Pet Spring Cleaning Tips for Pet Owners

Don’t forget your pets when you’re planning your spring cleaning! These simple pet spring cleaning tips will get your home looking its best and keep your pets happy and healthy!

This post is sponsored by Swiffer.  As always, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

The warmer weather and longer days mean that spring cleaning time is here! I may be a little crazy, but I actually look forward to spring cleaning time. There’s nothing better than a clean, fresh house to start off the season and energize the soul! 

If you’re a pet parent, don’t forget about your fur babies during spring cleaning time. A few simple cleaning tasks, a little “mud prevention planning”, and my favorite Swiffer products can really help to keep your home looking its best. It really is possible to have a clean home AND pets!

Our Fur Babies

Before we get to the spring cleaning tips, I thought I’d introduce you to our fur babies that inspired this post. We have three dogs {Blue, Oreo, and Sammy} and one cat, Abby. They can definitely make some big messes {especially Blue!!}, but the love and happiness they bring is well worth the extra mess. There is rarely a time that I don’t have at least one baby at my feet or sitting on my lap! Just look at those faces…

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” – Anatole France

Pet Spring Cleaning Tips 

Okay. So are you ready to get started on a little spring cleaning? These simple pet spring cleaning tips will help you tackle your pet messes quickly and easily, and allow you to have more time to actually enjoy your pet. We all know that those dogs are just dying to get outside and go for a walk in the spring air!

Air Out the House

The first thing I always do when I start spring cleaning, is open up the windows as much as possible. There’s nothing better than feeling and smelling that fresh air after those winter months! Even if it’s still cold outside, leave your windows open a couple of inches or do a quick 10 minute fresh air blast. It’s great for deodorizing and even better for the soul!

Wash Pet Bedding

At the start of your cleaning, toss all pet bedding, clothing, towels, etc. into the washing machine. For disinfecting, use the hottest water possible for the materials that you’re washing and add a cup of vinegar to the fabric softener bin {instead of fabric softener} for extra smell-busting powers.

For those upholstery items that can’t go in the wash, spot clean where needed and then use this DIY upholstery cleaner. It works great for removing odors and you can even customize the scent with your favorite essential oils.

Tackle the Pet Hair

As the weather gets warmer, you’ll likely notice your pet shedding more than usual. Even with more frequent brushing and grooming, that pet hair gets everywhere!

Thankfully, Swiffer comes to the rescue with their Swiffer Sweeper Dry Cloths. The deep textured ridges really help to trap and lock in all of the hair and allergens and it’s one of the quickest and most effective methods I’ve found for pet hair removal on hard surfaces. The Swiffer Sweeper is also great for getting into all of those hard to clean areas such as under the sofa, along wood stairs, into corners, etc. where those hair balls tend to accumulate. If you like a little, fresh scent, you can even get Pet Refills now with built in Febreze Odor Defense! The pads can really last for a long time so be sure to use them to their full potential. You can check out this post to see a few tricks that I use. One pad can really go a long way!

For soft surfaces such as upholstery or curtains, just grab some rubber gloves to remove the hair. Spritz the gloves lightly with water and run them over any area that’s collecting pet hair. If your pet has a favorite hang out spot on your sofa or bed, you might want to put down a blanket or sheet for them to lay on during shedding season to make it easier to clean up.

Do a Thorough Dusting

Even if you keep up with a fairly regular dusting schedule, take some time during spring cleaning to tackle all of those out of the way places that dust tends to settle.  This could be above door ledges, on light fixtures, ceiling corners, high shelves or ledges – basically anywhere that’s more “out of sight and out of mind”. Remember when you’re dusting to always work from the highest place in the room to the lowest {working around the room in a circular motion} so you’re not dropping dust on surfaces that you’ve already cleaned. For the same reason, be sure to vacuum or use your Swiffer Sweeper after you’ve dusted.

The Swiffer Dusters are great for picking up all of the fine dust particles on pretty much any surface. They have a dust lock adhesive that actually attracts and locks in dust and the fluffy fibers can get into any little space that you need to get to. You can even get an extendable handle to dust all of those high, awkward-to-reach spots. For an added light scent, look for the Swiffer Dusters Pet Refills with Febreze Odor Defense.

Deep Clean Carpets

If you have a lot of carpeting in your house, spring is the perfect time to look at doing a thorough deep cleaning or shampoo. Ground in dirt and dander, residual pet accidents, and pet hair can get trapped in the carpet fibers and can be difficult to remove. Take smaller area rugs outside, give them a good shaking, and let them sit out in the sun before thoroughly vacuuming and spot cleaning if needed. For larger rugs or wall to wall carpets, use a carpet cleaner or consider having them professionally cleaned.

Set up a Pet Cleaning Station

The best way to keep your house clean, is to not let that dirt and mud in in the first place! Set up your entry way with a heavy duty mat to trap as much dirt and mud as possible and keep microfiber towels and a spray bottle of water easily accessible for muddy paws. We have a bin right by our backdoor to hold all of these supplies and the dogs know they have to get their paws wiped down before they get to come into the rest of the house.

Of course, there’s always some dirt and mud that’s going to make it into the house {or one of the dogs makes a break away before getting their paws wiped down!}. The quicker you can clean this up and contain it to the main traffic areas, the less cleaning you’ll have to do in the rest of the house. We keep our Swiffer Sweeper and our Swiffer WetJet in the hallway closet so they can quickly be pulled out to tackle any messes that make it inside. The Sweeper works on all of that fine dust and dirt and the WetJet eliminates those muddy paw prints.If you don’t have a WetJet, just use the Swiffer Sweeper wet pads. It literally just takes a minute or two to clean everything up and it stops it from being tracked all over the house. I can’t tell you how much of a time saver this is in the end!

And then there are those days when all you can do is give them a good hose down! lol!

Sort Through Toys

Our dogs adore their toys and they love to spread them all over the house. Sometimes it actually feels like they have more toys than the kids did! As wonderful as the toys can be, they’re also the perfect breeding ground for germs and dust mites. To give soft toys a good spring cleaning, throw them in the washing machine with a natural, scent-free detergent {just check the labels first as some will say to hand wash only}. They can then be dried in the dryer on low or put out in the sunshine for an extra burst of spring freshness. 

For hard toys, place them on the top rack of the dishwasher for the quickest and easiest cleaning method. You can even add their food containers, bowls, non-leather collars and leashes to fill things up. Wash through a full cycle using vinegar instead of detergent. Alternatively, just fill up a sink with equal parts water and white vinegar and allow the toys to soak.  For extra scrubbing power, mix up a paste with baking soda and a few drops of water so it becomes like a toothpaste consistency.  Lastly, as you’re sorting through all of the toys, check for any damage to the toys that may be a danger to your pet. 

I hope you find these pet spring cleaning tips helpful! Let me know if you have any other spring cleaning tasks you have for your pet messes.

For more information on Swiffer products, check out their website or find them on Facebook. You can also purchase all Swiffer products at Target {just in case you needed another reason to do a Target run!} Happy spring cleaning!