How To Remove Cat Hair From Everywhere: A Cleaning Guide

Easy ways to remove cat hair from various surfaces without damaging them, or your cat's ego.

We all love our kitties, those fickle beasts. But sometimes, don't you wish they'd pull their weight around the house a little bit more?

All that litter scooping, feather fishing, and constant snuggling is all fine and well, but it's really cleaning up all that cat hair that starts to become a bit tiresome. Good thing they're so darn cute.

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The following compilation of age-old tips and tricks from cat lovers (aka cat hair wranglers) can help you regain your sanity - and your computer keyboard.

For removing cat hair from hard surfaces such as hardwood or vinyl floors, countertops, desks, ceiling fans, tabletops or various other hard surfaces:

  • Invest in some Swiffer Heavy Duty Pet products. They're a total life (and time!) saver.
  • Dust hard surfaces. Not only can the Swiffer Pet Heavy Duty Duster extend to reach those awkward places, but its special fibers trap and lock in dust and pet hair.
  • Have a quick sweep once a day. Fine, every other day at least! The Swiffer Heavy Duty Pet Dry Sweeping Cloths are perfect for quickly sweeping without having to mess with a dustbin since the cat hair sticks directly to the cloths, which you can then remove and toss straight in the trash when you're done.
  • Run a wet mop over hard floor surfaces once a week. The Swiffer Heavy Duty Pet Wet Mopping Cloths save you the trouble of having to haul out buckets of water and detergent, providing a hassle-free solution to floor mopping. They're safe for all types of finished floors. The wet mopping cloths are also disposable, leaving your floors hairless and your hands-free when you're done. Also great for pet messes!

For removing cat hair from fabric, including carpet, upholstered furniture, clothes, bedding or (non-leather) car interiors:

  • Drape your feline's favorite lounge spot in removable fabric. Cover up upholstered areas where your cat likes to luxuriate (and shed) with blankets or towels — or something fancier if you'd prefer! (Your cat probably would.) While this technique is admittedly not the most aesthetically appealing, there's a reason that everyone does it. You can simply toss that blanket or towel straight into the washer every few days, easily managing cat hair build-up.
  • Get creative with your hair removal techniques. Dryer sheets (sometimes slightly dampened), pumice stones, lint rollers, and duct tape all work wonders for removing hair from various fabric surfaces. Dryer sheets are great for carpet and furniture, pumice stones on carpet, and lint rollers or duct tape on, well, just about anything.
  • Suck it up, buttercup. Vacuuming regularly obviously helps with cat hair. But here's another trick! Try using a spray bottle to lightly mist your carpet with water, then use a broom to sweep up clumps of cat hair before running the vacuum. If you're worried about carpet odor from cat hair, sprinkle some baking soda onto the carpet after sweeping but before vacuuming.
  • Switch up your route. Try vacuuming cat hair in alternating directions for the most effective results (and the silliest carpet patterns when you're done).

  • The squeegee: a cat lover's best friend. Not only does this device remove adorable wet nose prints from windows, but you can also use it to rake the cat hair off of any surface. Keep one in your car!

  • Eliminate electrical charge with anti-static sprays. Electrical charge is what causes all that cat hair to stick to your fabric surfaces. Anti-static spray also helps future cat hair from re-sticking. You can make your own anti-static spray by mixing 2 tablespoons of liquid fabric softener with one cup of water in a spray bottle — which will smell nice too!

    • When doing the laundry — for example, that towel you keep on the couch for your kitty to sit on — you can spray some vinegar on a sock or rag and toss it in the dryer with said towel to remove static from it. Don't worry, the vinegar smell will dissipate once everything's dried.
  • Add moisture to the hair. Damp rubber kitchen gloves or a moist sponge can be effective methods of coaxing cat hair off of fabric surfaces, causing it to clump up and making it easier to remove. Basically like you're giving your couch a spa treatment.
  • Add moisture to the air. Yes, you read that right — it's not a typo. Using a humidifier inside your home can prevent cat hair from sticking to fabric surfaces.

Once you've gone through this extensive checklist of how to best remove cat hair from your home, relish the — temporary! — hairball free zone. But wait just a meow-ment. You've got to be kitten me. The hair is back already?! Yeah, as long as you've got a feline friend as a housemate, those fluff clumps will keep regenerating between your sofa cushions and on the bottom of your slippers Try to work these cleaning practices into a weekly routine to prevent cat-astrophic hair accumulation. Hey, don't say your cat never gave you anything. At least not to its face.