Many people allow their pets on the furniture. This is one of the gentle and loving ways of raising them. However, our furniture is not a fan of the idea. There is hair everywhere, claws, whiskers, paw prints, different types of stains and many more. Pet parents might not complain about all these, but we must admit that the additional chores are a bit tiring in our already busy lives. This article will teach you a few easy tricks that will save you time and effort.
Choose the right fabric
Most of the time, the pieces of upholstery in our home are the favourite nap spot for our furry children. Yet these suffer the amounts of pet hair left on them, the scratches, the odour, the wear and tear.
The right fabric choice for your sofa or chair will help maintain your furniture in good condition. For example, patterned fabrics are the perfect camouflage for any traces of scratches, hair and stains.
To help yourself more, choose microfiber, velvet, denim, leather, canvas or outdoor fabrics. These are very durable and easy to maintain. Moreover, synthetic blends do not keep fur and are resistant to scratches.
Clean it regularly
Despite our love for our pets, they tend to leave different and unstoppable amounts of dirt, hair and stains on our upholstery. We all close our eyes for some of them just because these chores are so tiring.
Simple tasks like vacuuming help us maintain the mountains of hair we have to live with. Luckily, we do not have to dedicate more than just a day or two in the week just to cleaning after our furry ones. Anytime you have to vacuum your floors, vacuum your sofa, bed and pet beds.
To avoid having to fight various stains all the time, buy yourself a special cleaning solution that helps clean pet stains. You can find them in your favourite pet store in a convenient spray bottle.
However, booking a visit with a professional upholstery cleaning company is recommended every six months. That way, you will ensure that any type of bacteria, odour and old stains have been cleaned from your furniture. In addition, they will cover your upholstery in a protectant spray that will resist stains in the future.
Use blankets
There is another way to help you fight odour, stains and traces of wear and tear. Blankets. These are in various colours, fabrics, textures and sizes. We all love them. Some of us even collect them. Why not use these not only as a decoration and a way to warm ourselves but as a protector too?
Covering your dog’s favourite spot with a blanket will help you reduce wear and tear. It will collect all of your dog’s hair that sheds and any stains. It is much easier to put a blankie in the washing machine than to spot-clean your sofa now and then.
Use a lot of beds
Dogs and cats are social animals. They enjoy our company, which is why they like to nap on the sofa or lay in the bed with us. Despite knowing that our furry children will come for a rest anywhere we sit or lay, we continue to buy vast amounts of beds and unique pet furniture. Of course, out of love and need to spoil them.
Well, you can use the mountain of pet beds in your home to help train your pet and minimise the cleaning chores. Of course, there is a little trick. Their placement. If your cat insists on napping on the closest sofa seat to the fireplace, put her favourite bed on this seat.
Placing your pet’s beds on the upholstery or near it will teach your four-legged that there is a special place for them, it is not forbidden, and you welcome them to participate in whatever you do.
Additionally, pet beds are created to withstand wear and tear, claws, fur and stains. Their maintenance is easy, and just like blankets, you can choose from a variety of styles, fabrics and sizes.
Distract them
We all know that damages cannot be repaired with cleaning, nor that covering fixes them. There are situations where fur and stains are the least that can happen. Many cats scratch their claws on the upholstery, while some dogs chew the edges, pillows or legs of it.
Changing their focus and distracting them from seeing the piece of furniture as a scratching post or a chewing toy is the real answer. This can happen by placing scratching posts or sheets around the house for cats and providing enough toys for your dog to chew.
However, if this is not enough to stop your pet from destroying your lovely couch, you can try something else. Covering the areas with protestors and spending additional playtime with your pet. Spending time running, jumping, hunting and chewing their favourite toy will tire them and make them forget about that favourite spot on the couch.
Groom them
Regular grooming sessions keep your pet clean and healthy and reduce the amount of hair and claws you will find all around your house.
Remember that dogs tend to make themselves quite dirty by running through puddles and mud. You can place a towel next to your front door to use straight away once you get back home from a walk.
With time both cats and dogs will learn the new regime and cooperate, more or less.
Conclusion
No matter our efforts to keep our furniture in good condition, our pets will eventually damage them one way or the other. We can only do as much to keep the balance and not ruin our relationship with them. In fact, at the end of the day, one is just furniture, and the other is part of our family.
