Pet Friendly Cleaning Hacks
How do you keep a clean home when you have 10+ animals running through it? Whenever people come to our house, they always comment on how it’s much quieter and cleaner than expected given how many animals we have. Without further ado, so here are my tips and tricks for maintaining a pet-friendly home.
Home Design
The first thing I did when I moved into this house was tear up the carpet and put down laminate. I tried carpet for the first few months but it just wasn’t doable with so many foster puppies and accidents happening. I went with the Pergo Outlast + from Home Depot because it’s completely waterproof and scratch proof. It also comes with a lifetime warranty and it’s guaranteed not to wear, stain, fade or be damaged by moisture. I also feel like it’s less slippery than traditional hardwood floors, which is nice for the pigs. You pay a slight premium for the Pergo Outlast + but it’s totally worth it—it’s been three years and my floors still look brand new.
How about rugs? Should we even entertain the idea of having rugs in a house full of animals? One of my favorite discoveries has been the machine washable rugs from Ruggable. I’ve turned so many friends onto this company. Their rugs are truly the best if you have a home with kids or pets. They are machine washable, spill-proof, reasonably priced, non-slip, and there’s 100+ styles to choose from. We used to have to throw rugs away ALL the time. I’ve had some of my Ruggables for three years now and they always come out of the wash looking brand new. Definitely check them out!
Speaking of machine washable, I also have a machine washable couch. It’s from a company called Lovesac. You can fully customize your couch (color, materials, size, layout) and all the covers can be taken off and thrown in the wash. I’ve spilled red wine on our couch (a few times) and it’s come right out in the wash. The covers come with a 3-year warranty and the hard insert pieces have a lifetime warranty. I also like that they have an option to include storage in your couch. You can also add a charging outlet (we have one and use it constantly). The only thing I wish I had chosen instead was the Deep Set couch instead of the standard because I like to put my feet up on the couch and the Standard is slightly too shallow to do that. Especially when the animals want to come up and cuddle on it. If you’re in the market for a pet-friendly couch, check Lovesac out or search online for what’s called a “high performance fabric” like crypton or just find a couch that comes with slipcovers.
My other tip is to just be super organized. I put all my animal supplies into labeled bins so it’s super easy to find whatever I need quickly. I have bins labeled for first aid, dog toys, many of them are organized by species...my general philosophy is “work smart, not hard” so put systems in place like these that will make your life more efficient in the long-run. To store our animal food we use Vittle Vaults because the pigs can’t get into them and they’re smell-proof so they don’t attract rodents.
Cleaning
Neato. This is a vacuum robot I discovered not too long ago that has been such a time saver for me. It does an amazing job picking up all the dust, pet hair, dirt etc. around the house and you can even set it to clean at a specific time each week (i.e. every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7 AM). The best part is that it will automatically turn itself on, do the rounds, then return back to its charging dock once it’s completed the job. You literally do nothing once you get it all set up. It also has AI built in so it gets more efficient at cleaning your house the more you use it. It learns your floor layout and figures out the most optimal way to clean each room. So yeah, I really love this little guy. We also have a shop vac for major messes and a Dyson but most of the time I just end up using my Neato– it’s saved me so much time and I love not having to think about or do any routine vacuuming.
Get your own Neato by using the code “NEATOPICKLES10”. Dill not included.
Okay this next trick is quite literally a dirty secret of mine but it’s the honest truth. Part of the reason our yard always looks so clean is because I use a weekly service called Poop 911. I’m not kidding. It’s a weekly service where someone comes out and scoops up all the poop in the yard. Obviously if I only had one or two dogs this would be a waste of money but since we have three dogs and two pigs….the poop accumulates quickly. A friend of mine gifted me two months of the service and once I had it I couldn’t go back. Working full-time, caring for 10 animals (often more), rescuing and rehabilitating fosters takes a lot out of me so I need to save time wherever I can. Obviously for most this service is not necessary but I’m including it in here because it’s totally a secret to our success and for me personally it is well worth the $160/month (cost of cleanup for 5 animals) and they service most major cities.
Here are some of the other ways I’ve made my life with the animals more efficient.
Let’s talk about my favorite cleaning products for pets because I have a couple. The first one for general cleaning is Angry Orange Odor Eliminator. This stuff smells amazing and works so well. It has a huge cult following and 15,000 5 star reviews on Amazon. I use this for general all purpose cleaning because it leaves my house smelling like fresh orange peels and it’s not expensive. You buy 1 $22 bottle of concentrate and that fills up four 32 oz spray bottles. I then take all four bottles and put them in different rooms around the house with a paper towel roll next to it so that I always have cleaning supplies nearby whenever there’s an accident.
I’m also a fan of Skout’s Honor products! For pet specific stains I like to use the Urine Destroyer and Odor Eliminator by Skout’s Honor. They also have an incredible Laundry Booster which is great to add in the machine when I’m washing soiled pet blankets or dog beds. I also really like buying from them because for every product you purchase, they feed a day’s worth of food to a shelter animal. But yeah their stuff is truly magical and they always win awards at the pet conventions I go to. Their shampoo (honeysuckle is my favorite!) is also incredible (it’s also got a big cult following and I especially love it for my pigs) I also know they have an amazing Sour Spray product if you have a dog that likes to chew on furniture (so there, a bonus household hack for ya).
One final thing I’ll say is that it’s important to design your space in a way that’s conducive to actually enjoying your animals. We love just sitting outside watching the animals frolic and do their thing. That’s why I suggest designing your seating and entertaining areas around your animal enclosures. Create an outdoor bar where you can make drinks, watch the sunset, and throw the ball for your dogs. Set up a hammock or a seating area in your chicken yard so you can read a good book amongst the chickens. Get your pig a kiddie pool and a set of plastic adirondack chairs to enjoy those warm summer days together. I love to sit out there and put my feet in the kiddie pool while Pickles hangs out in his pool and bobs for cheerios. We also love poufs and recently bought a ton of floor seating so we can enjoy movie nights with the animals and basically just found a way to sit comfortably on the floor with the animals. Animals are a lot of work. You deserve to enjoy them and set up a space within your home that’s conducive to doing that. I hope you’ve found this blog helpful and you learned some tips to try out within your own home.
