Q & A: How to organize cat, dog, & pet stuff to keep your home easy-to-clean

Question

Hi Ariane,

I'd appreciate your insights -- two or three tips would be fine -- on how dog owners can create an easy-to-clean house. That is, how to create an environment that's easier to keep clean. Any ideas?

I'm working on a short household-hints piece for Dog Fancy magazine, considered the nation's most widely read dog magazine. Since you're an expert on organizing and a cat owner (presumably accustomed to wayward cat hair), perhaps you've developed techniques for making your own household easy to clean and relatively clear of cat fur.

Or perhaps you have a nifty storage solution or two -- like for giant bags of pet food. I look forward to hearing from you.

Best, Sally Deneen
Contributing Editor/ Dog Fancy
www.DogFancy.com

Answer

Hi Sally, Thanks for writing!  Thanks to your question, I have collected a bunch of ideas for dog and cat owners! Here are my tips for creating an easy-to-clean home when you have pets.....

1. Avoid carpeting.  Hardwood, tile, even linoleum floors are MUCH easier to keep clean and odor free.  Use area rugs that can easily be replaced every few years.
   
2. Use Woolite for Pets Carpet and Upholstery cleaner to spot clean rugs and furniture as needed.
3. Use Febreeze about once a month or so to keep fabrics such as throw pillows, area rugs and curtains fresher smelling.
   
4. Avoid microfibers and other fabrics that are magnets for pet hair.  Leather or leatherette are great.  Also Twill is pretty easy to get pet hair off of.
   
5. Get several great pet hair brushes.  Keep one in a box or drawer in any room that has lots of fabric (like the bedroom and living room).  We get ours at Linens N Things - the ones that look like red velvet work best.  We brush furniture and dining room chairs every week or as needed.
    
6. Get a battery-operated upright vacuum cleaner and a hand held vacuum.  Keep them handy wherever pet fur accumulates the most.  If possible, get a HEPA-rated vacuum.  Smaller vacuums are great for quick touch ups.  We keep a hand held in our cleaning supply closet in our upstairs hall.  The litter box and related pet supplies are also kept in that closet.
   
7. In the kitchen, where pet hair accumulates at the edges of the floor, use a hand-held vacuum for quick pickups anytime.
   
8. For pet food, we like the clear snap lock containers (we got ours at Target) that are easy to open AND easy to fill AND easy to keep a scoop inside.  Don't buy a container without testing if first.  Or at least make sure you keep the receipt in case you don't find it easy to use.
   
9. NEVER put the litter box in your own bathroom unless you absolutely have to!  The litter gets everywhere and it stinks.  If you have to keep it there, get a fully enclosed litter box with an opening for the cat to walk through.  Even then they'll track litter outside the box though.
    
10. The best way to contain the litter and the tracking mess, is to keep the box in a closet with cleaning supplies.  Just leave the door cracked open.  If the area is carpeted, line it with carpet liner.  Get a box that has high walls.
    
11. Every time you scoop the litter, vacuum the area around the box.  The best litter I've found in 26 years of living with cats is Tidy Cats with Crystal Blend Scoopable litter.  Even with 3 cats, it keeps odors under control!   
    
12. Keep a bag holder attached to the inside door and keep it stuffed with plastic grocery bags.  Every day, scoop the pet waste into a bag, then double bag it and tie it up airtight and put it in the trash.
    
13. Keep a roll of paper towels on the door of your cleaning closet. Keep popup cleaning products such as Clorox Wipes handy for cleaning the litter box and the surrounding floor.
    
14. For dogs, keep paper towels, popup wipes, and pooper scoop bags near the door where you exit to walk the dog. You can even use plastic grocery bags as pooper scoopers.  If you have a little hallway with a table near your exit, you can keep a medium basket or box for the dog's leashes, collars, paper towels, bags, etc.
    
15. Get dogs groomed professionally as needed to keep them and your home smelling better.
     
16. Here's a tip from a friend of mine with 3 dogs, she says NO carpet at all.  And using easy to remove and wash slipcovers for all furniture is a MUST.  She also keeps special dog blankets for her bed and chairs where the dogs are allowed to nap. 

If you have a tip please leave it in the comments here!

All the best,
Ariane

Regular dog grooming can also help keep dog owners homes neat. You can find more information on dog grooming supplies as well as dog shampoo and dog hygiene at OooWoo.com.

3/18/07

Comments

[BlogRank]

Cool site. Lots of neat ideas, information and tips. Just starting out with the whole blog thing myself but I'll be back.

[Dirty Butter]

You have some good ideas here! We do keep the litter box in the hall bathroom, but we keep it in the tub, along with the food and water. I have a bathmat under the box, so tracked litter is easy to put back where it belongs.

I keep a small covered trashcan in the bathroom, with some kitty litter in the bottom for odor control. Empty grocery bags are in there, too, plus one that I put all tied up waste bags in, until it goes in the trash. This contains the odor quite well.

[Ariane Benefit]

Thanks for all your comments!

[Javier Tadefa]

Thanks for the pet information. I especially enjoyed the tip about the pet brushes.

The new homes we build in Oklahoma have some tile, standard, in all the homes which will make it easier to clean pet fur. You can see our homes at http://www.besthomesinc.org