How to Keep Your Home Clean and Fresh With Pets

The biggest challenge I’ve come across when trying to keep our home clean are the pets. Don’t get me wrong! I love our pets and I wouldn’t trade them for the world. But I like to keep things neat and tidy. And with two dogs and three hamsters that shed a lot, track in anything (and everything), slobber, throw food, and stink often, it’s been a challenge to keep our home clean. But I’ve figured out a few tricks on how to keep your home clean and fresh with pets… and you’re going to know them all by the end of this post!

Oh and I am allergic to all five animals. So I clean a lot.

How to Keep Your Home Clean and Fresh With Pets

1) Use essential oils!

In the diffuser. 

The diffuser is my best friend when it comes to keeping our home smelling fresh. I’m always afraid our house is going to smell like a dog, especially if I’m noseblind to it. But running the diffuser at least once a day (sometimes I can get away with doing it every other day if I’m feeling lazy) helps eliminate odors caused by the pest.

As a room spray.

Since diffusers can only cover a small area at a time, I like to use a room spray made of essential oils to freshen up the house. My go-to room spray always involves a citrusy scent (lemon, lime, tangerine, or grapefruit) + an earthy or woodsy scent (frankincense, Thieves, Northern Lights Black Spruce, Pine).

As a linen spray.

Keeping your linens smelling fresh can be a challenge if the pets are constantly on them. Having a linen spray with essential oils on hand helps keep the furniture, carpets, beds, curtains, and blankets from smelling like whatever they rolled in. 

We use Young Living oils as they’re the purest and best oils for us!

2) Sweep and/or Vacuum often

Pets have fur… and a lot of it. There’s no avoiding this issue. The only way to completely get rid of their shedding fur is to vacuum or sweep often. I vacuum at least twice a week. 

While it may sound overwhelming and frustrating to have to vacuum so often, think of it this way: it only takes about 15-30 minutes to quickly sweep or vacuum if you’re keeping up with it. This cleaning opportunity (not a chore) can be done at any time during the day and in increments. There are times I pull out the vacuum and only get the downstairs done before I’m needing to do something else. Then later on, I finish vacuuming upstairs.

3) Use Thieves Cleaner or Folex for messes

Anytime our pets make a big mess (and it happens often), Thieves Cleaner is my go to. I trust it, I know it will clean deep, and it doesn’t leave a bad odor – in fact it leaves a fresh odor.

We also have used Folex in the past for stain removers out of carpets and it’s the best product I’ve found for stain removal. 

Fun fact – I also use Thieves Cleaner on my furniture, carpets, and curtains as a dual acting linen spray and cleaner. 

4) Invest in sticky rollers

You may already have a hand roller or two around the house to remove pet hair from your clothing. But if you’ve seen the ones that are twice as large (picture a paint roller), they are perfect for keeping your bed covers free of fur. Every so often, I take my sticky roller and run it over the top of our duvet cover and pillows to remove the unwanted hair.

5) Use blankets to cover up furniture you don’t want messes on

I use a machine washable throw blanket over our bed so that the dogs don’t get mud, dirt, or whatever else directly on our white duvet cover. It works like a charm (and adds a touch of decor)! Every once in a while, I’ll see a faint muddy paw print on the duvet cover, but a little laundry stain remover and wash does the trick to get rid of it.

6) Wipe their paws off before coming inside

I often wipe the dogs’ paws off on the doormat before they run in the house to keep them from tracking in mud and dirt. I don’t have to worry about this if it hasn’t rained in a while, but when you know your pets will be tracking in a lot of stuff from outside, wipe their paws off.

7) Clean your pets

Cleaning your pets’ cage and grooming them often (whether you do it yourself or take them to a groomer doesn’t matter) will go a long way in keeping your home clean and fresh with pets. If they’re clean, your home will stay cleaner. A freshly brushed dog is not going to shed as much. A freshly cleaned cage will stink a lot less.

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Unfortunately there’s no quick and easy method on how to keep your home clean and fresh with pets. But if you apply the tips and tricks above regularly, it really does become easier to maintain. 

You can have a clean and fresh home AND have pets as well! With a few essential oils, 30 minutes here and there, and some sticky rollers, your home will be sparkling and smelling wonderful! At least until the next mess.

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