If you have sheddy cats... What do you use to get cat hair off clothes and bedsheets? What do you use to prevent cat fur from building up on beds & couches?
Lately, we've been using a tool called a furminator to remove a lot of the loose fur from the cat, preventing it from ending up on things in the first place. This works if you have a lot of time for brushing cats, and the cats will tolerate it.
A good vacuum cleaner for the latter. We used to cover the sitting area of the couch with a sheet and just wash the sheet. I used to vacuum the big bean bag thing. On beds... wash the bedding.
Getting hair off there are rinsable cat hair removers that work fairly well and the disposable sticky ones that work pretty well. Mostly I just kept the cats out of my clothes storage and got used to having cat hair on me during the day.
mzrowan had one of those tape rolls, but I found it not so useful for my cat, because the amount of tape roll needed to clear off even a smallish area of cloth means that my cat can easily beat those things quickly. I should still keep one around for quick passes at shirts and suchlike.
That's at least three recommendations for the furminator. I'm quite sure my cat would tolerate it, because she interprets all such things as petting & scritching, and happily purrs while I find matted fur and cut it off with scissors or other things you'd think would annoy a cat.
What prompted this post was the massive buildup of cat hair on my bed when I got back from my half-month road trip last week. My housemates took turns feeding and watering my cat and cleaning her litterbox, but I never asked them to pick fur off my bed :) I suppose I could ask people to furminate her while I'm away...
I find that if I give the Princess a good brushing before I go, there's less fur to clear up when I get back. Of course, I'm never gone for more than a week, so that may not work as well for you.
For my bed and couch, I use the vacuum, as it works better than anything else. For clothes, I use a "magic brush" - you can buy them in most grocery stores, they have a pad with a grabby fabric on them. Brush it one way and it'll take up hair, fluff, etc - then just give it a quick rub the other way (on your hand, preferably) to remove all the accumulated fluff. It can take some practice to not accidentally reverse the brush and cover your clothes in a streak of fluff though.
I (in the past with cats) have groomed the cats with a brush and comb regularly; fed the cats foods that encourage a good coat and skin condition so that they didn't shed so much; used a vacuum cleaner specifically chosen to pick up fur (in my case, it's an older-model Dyson with the "turbo brush" rotating head) and vacuumed a lot; kept the cats off surfaces I didn't want cat hair on, such as my bed; used a stick cat-fur-removing widget to remove the hair from some clothes if they got hairy.
Tape rolls for clothes, just as I'm walking out the door. Vacuum or slipcover for furniture. Brush them once a week or more if they'll tolerate it (one loves it, the other fights with the brush), and then just accept that everything will be covered in cat hair anyway.
When I make my bed in the morning, I pull a sheet up over everything. Then I pull it off when I sleep (I don't let the cats in my room when I'm asleep). I'm pretty picky about cat hair in the bed; Loki would sleep under the covers if I let him.
I've given up on clothes. That doesn't really bother me.
The dryer does well getting fur off anything washable, dollar bin lint brushes once a month takes care of the sofa, and a weekly bath & brushing helps with the shedding. Of course, with my allergies all that is a routine I'm happy to keep up. The cats like it slightly less, although they do have an odd obsession with the lint brush.
I also think keeping cats off the bed partially defeats the point of having cats, so that one's not an option for me even if it were possible (she's too used to sleeping on the bed by now anyway).
my wife uses those things on her clothes, but i find the red velvet brush (http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-of-2-Garmet-Double-Sided-Velvet-Lint-Brush_W0QQitemZ180290996848QQcmdZViewItem) works just as well, if not better, and is completely reusable
The cats do not actually sleep on our bed. They sleep on top of us, on the bed. :) (But then, that's one of the reasons we got them!) They pretty much have the run of the house - we even built the kitchen bookcases specifically to give them a staircase to run up and down:
But we do try to keep them off the kitchen table and counters. The new automatic-opening trash can is especially funny in that it replaced the older trash can that Skitters used as a step up onto the counters!
I use this rubber nub brush sort of thing from PetSmart. It's sold as usable on shedding cats to remove loose fur as well as upholstery. It's not actually useful for the cats (it pulls and they don't like it). However, it does an amazing job of getting cat fur out of carpets and any kind of fabric. Much better than any lint brush or sticky roller I've tried.
I use a similar thing on the furniture, and the 1/2 of my cats that likes the feeling of it. My brush has shorter nubbies, but it's basically the same idea.
I also vacuum the couches, maybe once a year or so.
