For many of us, a house isn’t a home if it doesn’t contain pets, but we don’t want them ruling the roost and making the whole place smell or look dirty, either. There are many cleaning products available that are safe to use around your pets, but you will need to check the labels carefully before using them. If you’re buying something that is advertised as being safe for use with animals, then it should be perfectly fine, but if you’re buying other products that aren’t designed for use with pets, check for the following chemicals:
- Phenols
- Isopropyl alcohol
- Formaldehyde
- Phthalates
- Bleach
- Perchloroethylene
Any product containing one or more of these chemicals, should be avoided at all costs.Pet stores are naturally a great place to begin looking for cleaning products that are safe to use around pets, but even many grocery stores nowadays will sell such products. Once you’ve found a suitable product, read the instructions carefully to ensure that you get maximum benefit from it. For example, does the product work only on fresh stains and odors, or will it tackle old stains, too? Is it a repellent that should discourage the pet from going near an area of your home that you want to keep out of bounds for animals, or will it attract them to that area? Do you need to spray the product and leave it on for some time, or apply it and remove it straight away?
Prevention is better than cure:
Ideally, you’ll want to prevent your furry darlings from messing up your home in the first place, and toilet training and regular grooming are just 2 ways of staying on top of cleaning with pets at home.
- Ensuring that cats get used to using litter trays inside and dogs learn to wait for their walks or toilet breaks before they relieve themselves, is the best way of reducing the risk of peeing and pooping in the home. It may take a while to train them, but it will be so worth it in the long run.
- Regular brushing and bathing of your pets can help to reduce hair fall and dander, two of the biggest problems for pet owners in their homes. Pet odors, such as ‘wet dog aroma’, can be eliminated with regular bathing and grooming, too.
The more you can be prepared, the less risk to your pets’ health there will be from having to use cleaning products that may be harmful to them. Not only that, but some cleaning products targeting pets can be costly, and so to minimize the cost, keep on top of loose pet fur by using a Swiffer Sweeper, and set up an effective training plan to ensure that your pets don’t soil inside the home.
If you don’t have the time to keep your home as clean as you’d like and you have pets at home, why not call in the professionals and hire a cleaning company to come in on a regular basis and help you to stay on top of things? They usually have schedules that can fit in around yours and a budget to suit most pockets. This would give you more time to enjoy with your pets when you do have some spare time, instead of having to spend it cleaning up after them.