Author Bio: Matt Clayton is a writer for PetHairPatrol where they offer tips and tricks to get rid of pet hair, pet odors, and keep your house fresh and clean.
Although your love for your pet may be endless, your love for the smells that come with them is pretty non-existent. So, if your house has been affected by stinky fur or other pet odor, there are a few ways to help prevent those smells from spreading to the rest of your house.
Getting Rid of Pet Odor On a Daily Basis
Let’s get some things out there: Owning a pet is a full-time job. If you’re not ready to make the commitment, you really shouldn’t think about investing in one in the first place. Not only is it monetarily binding, but you should also consider the time spent cleaning after your pet—and we’re not just talking about potty time.
However, even though a few of these tasks may feel daunting, they can help reduce odor around the house and keep it smelling clean and fresh.
Fortunately (for you), there are a few main daily duties that can be done to kick odors to the curb, which should be done regularly, anyway.
On Your Pet
When it comes to basic maintenance, combatting odors starts with your pet.
Make sure to brush your pet daily to keep their coat clean and bath them when necessary to get rid of those nasty pet smells. Bathing your dog too often will remove the necessary natural oils in the coat. This can cause skin irritation, which leads to more dander. Still, once a month is ok if you use mild shampoos designed specifically for their fur.
While bathing may be necessary when your pet gets their fur dirty, brushing your pet every day is a great way to keep them clean and odor-free. A healthy pet with a healthy coat should not smell bad.
In Your Home
After getting rid of pet odors on your pet directly, it’s time to see what you can do around your home.
Going around daily with a vacuum (for carpeted floors) or a mop (for hard floors) can also be a surefire way of getting rid of pet odors (and help keep your bare feet happy).
If you think you already have the washing duties taken care of but still notice a straggling stench, there are also some fast-acting, tips that can help you be a proactive pet parent:
- Take action when it comes to accidents. Instead of taking the Big Daddy approach and simply covering up stains and accidents on the carpet with some newspaper, reacting immediately can help solve the problem.
Wiping away smell and stains (by investing in some proper cleaning tools) can help you keep the air around you fresh and clean in the long run.
Although air fresheners, plug-ins, and scented candles can help mask the smell, they aren’t truly taking care of the problem. We would recommend using natural ionizers or neutralizers.
- Maintain a clean litter box and daily grooming. Even though you may already keep the litter box of your cat far away from the rest of your home, the smell can travel and make for an unpleasant odor around your house. Quickly checking and cleaning it every day can help.
A bit of grooming—running a comb or brush through your pet’s fur on a daily basis (preferably outside for stray, airborne hairs)—can help eliminate the extra pet hair in the air and releasing pet dander and odor into your breathing space.
- A gust of fresh air can do wonders. Even though you may spend a monthly amount on the air conditioning or heating appliances, opening up the windows and doors to let some fresh air through the house can help breeze away odors and brighten up the place—think of it like flushing out the house.
However, if you’ve already installed your air purifier, just know that these two tips don’t work best together!
Keeping Odor at Bay
As we mentioned earlier, kicking that bad scent before it even happens is the best way to take preventative measures against pet odor.
A few things you can do to help keep odor at bay are:
- Choose your fabric wisely: Getting rid of any sensitive fabrics like velvet that cling to pet hair for survival can help make cleaning that much easier.
If you don’t have the funds to change furniture pieces, you can simply opt for throw blankets or furniture covers—even if your pets aren’t allowed on the sofa. This “pet blanket”, thrown on top of the furniture, should be washed quite often—at least once a week.
- Wipe down before entering: Before your pet heads back into the house, make sure to clean their ears, paws, and towel them down—especially if it’s been raining outside. This can not only help ensure an odor-free home, but it can also keep them healthy and infection-free.
- Invest in an air purifier: Not only does this appliance help clean the air in your home for the health of your family (especially if one of your own has asthma), but this can do wonders for pet odor and dander in the air. You also don’t have to invest in an overly expensive appliance.
These purifiers filter the dirty and smelly particles in the air, which can help remove odors, sanitize the air in your home, and help create clean air that can do wonders for those with allergies and asthma.
Having a high-quality air purifier can help, but if you don’t feel like dishing out that extra cash, a small extra step you can take is to keep the air filters in your home clean. Make sure you check your filters frequently—having them changed or cleaned on a regular basis can help keep the odor from spreading throughout the house.
Last-Minute Tip
And finally, if you still notice a few lingering odors around the house—regardless of the primping and cleaning of your home and pet—you might realize that you’ve skipped over a quintessential task—washing your pet’s things.
You’ve already invested in bedding, toys, blankets, leashes, collars, and so much more—so make sure they get washed (at least on a weekly basis). These items tend to hold tight to pet odors and keep them around the house.
An Odor-Free Home WITH Pets
Although this sort of concept may seem impossible, it definitely can happen if you take the previous tips to heart! We hope they’ve helped you freshen up your home!
