As you know, we are welcoming Merrie the Newfoundland into our lives in November, so I have a wonderful guest post to help me with pet proofing my home!
Welcoming a pet into your home is a beautiful thing, but is something that can be hard work and will need persistence, but in return you get a whole lotta love! It is very important to ensure that your home is fully prepared to welcome your new friend into your home!
Here are three top tips on combatting pet hair, preventing scratches on the floor and removing urine. These are unfortunate side hazards of having a pet, but hopefully this guide will help you, and show you that they’re sacrifices worth making.
We’ll start with scratches on wood flooring. The are unfortunately largely unavoidable! Brushed and oiled wood flooring would be our recommended type of flooring for your pets, it already has a worn look to it, so a few scratches won’t look out of place. It can be very easily sanded down, and it may be an idea to consider a tougher finish to avoid this step having to occur too often. Vinyl flooring is probably the best option for a home with pets. It has great durability, and is less likely to scratch as easily as wood flooring, and is also very water resistant.
Next up, combating pet hair. As all pet owners will tell you pet hair literally sticks to everything! If you have wooden flooring you’ll find that excess hair control is very manageable. A wet mop will collect any loose hairs, a vacuum is not recommended as it just blows the hair around your house. We also would highly recommend that you regularly brush your pets, this helps to avoid the excess shedding that can occur!
The final hazard is urine. While your pet get used to its new environment, unfortunately accidents can occur! On a wooden floor, especially brushed and oiled it is likely to stain if not cleaned up quickly! Your best bet again would be vinyl flooring as it doesn’t stain as easily and is easily cleaned up. If it occurs on a carpeted floor, once dried with a towel/dry cloth, if you mix equal parts of white vinegar and water in a spray bottle, apply to the area and sprinkle baking soda over to the top it should neutralise it, and clear the carpet of stains.
Pets are a wonderful thing to welcome into your life, and really add to your home and become your best friend! We hope our guide has helped you!
This is a collaborative post