“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change / Courage to change the things I can / And wisdom to know the difference.”
Reinhold Niebuhr’s well-known Serenity Prayer shows that in addition to being a theologian, philosopher, and political scientist, he could also have owned a cat!
One thing is for sure: no matter what you do, there will be no hair-free zone on your floor if you live with a cat, except if it’s a hairless Sphynx!
Your cat can lose hair all year long, a little here, a little there, even outside of shedding season. No tips or tricks to help reduce daily shedding or to better accept it?
Serenity is the key: cat hair is part of the game
You know the saying, “You’re never fully dressed without a few cat hairs?”
So it’s all a matter of perception! Considered from a positive angle, cat fur is a nice reminder of your feline friend: no matter where you are, you’ll be discovered as a cat fanatic, and thus other cat lovers who are happy to join the club. you’ll be quickly discovered. That makes you instantly sympathetic and you’ll always be reminded that your pet is longingly waiting for you at home.
Home remedies against cat hair
Hard to miss, footprints are everywhere; especially in the places that your cat prefers as a resting place: not only on the cat’s furniture but also on your favorite sofa, armchair, rug or cushion. Wherever “furry remains” have settled, they are hard to get rid of. They stick to clothing and upholstery like ticks, and are difficult to remove.
At least for the floors, there are special vacuum cleaners that will help you against the onslaught.
There are also some useful home remedies to combat the invasion of cat hair; eg for washing: Try and use fabric softeners to prevent cat hair from sticking to your clothes. The soft surface acts as a repellent. Also, put dirty clothes in the dryer before the actual wash cycle and use the cold setting – this will remove a lot of hair at first. Remember to clean the lint filter afterwards.
Use a lint remover
A tool that should never be missing in any cat home is the lint remover. There is nothing that helps faster and more effectively against cat hair! A first aid product for last minute emergency action, it comes in various forms. There are washable types with a sticky rubber coating, as well as single-use rolls of duct tape. The double-sided tape can be replaced.
Wet cleaning and dusting
To solve the problem of hair, you can also use special dust wipes that attract hair due to their electrostatic charging quality, e.g. Ex. Microfiber cloths: this type of cloth will not swirl fine hair, but will attract and capture it magnetically.
Alternatively, you can also use wet wipes. For this, it is convenient to use cotton materials instead of microfiber cloths. Moisten the wipes slightly and wring them out before use so moisture doesn’t get in the way of your fur-finding mission. Be sure to always clean the top first, then the bottom; otherwise, you may end up distributing the hairs on already cleaned surfaces.
Creating “hairy spots” on purpose
If you want to keep some (relatively) hair-free spots for yourself, try creating some special “cats-only” spots for your feline friend, too.
For this goal, you may have to sacrifice some fluffy blankets, but you can be sure that, at least under the blankets, the surfaces remain free of hair.
The softer blankets your cat finds for exclusive use, the greater the chance that excess hair will stick to the blanket alone, instead of invading places where it’s not wanted.
In case you share a sofa, just put a blanket on top and set it aside when you want to sit down.
The best time is the time when your cat is not lying on top of it.
Using cat hair brushes
Before dusting or vacuuming, you can clean upholstery or carpets with a cat hair brush.
You can use the same brushes intended for grooming, as long as your cat allows you…
With these, you can not only help your cat maintain a shiny, healthy coat and get rid of excess hair, the same goes for your carpet: you can comb out the particularly stubborn fine hairs and make vacuuming much easier.
The upholstery can also be pre-cleaned with cat brushes normally used for grooming.
Scrub brushes, i.e. wood brushes with natural bristles, also do a good job: they are robust and completely separate the hair from the fabric.
