5 Home Maintenance Tips For People With Pets!
Looking after your home and keeping it neat and tidy is more of a struggle when you have pets. It's not their fault - they don't try to be messy - yet they add to the tasks you need to complete. Dogs and cats are the two most common household pets, and they tend to have free reign over your home. So, here are a few maintenance tips to ensure your house stays clean even with your pets around!
Keep your pets clean
This seems like a good place to start! Keeping your pets clean will inevitably mean that the rest of your house is clean. If you let dirty pets run around your house, it's bound to get filthy. So, make an effort to regularly clean your pets, avoiding as much mess as possible. A good rule of thumb is to clean a dog after each walk. You can give them a wipe down or a little brush before entering your home, ensuring you get rid of as much muck as possible. Then, give them a deeper clean with some water every few weeks or so - the same can apply to cats as well.
Try to opt for leather furniture
A leather sofa is far better for your home than a fabric one. At least, in terms of keeping your house clean with pets around! Fabric sofas are havens for pet hair and fluff, meaning they can so quickly become covered to fur. This might trigger allergies, as well as leaving a very distinct pet smell in the air. Leather sofas are completely different as there aren't any fabric fibres for pet hair to cling to. As such, any fur or hair will usually fall off on the surface and be much easier to clean. The best thing is, once you vacuum up the pet hair, you know that it's gone. With fabric sofas, the hair can become ingrained in the sofa, meaning you're never sure if it's 100% gone or not.
Either avoid carpets or clean them regularly
In an ideal world, you should avoid carpets as much as possible when you have pets. This is basically for the exact same reason as to avoid fabric sofas. Carpets are so fibrous and become a sanctuary for pet hair, fluff and dirt. They're super unhygienic and are usually the reason why your house smells of pet. So, where possible, it makes sense to avoid having carpets in your home.
Nevertheless, there are instances where this isn't desirable or possible. For example, many of you like carpets in your bedrooms - or you might want them in your living room for a cosier feel. In cases like these, you need to commit to cleaning your carpets as regularly as possible. Vacuum every week, but be sure to also get professional carpet cleaning every few months. This offers a much deeper cleaning that removes pet hair from the fibres and leaves your carpets in a much more hygienic state.
Use baking soda to neutralise bad smells
Again, pets don't try to be smelly, but it comes with their lifestyle. Hey, if you walked around all day with a coat of fur covering you, you'd pick up a distinct smell too! The best way to avoid having a home that smells like a dog or cat is to use baking soda when cleaning. One quick hack is to sprinkle some on your floors and furniture before vacuuming. By doing this, you can clean the area and neutralise the smells at the same time. Some people will even leave pots of the stuff lying around to absorb odours in the air.
Give your pets their own bed
As much as you may love snuggling up with your pets in bed, it's really not a great idea. Think of how unhygienic it is, and also consider the mess it makes in your bedroom. Instead, it helps to give your pets their own bed to sleep in every day. In turn, this can minimise the mess they make in your house as they're inclined to stick to one area of the home. They have their own little corner in a room where they can lie down and relax. Or, you can move the bed to different rooms, giving them a place to lie down if you want to be near them. It should prevent them from climbing on furniture all the time, making your home easier to clean.
Make no mistake about it, home maintenance is harder when you have pets! However, these tips should make your life that little bit easier, allowing you to keep your home as clean and tidy as can be.
