How to Reduce Pet Odors and Pet Dander
For The Air You Breathe...
Meow!
Change Your Air Filters on a Regular Basis...
When you bring home a cat, dog, or other furry pets, you often adopt the pet odors and pet dander that comes with them. Fortunately, there's a lot of ways to help your house smell like a home and not a kennel. We’ve shared a few tips so you, your family, your guests and your pets can enjoy a pet-odor and dander-free home!
We are not trying to push air filters on you, but changing your air filters consistently (especially if you have more than one pet) is a highly effective way to help deal with pet odors. If you, a family member, or frequent guests have pet allergies, it's also just the responsible thing to do. And if you are just using a standard 1" disposable air filter, we recommend the MERV 8 Pleated, 1" Air Filter.
Baking soda is a great neutralizer, so it's perfect for removing pet odors. Most people keep a box of baking soda in the fridge to eat up weird smells, right? Well the same concept applies outside of the fridge, too! Just sprinkle some on the most pungent areas of the home and it should absorb most of the smells, especially if you're dealing with pet urine. Then after a few minutes, vacuum up the baking soda.
Another way to remove odors is with the Air Scrubber Plus® with ActivePure™ technology - a seamless, fully integrated, 24/7 whole-home air purification System. The Air Scrubber Plus helps eliminate indoor air quality risks by reducing odors caused by pets and cooking, air pollutants, VOCs (chemical odors), cigarette smoke, dust, pollen, mold, and bacteria.
Does your dog or cat have a favorite (conveniently machine-washable) toy? Do you use the same collar, harness and leash every day on your walks? Are the pet beds completely covered with fur, dirt or other stinky byproducts? Does your pet lay on your furniture or sleep on your bed?
Well you need to CLEAN! Clean out food and water dishes regularly. Throw toys, leashes, pet beds and other accessories into the washing machine, or wash by hand in hot water and detergent. Wash your sheets and blankets weekly. And target the areas where your animal stays regularly and make sure they're vacuumed and free of pet hair and dander.
Brushing is not only a way for you to further bond with your pet but also keeps the fur from flying. Some sources recommend brushing your pet daily but it also depends on the length of your animal's fur - the general guideline is long-haired animals are best brushed daily (to prevent tangling and matting of fur/hair), medium-haired animals are best to be on a weekly basis and short-haired animals can go a few weeks but at least once a month is best.
If you are serious about removing pet dander from your home, you may need to incorporate some new areas into your cleaning regime and even restrict the areas that your pet plays to keep them away from some of the more common pet dander trap areas. Follow these quick tips to help eliminate pet dander.
- Do not allow pets near or on your bedding.
- Bathe your pet at least once a week.
- Keep pets off of the couch.
- Vacuum soft surfaces (aside from the normal carpet vacuuming) like drapes, curtains, sofas, and stairs.
- Consider replacing carpet with hardwood floors or selecting a home that has more hardwoods than carpeting, as carpets are notorious for trapping pet dander.
By following these steps, you can significantly reduce (if not eliminate) pet odors and pet dander from your home, and improve your indoor air quality. If you or your family have allergies or asthma, you can reduce allergy symptoms and asthma triggers by fighting pet dander in your home.
I bet you thought we were going to use this webpage to try and sell you an Air Cleaner, didn't you? Well actually you were right! A High-Efficiency or Electronic Air Cleaner, or an Air Scrubber or UV Air Purification System will absolutely help remove pet odor and dander! We offer a whole host of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Products to improve the air quality in your home.
Please keep in mind that the information found on our website is provided free of charge and Hannabery HVAC does not assume any liability resulting from the information we provide. If you have a tip regarding your HVAC system that you would like to share, let us know... If we like it, we may add it to our website!
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