When we talk about ways to get hair off clothes without a lint roller we’re normally talking about pet hair! We all love our pets, but man they messy critters. Some might leave kibble crumbs on your floor or splash their water out of their bowl, but one thing almost every cat or dog does is sheds their hair. That hair always seems to find its way around your house or on your clothes. Pet hair on clothes can be such a nuisance and it may even find its way into your car or to your job. It’s also embarrassing. Even a clean pet in a clean home can result in some hairs making their way to your clothing. A lint roller is just about your best tool for removing that hair, but not everyone has one. Perhaps your pet is new and you haven’t yet purchased a lint roller or maybe you lost yours. Luckily, there are a lot of options besides a lint roller for removing hair from your home and clothing.
HOWEVER, prevention is better than cure as they say! So we’ll begin with a few ways of preventing pet hair from accumulating on your clothes and then we’ll move onto how to get it off your clothes if you find yourself without a lint roller.
Once you’ve finished reading, check out our other article on how to remove pet air from blankets.
8 Ways to Prevent Pet Hair From Accumulating in Your Home
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1. Vitamins
There are actually vitamins on the market that claim to reduce your pets’ shedding. There are a number of different products available to reduce your dog or cat’s shedding with ingredients ranging from krill oil to Omega. However, it is recommended that you check with your vet before starting your pet on any new vitamins or supplements.
2. Regular Grooming
Shed hair doesn’t always fall right away. Sometimes it gets caught in your pet’s attached hair until it gets jostled free right onto your floor. Grooming your animals on a regular basis can go a long way towards decreasing the loose hair that will end up on your floor, furniture or clothes. If you have long-haired pets, you should probably brush them with a slicker/shedding brush on a daily basis. Be sure to also bathe them regularly, using a deshedding shampoo.
3. Wash Pet Beds
If your pet sleeps in their own bed for any duration of time, it is probably covered in their hair. Then someone moves it or a fan hits it and those little hairs get all over the place. Because of this, it is recommended that you shake the bed out (outside) and wash it at least once a week. You can purchase a number of products that you pour into the wash to help loosen up the hairs.
4. Clean Floors Regularly
Hard flooring loves to collect loose pet hair. The best way to get the hair off your floor is to sweep and/or dust mop and then mop your floors regularly. Depending on the amount of hair that is dropping from your pet or multiple pets, you may be able to get away with weekly floor-cleaning or you might have to do it daily.
5. Vacuum Carpet
If you have carpeting in your house, you may not even be aware of the amount of hair that can attach itself. Many pets, especially cats, love to roll around on carpeting for a free massage or back-scratch. This constant rubbing can leave hair deeply embedded in your carpet. Vacuuming is the absolute best solution when it comes to hair-littered carpet. For optimal hair removal, vacuum every square inch. Be sure to get under and behind any furniture. If you still find you have a hair issue, take a carpet shampooer to your carpet.
6. Vacuum Furniture
Maybe you openly invite your pets onto your furniture or perhaps they sneak on it when you’re away. Either way, if your animals are getting on your furniture then they will be leaving hairs behind. Then, you sit on the couch or a breeze hits a chair and suddenly there’s hair in the air and on your clothes. Similar to carpets and rugs, the best way to remove hair from your upholstered furniture is to run either a small hand vac or a hose from a standard vacuum to pick up any loose hairs. After vacuuming all you can get, run a damp cloth across the surface to pick up any excess hair.
7. Pet Hair Vacuums
Vacuuming isn’t only great for removing hair from your carpets and furniture, but it can also remove loose hair directly from your pets. Now, I’m not talking about your household vacuum! You can actually find small, gentle suction vacuums that were made specifically for removing hair right from your animals’ bodies. It may take your pet some time (and plenty of treats) to get used to being vacuumed but, when done on a regular basis, this may be your perfect solution to collect the hairs before they transfer to your floors or furniture.
8. Change of Diet
Dogs and cats with healthy skin and coats just naturally tend to shed less. Surprisingly, there are actually foods on the market that are specially designed to keep your pets skin and coats healthy which in turn keeps their shedding down. Most of these foods tend to contain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that are found in flaxseeds, sunflower oil, salmon and biotin.
9 Ways to Get Hair Off Clothes Without A Lint Roller
If you do not own a lint roller or can’t purchase a replacement roll right away, you may be fretting about how to get the hair off your clothes. Luckily there are many different methods that work just as good, and possibly better, than your standard roller.
