Pets give us so much joy. They take us away from the cruel reality of the world; a single purr and boop can relieve so much stress to a pet owner. There’s so much pets offer to us: company, love, assurance, and even more so, their life. But sometimes our beloved furry friends can give us a bit of a challenge in the hair department! I know we’ve been too worried with the pet hair left on the bed sheets you sleep in with your pets; or on the car seat as you take them to the vet; and sometimes all around the house. But don’t worry, because we got good news for you! You don’t have to give up cuddle time with your pets, as we got you covered on how to keep your laundry hair free, plus it works great! More cuddles with stress-free laundry time! What a win-win situation, right?

First things first, let’s acknowledge some common mistakes when trying to get rid of pet hair in the laundry:

Yes, you read it right. Just throwing your sheets, clothes and other laundry in the washer & dryer is wrong as it can even worsen your situation! When pet hair gets wet, it clings onto the fibers of your garments, and becomes even harder to remove! And if your pet has long hair, it can be more difficult as it can penetrate deeper into the fibers of your clothing and sheets.

Since pet hair becomes clumpy and soggy when wet, it tends to get stuck in your washer and even the dryer’s lint trap! When this occurs and gets left unnoticed, your washer and dryer may get damaged, aside from the lessened capacity to efficiently clean clothes due to the trapped pet hair. Yikes! Here’s what you can do to fix your problem:

Before throwing in the washer, try using a lint roller, sticky tape or rubber broom— anything that works best for you! This lessens the pet hair that may get in the washing machine before you load them in. You can do this to all your clothes, sheets or even the couch covers and any other area your pet likes to stay. We may not notice it that much but our pets tend to shed hair a lot, so make sure to check all spaces!

As mentioned earlier, when pet hair gets wet, it can cause a lot of problems. So the best thing you can do is to load it in the dryer, wash it, and then back to drying. Here’s how:

• Remove as much pet hair by hand using lint rollers, rubber gloves or broom, or tape. Afterwards, shake the garment to remove any more loose hair.
• Load it in the dryer for ten minutes on low heat, and thrown in one or two dryer sheets. The dryer sheets will effectively repel the air and prevent the pet hair from getting in your lint trap. The dryer will loosen the fabrics the pet hair in this process.
• Take out the laundry, shake to remove any more hair, and put it in the washer and dryer as you normally would. Put it on your normal setting and let the machine do the work.
• Don’t forget to clean the lint trap so you can avoid any more problems on your next wash!

When you think that this is too much work, or your schedule would not allow you the time to do all these, it could be a huge relief to let your trusted dry cleaner to do it for you. Since they know how to treat your garments properly, you can focus on your tasks while you let them do the work for you! They got you, don’t worry.

Taking care of your pets are such a big responsibility to handle, but with the right tricks and dedication, everything can work perfectly. Don’t forget to shower them with love, attention and time— and take note to do the same to your laundry!