febreeze and swiffer for pets

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Carpets and dogs can get along just fine, as long as you find the tools that work for a busy schedule! I’ve got a few tips that can help. :)

febreeze and swiffer for pets

When we got the new rugs for my primary bedroom, it occurred to me to take a few extra pics and give you a sneak peek on some home maintenance tips on carpet and how we plan to keep things looking their best in the primary bedroom. Specifically, how we deal with the conflict of carpet and our two pups with their dirty feet, pet dander, and shedding-related issues. I get asked about how I keep things clean around pets many times, but I can assure you, it’s often simple fixes that make the biggest difference!

Stella and Charlie - dogs laying on new rugs in master bedroom

Dust Maintenance

I’ve been partnering with Swiffer for many years, so luckily, the wipe down, dust off maintenance is already kept under control in large part to their products. When it comes to cleaning, I’m as lazy as they come, so I like that these can make very quick work of a task I hate. With the new window trim being painted black, that was actually one of the first questions I got — on how I’m going to handle seeing dust! But I really didn’t give it a second thought — just wipe down the blinds first with the Swiffer Duster, then wipe up dust that gets on the window sill with the Swiffer Sweeper Dry cloths. Easy. When we eventually replace the blinds, it will be an even faster cleanup.

using swiffer dusters and swiffer dry cloths

(Somehow, Charlie’s shedding gets everywhere and Stella’s is super fine, so we use the dry cloths with the Swiffer Sweeper in the bathroom, too.)

Before Painting

Another tip? Before painting, I also use the dry cloths (or wet if neceessary) to wipe down the baseboards, walls, and the tops of the door frame. This saves me from the obvious clump-of-dust-in-the-new-paint situation.

wipe down baseboards and door frame before painting with swiffer cloth

1. Vacuum & Spot Treat

Anyway, the carpet! Whenever we put down a new rug, we spray on stain preventer to protect everything from long-term stains. After months of use, there are sometimes a few spots to take care of (a wayward pillow and flying coffee mug comes to mind!), so we treat those first (I wrote about that back here).

vacuuum carpet before laying down new rugs

2. Rake

When we were moving out the old bed and moving in the new floating one, and before putting down the new rugs, we did the usual vacuuming but took the extra step to also rake the carpet. Many of you may not have heard of this one before, but the purpose of this is to get all of the dog hair that doesn’t get picked up by the vacuum. Even with the best cleaner on the market (and K and I have both tried a couple), you think you’ve gotten it all until you use a rake! I do this to my rugs too; it refreshes them and keeps them looking newer for much longer, gets out any shedding, and helps speed up getting out impressions in the carpet/rug from furniture.

use carpet rake to clean out dog hair and refresh carpet

3. Spray

After that, we spray down everything with Febreze to get the whole room feeling more refreshed. It helps remove new rug odors especially (that chemical or hay smell). We periodically do this with the linens when we tidy up after paint as well (even when using no- or low-VOC paint, K still has a sensitive nose; many chemical smells give him a headache, but Febreze doesn’t!). It’s amazing what a powerful effect having a nice, pleasant smell back in the room does.

use febreeze to freshen and spray carpet

So, that’s our go-to method. Short and sweet — the best possible combo when it comes to cleaning, IMO. We use it just about every time we move furniture, do spring cleaning, add a new rug, etc. It doesn’t take much more effort than simple vacuuming, but it makes a big difference with pets. And since they make life so much better for us in general, it’s a lot of benefit without a lot of work!

For more on any of these products, you can go to the Swiffer or Febreze site, and you can pick them up at your nearest Kroger.

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5 Comments

  1. Sarah,
    Do you know if Febreze can be used on auto carpets? My van has that “dirty wet dog” smell all the time. I’m used to it but it would be nice if it smelled a little fresher. Also, it might help if you buy a small spot stain cleaner for your rugs/carpets too. I got one but it makes dark stains on our wool carpets upstairs. Oh by the way – dogs love wool as a back scratcher!

    1. I don’t think it would hurt to try; I think they have a separate product they make deliberately for auto, but it sounds like anything is better than “dirty wet dog/car smell”! I have a link in the post above for my spot/stain cleaner that I use too! It’s just a separate post that I wrote last year, so I didn’t think to mention that part again.

  2. Hey Sarah! The link to the rake is not working. Can you tell me the brand? Did it come with your vacuum or is it a universal attachment for any vacuum? Thanks!

    1. Try this link instead. I’ll update it too – thanks for letting me know!. And it’s a completely separate tool that doesn’t attach to the vacuum at all. You just buy it separately like a giant comb and keep it in the closet next to the other supplies (or that’s what I do).