If you have a dog that sheds, chances are that whenever you take the dog out of the car, the seats are going to be covered with hair. Even dogs that don’t shed may leave a lot of hair behind in cars, as well as on upholstery in general.
If you have ever had to deal with this, you probably know just how hard it is to get dog hair out of your car, particularly off the seats and upholstery. Let’s go over some of the best tips and methods for cleaning dog hair out of cars, as well as preventing too much hair from accumulating in the first place.
A Good Lint Roller
One of the easiest ways to get dog hair out of your car is to use a decent lint roller. Now, you want to get a higher quality lint roller, one with lots of glue on it, as the cheaper ones don’t stick too well and won’t be able to pick up much hair.
Just like you would roll the roller over clothes to remove lint, roll it over the car seats and other areas of the car to remove dog hair. Depending on how many dogs you have and how much they shed, you might end up using a lot of lint rollers, but they are very easy to use, and they work quite well too.
Duct Tape
If you don’t want to bother with a lint roller, but you still want to use something sticky to remove the dog hair from the car, something like duct tape will work well, or any other kind of wide and very sticky tape for that matter.
Take a long strip of the tape, press it onto the seat, and pull it off. Most, if not all of the dog hair should come with it. Using tape for this may be cheaper than using a lint roller, but lint rollers will be much easier to use.
Fabric Softener
This one may sound a bit weird, but it does actually work. Fabric softeners contain ingredients which can loosen hair from fabric. Take some fabric softener, mix it with water, and put it in a spray bottle.
Spray the upholstery in your car with the mixture, wait for a couple minutes, and then use some coarse paper towel to wipe the hair away. Be aware that this will not get rid of all of the dog hair, but finishing this off with a good vacuum should do the trick.
A Pet Vacuum
One of the easiest and most effective ways to get that pesky dog hair out of your car is with a pet vacuum or a vacuum with pet attachments. These are attachments which have special deep penetrating brushes with bristles designed to pick up pet hair.
Although these vacuums or the attachments are not cheap, the high-quality ones will do an excellent job. This is probably the easiest way of removing the dog hair.
Velcro
The rough side of the Velcro is also ideal for picking up pet hair. One of the best things to use is an old-school Velcro hair curler.
These will work wonders at picking up pet hair. However, be aware that getting hair of those curlers is not easy. More than likely, if you work your way through your car with a Velcro curler, when you are done, you will probably just have to throw it out.
A Wet Rubber Glove
An easy method to get rid of dog hair in the car is to get a rubber glove, like a rubber kitchen glove for doing dishes. Take the glove, put it on, and then dip your hand in water.
Take that wet glove and rub it in one direction across the car seats. This will cause the dog hair to get wet, to clump up, and to get pushed to one side. You will then be left with clumps of dog hair that are easy to pick up by hand or to vacuum.
Preventing Dog Hair Buildups
Here are a few tips on how to cut down on dog hair getting into your car in the first place.
- Brush your dog thoroughly before putting it in the car
- Get special seat covers designed to prevent dog hair buildup
- You can also put your dog in a crate, so at least the dog hair will only be in the crate
Conclusion
There is no denying that excessive amounts of dog hair in your car is annoying. It looks bad, it smells bad, and it sticks to everything. If you have a very stubborn situation on your hands, we recommend using any of the above removal methods combined with a good vacuum.
