Ask anyone with a pet what is the flipside of raising one and 8 out of 10 are likely to say “cleaning their fur.” It is crucial to not use sprays, medications, or lotions to prevent shedding, as they could lead to skin lesions and infections in your pets. The best solution is cleaning your house as frequently as possible. Pet hair can be extremely detrimental to people with allergies.

Luckily for pet parents, here are some effective vacuum tips for homes with pets to get rid of fur and dander from various surfaces.

Buy these attachments
If you have a manual vacuum, you should have these attachments that are most effective in removing pet hair.

• Brushes: Use upholstery brushes to remove fine hair from furniture, while floor brushes can remove hair from floors, carpets, and curtains.
• Stair attachments: Rubber brooms work best to remove pet hair and are particularly effective on stairs. Use the rubber broom to remove the bulk of the pet hair from the stairs before vacuuming.
• Crevice attachment: If your pet has the habit of lying on your sofa and other pieces of upholstered furniture, you will probably find clumps of hair in the crevices of these pieces. Use a crevice attachment to suck out all the hair from such corners.
• Rectangle attachment: Since pet hair is light and tiny, you need powerful suction to remove it from carpets and floors. A rectangle attachment does that perfectly well.
• Scrubbing attachment: This essentially makes the pet hair into a ball before sucking the fur in, making sure that the hair is not scattered. Verify if your vacuum cleaner comes with a brush agitator so that you can loosen the pet hair that is entangled in the brush. Otherwise, you might have to pull the hair that is stuck in the brushes by hand.

Train your pet
Most of us allow pets to go all over the house and do not set boundaries. while they are absolutely members of your family, you can train them not to climb onto furniture and instead provide them with comfortable spaces of their own. It then becomes easier for you to keep the house clean. You can also use protective or washable covers on furniture and mattresses to prevent fur from getting on it.

Keep the surfaces moist before vacuuming
One of the major vacuum tips for homes with pets is to sprinkle just a little amount of water and use rubber brooms on the carpets to sweep before vacuuming. Sprinkle water on the mops (not on the floors) before you mop hard floors. The hair will stick to the wet mop and it will be easier to remove the remnants.

Sweep left to right and right to left
When you sweep in one direction, some fur may remain on the floor. Once you finish cleaning in one direction, start sweeping from the opposite direction to clean effectively.

HEPA filtration
If you have one or many pets in the house, always buy vacuums, which have HEPA filtration. It removes very fine particles like dander and tiny bits of hair and keeps the place clean. Without HEPA filtration, the fine particles could be scattered, float in the air for some time, and settle back on the floor. These can then cause severe allergic reactions and respiratory tract diseases.