Pets… and Clean Carpets, Too!

Maintaining clean carpets and interior textiles can be a challenge if you have pets. Here are some simple and effective ways to keep your carpets, rugs, and upholstered furniture, clean, fresh, and inviting.

Keep Your Pet Clean

Regularly grooming and brushing your pet is the best way to slow the accumulation of dirt, grime, hair, and dander on carpets and furniture. Keep a water spray bottle and a clean towel near the doorway to clean your pet’s paws after spending time outdoors. No matter how careful you are to keep your pet clean, some dirt and dander will inevitably end up on your carpets and rugs. Vacuum often to remove debris before it becomes embedded in carpet and rug fibers.

About the Furniture

Train your pet to stay off the furniture. If you want to allow your pets on the furniture, you can switch to leather or tightly woven fabric so that pet hair doesn’t stick or use throw blankets that can be laundered as needed. Use a vacuum with pet attachments to thoroughly vacuum upholstered furniture as often as needed, which usually means vacuuming long before furniture actually looks dirty.

Pet Accidents

Potty training your pet is obviously essential for maintaining clean rugs and carpeting, however, if accidents happen, clean them right away. For specific instructions, see our Carpet and Interior Textiles Care Guide. If you have cats, you might want to consider investing in a self-cleaning litter box.

Regular Professional Cleaning

No matter what precautions you take, how quickly you clean up accidents, or how often you vacuum carpets and rugs and use pet attachments to vacuum upholstered furniture, regular professional carpet and upholstery cleaning will always be an essential part of your strategy for maintaining clean, fresh, beautiful interior textiles. Professional cleaning removes contaminants that cannot be removed through regular cleanups and vacuuming.

This is one of a series of articles written and published on behalf of Surface Care PRO Partners.