets.
'Homes with two or more pets, or those with heavy shedders, may need to do it every day just to maintain cleanliness in their living space.'
3. Don't miss areas
Josh continues that hair can accumulate more easily than you think, and it's important to pay attention to those areas that are easily ignored. 'Pet hair and dander can quickly accumulate behind washers, dryers, and refrigerators,' he shares, '[and] especially under couches, beds, and chairs.'
Get into the habit of moving furniture and appliances so that you're vacuuming everywhere, and it'll make a huge difference, particularly for any allergy sufferers. Don't forget about corners, baseboards and stairs, too.
'Sometimes the hair is floating in the air and lands on the ceiling fans, vents, and air filters,' he adds, and it's important to regularly vacuum and dust fans to avoid the particles from spreading across your home.
4. Work from high to low
This is actually a helpful tip to remember for all general cleaning but it's just as important for pet hair. It ensures that any hair that's been dislodged while cleaning will get vacuumed up later.
As Ken Doty, cleaning expert and COO at The Maids puts it: 'Best practice is to work from high to low, and use proper attachments for walls, sills and draperies.' Knowing what all the vacuum cleaner attachments do can help make sure you're using the right ones, as many are specially designed for certain surfaces, materials, or hair.
Keep a vacuum nearby
To save time and keep your house more fur-free in your day-to-day Brian Davis, professional pet cleaner and CEO of Handyrubbish, recommends getting a small handheld vacuum for spot cleaning.
'Why not keep a small handheld vacuum in areas where your pet is most active, like in the living room or where your pet likes to lounge?' he suggests. Spot cleaning as soon as you see hairs will make your routine cleans less full-on.
5. Consider a pet vacuum
A high-quality pet vacuum will be your biggest help in maintaining a fur-free home. They're typically designed with specialized anti-tangle brushrolls and anti-allergenic filters to ease the process.
Andreis recommends 'investing in a vacuum with a motorized brush roll specifically designed for pet hair. This type of vacuum uses a spinning brush to agitate carpet fibers and lift embedded pet hair that traditional suction vacuums might miss.'
The next key component is a HEPA filter. HEPA filters capture 99.97% of particles 0.3 microns are smaller, which includes much of the pet dander particles found in pet hair. This helps to prevent hair particles from recirculating while vacuuming and will keep them securely trapped inside the vacuum between cleans.
When testing for the best vacuums for pet hair, we look closely for these features, and to see how well they can pick up hair, trap odors, and avoid hair wrapping around the brushrolls. Here are a few that we recommend.
The Ultenic U12 Vesla is the most affordable vacuum we've tested that genuinely performs well on pet hair, picking up every strand of hair on the test.
If your home has carpets, you won't find a better cleaner than the Shark CarpetXpert. It can clean hair and stains right out of the carpet, and it even has a dedicated tool to suck up pet messes.
This is the best vacuum cleaner we've ever tested on pet hair. It has motorized anti-tangle floor heads, a green laser that illuminates hidden particles, and the strongest suction power of any vacuum.
Next, consider one of the best robot vacuums to do regular pet hair cleaning for you, and learn other tips on how to keep a clean home when you have pets.
