Pets, whether they are cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, or anything else with hair, are great to have in the home. Not only can these cute and loveable creatures be your best friend, but they can help turn a horrible day into a good one. The only problem with having these furry creatures is their hair gets everywhere and on everything, including your blankets. The problem isn’t just limited to how bad it looks to have pet hair covering everything. It is also can cause people’s allergies to severely act up.
There is still hope if you are suffering from excess pet hair on your blankets. Here are some of the easiest ways we have come across to remove pet hair from blankets in your home.
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1. Using a Lint Roller
Almost everybody has at least one lint roller in their house. And if you happen to be one of the few who don’t, they are relatively easy to find and not very expensive to buy. People typically use lint rollers as a way to remove any unwanted hair or debris from their clothes before heading out of the house. While they work great on clothes, they can also work to remove pet hair from blankets in your home.
To use a lint roller, stretch the blanket out as much as possible. Then roll the lint roller from one end of the blanket to the other, making sure to roll as slowly as you can to get as much hair as possible. Chances are you will need to use several sheets. Be sure to remove and dispose of the sheet once it quits picking up excess pet hair.
2. Shaking the Blankets
Let’s be honest: most of you probably head outside and give the bathroom, mudroom, or kitchen rugs a good shake to remove excess debris, so why not your blankets? If you think this sounds too easy, you might be right, but it is highly effective at getting rid of unwanted hair. The secret to removing pet hair from blankets is to shake them as soon as you can. The longer the pet hair sits there, the harder it is to remove because it becomes embedded in the fabric. When shaking the blanket, make sure you give it a good snap. You should hear the snap and feel it.
3. Pumice Stones
When we hear pumice stone, most of us think of scrubbing toilets or removing dead skin from our feet, but they are quite effective at removing pet hair from specific blankets. A pumice stone works best on textured, velvet, or knitted blankets. To remove pet hair from blankets, the pumice stone must be dry. All you need to do is gently rub it along the blankets and watch the hair come out. Something to bear in mind is it often works best for short-haired pets, such as labs or pit bulls.
4. Use a Balloon
Static electricity is the best defense against fine and thin pet hair. To try this method, you need to have a single balloon. Color doesn’t matter, so feel free to use whatever you have on hand. You want to blow the balloon up but be careful not to blow it up too much as you don’t want it to pop. Once it’s blown up and tied, simply run it along the blanket’s surface. As you rub it along the blanket, the static electricity builds up and attracts the pet hair. As the pet hair collects on the balloon, you can wipe it off and dispose of it in the trash. Continue using the balloon until the pet hair is gone. As a side note, the balloon often works best for fluffy hair not embedded into the blankets.
5. Washing and Drying Blankets
One of the most foolproof ways to remove pet hair from blankets is to wash and dry them. For those of you that are already doing this but are feeling like it doesn’t work as well as it should, please keep reading. One of the secrets to getting all of the pet hair out is to place it inside the dryer for about 15 minutes with no heat before you attempt to wash it. This is a crucial step because it helps remove and loosen up any hair on the blankets. When you go to wash it, always choose the extra rinse option and wash and dry the blankets on their own, not with other items. When drying the washed blanket, use low heat and an extra long dry time to help remove as much hair as possible.
6. Using a Squeegee
Yes, you read that correctly; you can use a squeegee to remove pet hair from blankets. For this to be effective, the blanket must be flat, and you want a handheld squeegee. Use short and firm strokes while maintaining tension on the blankets. This simple method has been shown to remove up to 95% of pet hair from blankets. Just remember you need to wipe the squeegee clean after each stroke.
7. Rubber Brushes
Like the balloon, a rubber brush uses a form of tension and static electricity to remove unwanted pet hair. With your blanket lying flat and applying some tension either by holding it or securing it to something, you want to apply short, fast brushing-type strokes. Many people have found that tucking the blanket under your mattress is an effective way to apply tension. The fast strokes allow static electricity to build up, which will cause the hair to stick to the brush. To remove the build-up of hair from the brush, use a cloth or towel to clean it.
8. Pet Grooming Gloves
If you don’t already have a grooming glove for your furry friend, now might be the time to consider buying one. They are great for grooming your pet, but you can also use them to quickly remove unwanted pet hair from blankets. Using the glove is simple yet effective, simply put it on your hand and rub the fabric, just like you would rub your pet. The unwanted hair clings to the glove, which you can easily remove with a clean towel. The grooming gloves can also be tossed safely into the washer and dryer.
9. Fabric Softener
Most of us have fabric softener on hand to use in our laundry, but you might not realize that it’s an excellent way to remove pet hair from blankets. You will need to dilute it by adding three parts water and one part softener to a spray bottle. Shake gently and then lightly spray your blanket. Work in small sections for better efficiency. Grab a microfiber cloth to wipe down the damp areas.
10. Masking Tape
Almost everybody has at least one roll of masking tape lying around the house. The wider the tape, the better it will remove pet hair from your blankets. To use masking tape, you want to tear off a large enough piece to easily wrap it around your hand. You want the sticky side of the tape to be facing out. To pick up the excess pet hair, rub your taped hand along the blanket or just pat it repeatedly. Once one side of the tape fills up, turn it on your hand, and repeat the process. After the tape is full, throw it away and get a new piece. Continue doing this until all the hair is gone.
11. Disposable Rubber Gloves
An interesting fact that most of us are unaware of is that dog hair clings to disposable rubber gloves just as much as it clings to blankets and other items. Using rubber gloves to remove pet hair from blankets is as easy as putting on a clean pair and running your hands all over the blankets. Clean the hair off by dipping your gloved hands into a bowl of water. The hair will come loose and float to the surface. Word to the wise, though, don’t rinse the hair down the drain, as it can clog your pipes. If rinsing your hands in the sink, use a stopper and remove the hair before draining.
12. Wash in Vinegar
Using vinegar when washing a blanket covered in pet hair is a great idea. The reason why is that the vinegar, when added to the wash cycle, will help soften the hair, which makes it so that it comes out of the blanket easier. For vinegar to be most effective, you want to remove as much hair as possible before washing it. Throwing the blanket in the dryer for 10 minutes with no heat and a couple of dryer sheets can help remove some of it, but so can shaking it out.
Once you have removed as much excess hair as you can, it’s time to toss it in the wash with some vinegar. You want to add ½ cup of white vinegar and run the cycle using the rinse-only cycle on your machine. After this cycle is done, you want to run a regular cycle without anything in the drum to clean the washer out. Once the cycle has been completed, wipe down the drum with a damp cloth to remove any extra hair.
13. Hand Vacuum
While tossing the blanket in the washer and dryer sounds much easier, but it takes some time. If you want a quick method for removing excess pet hair, consider using a hand vacuum. This small vacuum or even the brush attachment on a regular vacuum will pull hair out of the blanket; even those hairs are woven deep into the fibers. You will have to run the vacuum over your blanket several times to get all of the hair, though. While a normal vacuum is effective using a brush attachment, you might achieve better results using a vacuum made specifically for pet hair.
Final Thoughts
While most of us want to cuddle with our friends while lying in bed and watching a movie, nobody wants to deal with the unwanted pet hair that comes from it. Sometimes removing all of that unwanted hair involves more than just washing and drying the blankets; plus, not all of us have enough time in the day to do several loads of laundry to get all of that bedding as clean as we want it.
We strongly hope that all of the tips and tricks we provided you in this post about how to remove pet hair from blankets prove useful for you. While some of the options provided can be done with stuff you already have at home, others may require you to make an extra purchase or two, but no matter the case, we are confident that these solutions will leave you with pet-hair-free blankets!
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