1. Wash and Dry
One fantastic way to remove those pesky hairs off your clothes is to utilize the washer and dryer. It is actually recommended that you toss your clothes in the dryer before washing. Run your dryer in a no-heat tumble only setting. The tumble will help to loosen up any fibers that may have trapped hairs and make it easier for the washing machine to do its job. Run the dryer for about 10 minutes, cleaning the filter about halfway through.
After tumble drying your clothes, shake them out really well to further loosen or shake loose and hair. Next, place your clothes in your washing machine. You can wash them just like you normally would. Adding a ½ cup of vinegar to the washing machine will soften and loosen the clothing fibers and hairs even more.
For the final dryer cycle, add plenty of fabric softener. Instead of (or in addition to) the fabric softener sheets, you may want to add dryer balls such as wool balls to further soften the fabric. You may also wish to add aluminum foil balls to help reduce static cling on your clothes.
2. DIY Roller Replacement
Perhaps you have a roller, but you’ve run out of the sticky roller tape that picks up all the hair. Just take some tape and wrap it around the roller, sticky side out. If you do not have a roller at all, you can simply wrap your tape around your hand and pat the hair. The tape will hopefully pick up any hair on your clothes.
Not all tape works equally well at removing hair. Duct tape is probably the absolute best. It’s super sticky and wide enough to get the job done quickly. Packing tape works great as well, although not quite as sticky as duct tape. Electrical tape is super sticky but so narrow that it takes a while to get all the hair. Scotch tape is the absolute worst. It will pick up hair but after just one or two applications the stickiness is gone. You’d likely have to go through nearly a whole roll of scotch tape to get the hair off even a small item of clothing.
3. Reusable Roller
Reusable rollers don’t require any tape or sticky paper at all. Usually made of silicone, the roller is naturally sticky. These products are excellent at quick and efficient hair removal from clothes and furniture. When the surface of the roller is covered in hair, simply rinse the hair off into the sink, give it a couple of seconds to dry, and then reuse.
4. Dryer Sheets
Dryer sheets are not only excellent at loosening fabric in the dryer, but they’re also great magnets for pet hair. Simply wrap around your hand and rub directly onto your clothes, bedding, and furniture. Most of the hair will simply cling to the sheets. As a side note, some sources claim you can rub the sheets directly onto your dog or cat’s coat to pick up loose hair, but this is not recommended. Many vets claim that the chemicals found in the sheets can be very toxic to animals.
5. Vacuum
Carpeting and upholstered furniture are not the only places a vacuum can help. Vacuums also work great at removing hair from your clothing. If your vacuum came with a hose and an attachment that looks like a brush, shake out your clothing and then run the brush over any hair. This should get the job done.
6. Rubber Gloves
Surprisingly, the kind of rubber gloves you use to wash dishes are also great at picking up pet hair. Get them a little damp and then start at the top of your pants or shirt. Next, swipe your hand down the garment. The damp gloves will gather up the hair into a pile that you can easily remove. If you have disposable gloves, just toss them in the trash when you’re done. If, however, you have the big rubber ones, simply rinse under water and set out to dry.
7. Dish Sponge
You might not think it, but a dish sponge can work wonders on a hair-covered outfit. Those little yellow sponges with the green rough side seem to be the most versatile. After getting the sponge a little damp, run the soft side over fabrics that are soft and delicate. The rough green side is perfect on thick coats or other items of clothing made with wool blends. This method is great at providing the friction needed to loosen up the fabric and release the hairs.
8. Damp Hands
I’m sure you already know that in a pinch, such as away from home, you can simply use your hands to remove the hair. Now, wet hands work better than dry ones so apply just enough water to make your hands damp (not dripping). Rub your hand from top to bottom of your garment and the hair will gather in a small ball of fur that you can just pitch into the trash.
Don’t get your hands too wet. You don’t want them to be drenched. It’s best if you just pour a tiny drop into your hands and then rub your palms together.
9. Slicker Brush
A pet slicker brush works wonders at removing pet hair directly from pets but it also works well at scraping hair off of bedding and clothing. Simply run the metal bristles across the hair and it should pick up most of it.
Final thoughts:
It’s far better to prevent pet hair from accumulating on your clothes than having to remove it. This includes reducing hair loss from your pet but also avoiding it from accumulating in your home. However, if and when it happens and you find yourself without a lint roller (which is the normal go to option) there are numerous other ways of restoring your clothes and getting the pet hair off..
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