Caretaker Recommendations for a Clean Home

Carpet Clean Up

Over 10 years of keeping the Indulged Furry House clean I've tried a lot of products. Hopefully you can benefit from my cleaning expertise!

Cleaning machines

Don't waste your money on a cordless hand-held carpet cleaner. They just don't have the power to clean up after a pet mess. I recently purchased a Bissell SpotLifter Power Brush handheld cleaner, and it does a decent job on small messes. It's not great at getting the water out of the carpet, so it's best for small, light stains that don't need a lot of cleaning.  After Bentley had a very messy diarrhea accident on our  brand new carpets, I purchased a full-sized Bissell Pro Heat Upright cleaner. It did a great job at cleaning the carpet, even after the stains had set in. As luck would have it, we were without power for 9 hours that day and I couldn't clean the carpet right away! I used the cleaning solution that was included with the machine. Update: I haven't used the Bissel Pro Heat Upright cleaner very many times, but when I used it recently, the beater brush bar broke into pieces. I've had the cleaner only 4 years so I was disappointed with it breaking. It's about $30 to order the replacement parts, which I haven't done yet.

If you don't want to invest in a carpet cleaner, a shop vac works well. I used this method before purchasing the carpet cleaners. After spot cleaning, use the crevice tool attachment to get more suction and pull more moisture out of the carpet.

Cleaning Solutions

For a quick clean-up of light stains like a fur-ball or dirty paws, sometimes just a pitcher of hot water is all you need.  Pour the water on the mess and suck it up with the carpet cleaner or shop vac. 

Resolve carpet cleaner.... great stuff, and I always have it on hand for those little messes that come with Indulged Furries. It works great on cleaning up after a messy hair ball, muddy paw prints, or "scooter bottom" where someone has wiped their dirty rear end across the carpet. 

Urine, feces, or vomit sometimes need a more specialized cleaning product. Simple Solution does a great job. The enzymes break down the odor-causing material.  Nature's Miracle is a similar product. I keep a gallon of Simple Solution on hand and use it for all the "biological" clean-ups. I also refill a spray bottle and use it to wipe down the inside of the litter boxes between complete scrubbings. 

When all attempts at cleaning are less successful than you had hoped, remember, it's only carpet.  Those "off color" areas add character to your home!

Fur Control

The newest product I've purchased is the Scotch Fur Fighter. It does a very good job at removing fur from the carpeted cat perches. I have the "car interior" version (I didn't realize there were different versions when I bought it). It's about 1-1/2 times the size of a computer mouse. It has stiff rubber fur-loosening teeth on a fat end and a sheet of microgripper teeth that wraps around a tapered end and onto the bottom. The rubber teeth do an excellent job at loosening and gathering the majority of fur from the perches. After using the rubber teeth, I switch to the microgripper paper and that does a very good job at snagging up the remaining fur. If there's a generous coating of fur in the gripper teeth, it can be pulled off several times before you need to replace the sheet. The tapered end works well for getting in the crevices of the perches.

Some people say you aren't fully dressed unless you leave the house coated with pet hair.  Even though we indulge the furries to the best of our abilities, we don't want to look like them, so pet hair needs to be controlled. No indulged furry house can be without a large supply of stick-tape roller pick-ups (and refills) and lint brushes.  We have them in the bathroom, kitchen, laundry room, and be sure to throw one in the car so you can de-fur after leaving the indulged furry house. Sometimes you even need to lint-brush the car seats!  Use them on your clothing, bedding, couches, and always have them available when company comes over...they'll appreciate that.

More Fur Control

A good quality vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter is great for whole-house "de-furing" and helping to reduce the pet dander.  If your vacuum doesn't have a built-in HEPA filter, see if you can get the ultra-fine vacuum bags (allergen, microfilter...they use all sorts of names).  I had the Kenmore Progressive with PowerMate Jr. motorized cleaning attachment (a mini power brush).  The PowerMate Jr. was great for vacuuming the cat's perches, but it stopped working after about 1 year. Now I have a Hoover Windtunnel (HEPA with microfilter bags) and I think it does a great job.