This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Swiffer at Walmart. The opinions and text are all mine.
While pets bring so much joy and wonder to our lives, there’s one downside I think we all could do without: the shedding!
It’s quite astonishing just how far their fur can travel from their bodies, isn’t it?
I’ve found cat and dog hair in the strangest places, like the corners of ceiling, or in a closet that I open maybe once a year.
How on earth do they manage it?
Even more important, what can we do to stop the shedding from spreading?
Read on for some tips on taming the wild fur beast!
Plus learn how new Swiffer Heavy Duty Pet products, available at Walmart, can take the hassle out of cleaning your home from floor to ceiling.
How to Stop Shedding from Spreading
Before we get into these tips to deal with shedding, let me tell you a little about my pets. Right now, I have two dogs and three cats, all of which shed to some degree.
My Pharaoh Hound, Freya, has a very short coat, so her shedding is fairly minimal. In fact, while they’re not technically hypoallergenic dogs, they’re still very allergy-friendly.
My girl Mocha is a lab/greyhound/pit mix. Basically, she’s a low shedder mixed with a moderate shedder mixed with a “where on earth does all this fur come from?” shedder.
Fortunately, her coat seems to come from her pit bull genetics, so she’s not a horrific shedder.
My three cats, on the other hand, are crazy shedders. Especially Alex the Fuzz (he’s called “The Fuzz” for a reason!).
Plus, they range from mostly white to dark gray, meaning I can’t “hide” their shedding by wearing a color in the same shade as their fur!
I also lost a German Shepherd about two years ago. Now she was a “how aren’t you bald yet” shedder.
Even though we’ve cleaned this entire house from top to bottom many times over the last two years, I STILL find her fur in dark corners or under furniture.
It actually kind of makes me happy. It’s like finding a little “hi there” from beyond.
As you can see, I not only have four shedding animals (minus Freya, since she doesn’t really shed) plus one that leaves fur gifts from the great beyond.
Yep, it’s definitely a hairy situation in this house! Pun totally intended!
So, what can I do to tame the shedding and avoid wearing my pets everywhere I go? Here are some of my top tips.
5 Tips to Deal with Your Pet’s Shedding
1. Talk to your vet
Before we go any further, I want to take a moment to remind you that if your pet is shedding more than the “normal” amount, call your vet.
Fur loss can be a sign of numerous different health issues, including mental health, as a stressed-out dog is often more prone to shedding.
If it is related to a health issue, your vet can help you determine the best course of action to keep more of your pet’s fur on their body, where it belongs.
2. Brush your pet regularly
Brushing and bathing your dog regularly is the #1 way to cut down on shedding. Not eliminate it, mind you, but it will help control it to a pretty high degree.
It’s not enough to just brush your dog with any old brush, though. You’ll want to get one designed for their type of fur.
For example, a “mitt brush” is just fine to use on my Pharaoh Hound, as most of her shedding seems to come from surface hair.
These brushes kind of just wipe the loose fur off your short-haired pet.
On the other hand, for Mocha and my cats, I use a “deshedding” tool with bristles of different lengths.
These are designed to get down through layers of fur and gently remove the loose hairs before they have a chance to make it off your pet and onto your furniture.
3. Feed them a healthy diet
Never underestimate the power of a healthy diet to stop shedding from spreading!
Feed your pets foods with ingredients designed for optimal nutrition and without fillers that wreak havoc on their coats.
If you have a dog with allergies, the right food is even more important. Mocha has seasonal allergies that cause skin issues and some fur loss.
Even though she doesn’t have specific food allergies, I still change her over to a more skin-friendly diet during those months.
This really helps cut down on the amount of fur that she loses, which in turn keeps that fur from overrunning my house.
4. Choose your fabrics carefully
This tip won’t cut down on shedding, but it will help you keep the shed from spreading!
Whether you’re shopping for a new slipcover for your sofa or a fabulous new top for yourself, think very carefully about the fabrics.
Slick silk-like fabrics or tightly-woven microfibers work best at repelling pet hair.
On the other hand, knit fabrics or lush piles tend to attract pet hair. Nylon is also a magnet for it.
5. Use cleaning products designed for dealing with pet hair
Again, while this tip won’t stop your dog from shedding, it will make it a WHOLE lot easier to get rid of runaway fur!
My #1 choice for stop the spread of the shed: Swiffer! I’m even more in love with them now that they have a line of products designed specifically to trap and lock more pet hair.
It’s called Swiffer Heavy Duty Pet, and the products are all available at Walmart.
My favorite in the lineup is the Swiffer 360 Dusters Heavy Duty Pet Starter Kit with the extendable handle.
The dusters are designed to lock in up to three times more cat and dog dander versus the average feather duster. Plus, it extends up to 6 feet!
As a short girl, I need all the “extendable” I can get in a duster.
I can easily reach my ceilings without standing on a stool, which is a great thing because I’m also a klutzy girl. Stools and I don’t mix!
I can even use the Swiffer 360 Dusters Heavy Duty Pet Starter Kit to quickly grab dust balls on the floor without bending over. That’s a huge plus with my back problems.
Of course, my dogs attack it when I try to do that!
For those times when you really want to clean the floors, use the Swiffer Sweeper Pet Heavy Duty Wet Mopping Cloths or Dry Sweeping Cloths.
The duster is great for grabbing renegade dust balls in corners, though!
I also noticed that the Swiffer 360 Dusters Heavy Duty Pet Dusters smell really nice. Not that I stuck my nose up to them or anything. Zoe did, though!
Okay, I actually did…but only because I noticed a lemony fresh aroma after I took them out of the package.
The specially coated fibers on the duster don’t just trap pet hair, they make dusting my whole house a breeze. I can even use it to really get into the crevices of my stone fireplace wall.
Just look at all this dust that came off of it! I’m almost embarrassed to show you this picture!
Let me make something clear: even if you follow every tip above, you’ll still have to deal with at least some renegade fur making its way into the cracks and crevices of your home.
My “rarely ever sheds” Pharaoh Hound took a ride in my car for a vet appointment 6 months ago. I’m STILL finding fur in the crevices of the back seat.
If you can’t deal with some degree of shedding, get a hairless cat or dog, like the Spyhnx or the Xolo, respectively.
For those of us who love our cuddly little furballs, there’s Swiffer to the rescue!
Find new Swiffer Heavy Duty Pet products – including dusters, dry sweeping cloths and wet mopping cloths – for a great price at Walmart.
