Love pets but love a clean home too? I’m sharing five tips for how to keep your house clean with dogs!
We’ve always had Boston terriers who tend to be velcro dogs, wanting to be with us at all times. They’re allowed up on our furniture, sleep in our beds, and hang out right next to us wherever we are. We wouldn’t have it any other way!
(Get kitchen details in my post on our kitchen remodel before and after)
Along with all of the joys of having a dog, come the dirt and the dog hair. It definitely adds to the challenge of keeping our house clean! After 20+ years of dog ownership, I’ve found some helpful tricks and tips for living with pets while also keeping a clean (or maybe I should say “cleaner” 🙂 ) home. Today I’m sharing five of those tips! Let’s get to it… (post includes affiliate links – full disclosure statement available {here})
1. Stop Dirt at the Door
Keeping your house clean with dogs starts at the door! Always keep a rug or mat by the door that your pets go in and out of to keep them from tracking dirt in. Keep a washcloth or small towel close at hand too for those messier paw days.
In our current home, we have {this small basket} (the strap is now leather instead of braided) hung on one of {these hooks} by our back door. It holds poop bags, a leash, and a washcloth so they’re all easy to grab:
On especially rainy and snowy days, I use a two mat system and layer an absorbent bath mat on top of our entryway rug:
(more pics and details of this space are available in my post on garage entryway ideas)
The bath mat helps takes any wetness off of our dog’s paws when she comes in. And since it’s washable, whenever it starts looking grungy like this:
I simply throw it in the washer and dryer and it comes out looking like new. It’s really helped to keep our patterned rug in great shape too!
Another great option is to use a machine washable entryway rug such as one from Ruggable. I bought one for in front of our kitchen sink and have been really happy with it! The rug is made up of a top patterned layer that velcros onto a bottom cushion. It makes it easy to remove the top layer and throw it in the wash whenever it gets dirty.
2. Pile on the Throws!
Keeping your upholstered furniture clean with pets is easiest if you simply don’t let them up on the furniture at all. But… we all love cuddling with our dogs on the sofa so we have to have a plan B for keeping everything clean. That plan involves lots of cozy throws!
I make sure there’s always a cozy throw or two on every piece of upholstered furniture and our Bostons typically jump up and cozy on in so they’re lying on a throw instead of the furniture itself.
Throws that are machine washable and aren’t a loosely woven knit (you don’t want their toenails getting caught!) are best. {This super soft ruched fur throw} is one of our doggie (and human!) favorites:
I also love {this super soft leopard throw} that’s a look-for-less version of a Barefoot Dreams throw:
and fringed and pom pom throws like {this one}:
Every now and then, our old dog “Hope” bypassed the throws and nestled on into a group of pillows E.T. style (do any of your pets do this??) but 95% of the time a cozy throw does the trick!
3. Get the Mops & Vacuums That Make It Easy!
Keeping on top of dog hair is key for how to keep your house clean with dogs and I’ve got four favorite tools to do just that. One is {this Chom Chom pet hair roller}.that works SO well for picking up hair on upholstered pieces like sofas and chairs. And the best part is that it doesn’t use tape or anything else sticky that needs to be refilled. You simply run it back and forth over your upholstered piece to use it, empty out the hair it collects, and it’s ready to use again!
My second must-have is {this Dyson Omni-Glide} that I use on our hardwoods for quick clean ups!
I keep it in our kitchen pantry where it’s easy to grab and put away. And unlike a broom, you don’t need to mess with a dustpan. A lower priced alternative to quick cleans is {this microfiber mop} that I used on all of my hardwood floors before I got my Omni-Glide.
Must-have #3 is {this Shark WandVac} that works so well for sucking up hair bunnies. It’s small enough that you can unobtrusively keep it on your countertop where it’s easy to grab and it empties with the single touch of a button. And it’s super lightweight and has great suction.
My last must-have cleaning tool is my Dyson cordless vacuum (I have {this Dyson v11}). Switching to a cordless vacuum is the best thing I’ve ever done for keeping my house clean! It’s so quick and easy to vacuum when you don’t need to worry about continually plugging and unplugging your vacuum. And cordless vacuums have come a long way in recent years – the suction power is excellent!
Dyson cordless vacuums can also be used as powerful handheld vacuums too! They’re great for reaching spots you would have a hard time getting to with a regular vacuum attachment like the top of molding over windows and the ledge above my range (which yes, somehow dog hair can find its way to!):
If you’re considering a cordless vacuum, check out my post on Shark vs. Dyson cordless vacuums to see which one is best for you. And if you want to know more about my favorite tools for cleaning, see my post on the 12 best deep cleaning tools.
4. Choose Performance Fabrics
Whenever I post a photo of our kitchen eat-in area on Instagram, I invariably have a few people who say how ridiculous it is to have an upholstered banquette there. Everyone assumes it would be a stained mess with kids. What they don’t know is that my DIY banquette seating is covered in a washable indoor/outdoor performance fabric.
I used {this Sunbrella fabric that looks like linen} to upholster our banquette and it has been amazing. It definitely gets spills and stains on the cushion from time to time but I’ve always been able to scrub them out. You can even use a diluted bleach/soap mixture on Sunbrella fabric without causing discoloration! So if you have pets that are allowed up on the furniture (Hope liked to hang out with her sister on the banquette at breakfast time) or messy kids, choosing a performance fabric like Sunbrella or Crypton is a lifesaver!
Sources: Capiz pendant | Geometric gray rug | Faux peonies | Rattan chargers | Large blush abstract framed art | Blue floral framed art | Pink floral framed art | Slipcovered dining chairs (similar) | Table runner no longer available
Another tip is to choose slipcovered furniture. While our dogs have always tended to gravitate towards the throws on our furniture, every now and then we have a throw blanket fail:
Sources: Chandelier (satin bronze) | Lee Industries Sectional | Textured white pillow cover | Antelope pillow covers | Gray textured velvet pillow covers | Rug | Pair of floor poufs | Acrylic coffee table (similar) | Coffee table tray (28″ square) | Rattan chair
Our sectional isn’t a performance fabric, but it IS slipcovered so if it gets dirty or stained, I can remove the slipcover to spot clean it or take it to the laundromat for cleaning. Total life-saver!
We’ve had our sectional for several years now and even though it’s used daily by all of us, it is still stain free. I’ve been able to spot-clean any stains we’ve had by removing the slipcover or, on one occasion, taking it to the dry cleaner.
5. Catch the Drips
I use {this silicone pet bowl mat} under our dog bowls and it works beautifully for protecting our hardwood floors from water that gets slopped out of the bowl:
I love that it has a slightly raised edge so any spilled water stays on the mat rather than spilling over onto the floor. And it’s super easy to wash up in the sink.
So those are my five favorite tips – do you guys have any others to share?
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