How to keep your home clean when you have pets
Author: Joanna Simmons
Dogs and cats enhance our lives and bring us great pleasure, but even the cleanest cat or best-behaved dog will have some impact on our homes. From muddy paw prints to shedding hair; scratched sofas to chewed chair legs, our furry friends are not always able to curb their essential animal nature and respect our interior design ambitions. So a little compromise is needed. We can try to teach them good manners, but we can also prepare our home for the impact of paws, claws and waggy tails. Here’s how…
Sort your surfaces
Make sure the floor around the cat flap, and the wall if it’s installed high up in a window, is a practical, wipe-clean surface. Wet paws, fresh from the garden, will do most damage within a 1 metre radius of the cat flap.
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Cover up
In the absence of loose covers or practical leather, carefully cover the sofa or armchair your dog or cat is fond of frequenting. Choose a throw in a similar colour, so it looks like a stylish addition rather than a practical necessity. Make sure it’s machine washable, too (cashmere will not do in this case).
What impact does a pet have on your home?
Provide a bed for your dog and encourage him to use it. He may struggle to resist the siren call of the sofa, but if the bed is luxurious enough and you reward your dog’s use of it with treats, you may be able to keep him off the furniture.12 character-filled spaces for pets
Lay down a doormat
Essential for catching mud from paws and gumboots, a doormat is your first, and most purse-friendly, line of defence when it comes to keeping the great outdoors … well … outdoors.
Consider your upholstery
Find a sofa with loose covers that can be removed and washed easily, or consider leather upholstery. So long as the leather doesn’t have a very soft nap, it will be easy to wipe down and keep clean.
Shower off your dog
If you’re feeling flush, how about installing a dedicated dog shower? If space and time are lacking, it’s a good idea instead to keep a bucket and towel to hand in your porch or by the back door for sluicing off a muddy pup.
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Skip the scratching
Cats love to use sofas and armchairs as scratching posts and can rip upholstery to shreds rapidly. Foil them by opting for wooden-framed furniture with sleek legs.
Keep kit in one place
Confine dog-walking kit, from dribble-soaked balls and muddy dog jackets to your own mucky gumboots, to one space. Put up hooks by the door and invest in a tub or container for walking kit and caboodle, so you can grab it and go, but also help to control the mess.
Buy rugs you can wash
Simple rag rugs, cotton mats and dhurries are often machine washable, making them a practical option for a household with pets.
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Get a good vacuum cleaner
Most dogs shed their fur and cats are fond of leaving hair on chairs and cushions, so invest in a decent vacuum cleaner to whip the hairs away. Many are specifically designed to be powerful enough to deal with pet hair.
Provide alternatives
If your dog is chewing your furniture because it’s bored, try to exercise it more and, when you leave it alone, provide plenty of chewable alternatives. A Kong chew toy stuffed with treats can keep a nibbly dog happy for ages, so your furniture survives another day intact.
Keep coffee tables clear
Waggy tails and curious noses can easily knock over objects arranged on a dog-height coffee table, so keep these surfaces clear or adorn only with weighty, non-breakable pieces.
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