We all love our pets, but what we don't love is having to clean up after them!
For dog and cat owners alike, keeping a clean, fresh-smelling home can be a lot of hard work. You can tidy every room, dust every surface, hoover every floor, and wash every rug and garment in the house, but still, the unpleasant scent remains.
Now, there's no easy answer to streamlining this process, but there are a lot of little steps you can take to make things easier on everybody, and that’s what we’re going to cover here.
Keep Your Carpets Clean
Carpets can be one of the biggest problems for pet owners. They constantly suck up dirt and fur, and before long, the colour is faded and they've taken on a distinct odour.
It's no secret that you should be regularly hoovering your floors. If you want to get rid of pet hair though, you'll want to make sure you have a good hoover attachment, and clean it out regularly, otherwise, it can get clogged up.
You should also use a carpet cleaner several times a year. Carpet cleaners are relatively affordable to rent and will help to restore the colour to your carpets whilst getting rid of any unwanted smells.
Use an Air Purifier
Obviously, this depends on your financial situation, but buying an air purifier will do wonders for your home.
They do take a little maintenance - cleaning out the filter - and there is the electricity cost to consider, but nonetheless, they're a great shortcut to clean air.
They can also help to ease the symptoms of anyone suffering from pet-related allergies.
Scented Candles
This might seem like a little bit of a cop-out, but scented candles are well worth keeping around for emergencies. They're not perfect, and they won't get rid of the underlying causes of pet-related odours, but if you have guests coming at short notice, they're a fantastic quick-fix to save the day.
Keep Good Routines
It might seem like common sense to some, but, as any parent can tell you, good routines are at the heart of keeping a household running. If the washing isn't done on the Friday, then you won't have clean clothes for the Monday. If the washing up isn't done after dinner, then that's just extra work for the next morning.
The same is true for cleaning up after your animals. It's easy to overlook these things once or twice, but if you let the odours mount up, they'll get harder and harder to expel.
Share the Load
Let's face it, in a lot of households, some people do more chores than others. But when you have a pet, then it helps if everyone can do a little around the house to keep the home clean and tidy.
Small tasks like cleaning feeding bowls and hoovering the carpets could all go on a timetable and everyone can share the load. At the end of the day, you all love your pets, so it's everyone's job to keep them happy.