So, for goings away buildup, I would toss some throw blankets that you're not so concerned about to avoid your bed becoming cat hair land. Fleece and cat hair bond together like no other, so usually other things will be less cat hairy - I usually see it as a worthy sacrifice.
Furminator may work, although it hasn't had the best success with my cats.
I agree about the furminator. You just need to like, do it outside and naked if you don't want to spend an hour vacuuming your house and de-furing your clothes. That stuff gets everywhere. I furminated my cat almost two weeks ago, collecting an entire paper shopping bag of fur. There has been no fur on my clothes or furniture since then.
Yellow rubber gloves, the kitchen type, pick up cat hair very well. I tried putting 2 gloves in the dryer with a hairy pillowcase, but minimal success, possibly because the hair wipes off the glove very easily. I sometimes stroke the cat while wearing the rubber glove. They like it!
I also have a rough new sheet that grabs cat hair and I often put that in the dryer with a hairy item. It picks up quite a bit, but getting the hair off the sheet is difficult.
If I place an old towel or throw at the foot of the bed and another near the top, the cats gravitate to them, which helps.
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are pretty good.
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Getting hair off there are rinsable cat hair removers that work fairly well and the disposable sticky ones that work pretty well. Mostly I just kept the cats out of my clothes storage and got used to having cat hair on me during the day.
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My sister mentioned the knockoff Shed Ender: http://www.amazon.com/As-Seen-On-TV-SHE-MC12/dp/B000CFL8T0
No idea of its quality either on its own or compared to the Furminator brushes.
Re couches, I don't have personal experience with it, but I've heard the Dyson vacuums are good for fur. Amazon seems to be running a sale on this model (it's *only* $399.99 :P)
http://www.amazon.com/Dyson-DC14-Cyclone-Upright-Cleaner/dp/B0002UW0FG
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What prompted this post was the massive buildup of cat hair on my bed when I got back from my half-month road trip last week. My housemates took turns feeding and watering my cat and cleaning her litterbox, but I never asked them to pick fur off my bed :) I suppose I could ask people to furminate her while I'm away...
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We have one of these, it works well.
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fed the cats foods that encourage a good coat and skin condition so that they didn't shed so much;
used a vacuum cleaner specifically chosen to pick up fur (in my case, it's an older-model Dyson with the "turbo brush" rotating head) and vacuumed a lot;
kept the cats off surfaces I didn't want cat hair on, such as my bed;
used a stick cat-fur-removing widget to remove the hair from some clothes if they got hairy.
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When I make my bed in the morning, I pull a sheet up over everything. Then I pull it off when I sleep (I don't let the cats in my room when I'm asleep). I'm pretty picky about cat hair in the bed; Loki would sleep under the covers if I let him.
I've given up on clothes. That doesn't really bother me.
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Washing clothes is most effective if you also tumble dry with an anti-static sheet in. Remaining hair, I use a sticky-tape type lint remover.
A damp washcloth will pick up quite a bit off of a heavily furred area.
If you have a comforter that isn't easily washable, keep it covered with a washable sheet.
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But we do try to keep them off the kitchen table and counters. The new automatic-opening trash can is especially funny in that it replaced the older trash can that Skitters used as a step up onto the counters!
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I also vacuum the couches, maybe once a year or so.
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So, for goings away buildup, I would toss some throw blankets that you're not so concerned about to avoid your bed becoming cat hair land. Fleece and cat hair bond together like no other, so usually other things will be less cat hairy - I usually see it as a worthy sacrifice.
Furminator may work, although it hasn't had the best success with my cats.
I use a combo of a traditional slicker and the zoom groom:
http://www.petco.com/product/106332/KONG-Cat-Zoom-Groom-Brush.aspx?&cm_ven=GoogleBase&cm_cat=Cat&cm_pla=KONG&cm_ite=169773&CAWELAID=201374457
The non-brush side of the zoom groom can double as a hair remover off of couches.
Oh - and we keep lint brushes/rollers handy for lighter cat hair removal.
I'm going to put cat lady back into hibernation now.
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did you build it from scratch?
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Now I need to find a brush that's good for use directly on cats...
removing cat hair from bedding
(Anonymous) 2009-02-21 10:41 pm (UTC)(link)I also have a rough new sheet that grabs cat hair and I often put that in the dryer with a hairy item. It picks up quite a bit, but getting the hair off the sheet is difficult.
If I place an old towel or throw at the foot of the bed and another near the top, the cats gravitate to them, which helps.