Can't Live Without Cleaning Products

On a cleanliness scale of 1 to 10, I'd say I'm about a 7 or 8 (1 being a slob, 10 being an anal perfectionist). I WISH I were a 10, if that tells you anything about my preferences. I don't spend an inordinate amount of time cleaning my house, but I do keep things tidy. I probably vacuum about twice a week and sweep the kitchen and dining room floors every other day. Still, the amount of dog hair I find in every nook and cranny of the house does not make me a happy homemaker.

Enter the Pet Hair Magnet!! If it's possible to be in love with a yellow piece of plastic that costs $10 (or only $8 if you use your 20% off coupon at Bed Bath and Beyond), then I am.

I have a Miele, which is a very nice German vacuum cleaner. However, no matter how much I go over the same spot, I can't pick up all the Cabana hairs on the carpet. My poor black jeans are a sure indicator of this fact. The carpet may look clean, since Cabana is the same color as the carpet, but the black jeans tell the truth.

Here is Cabana in front of our Christmas tree, which we just brought home and decorated yesterday. The carpet has been thoroughly vacuumed, to get up all the loose pine needles. The carpet looks pretty clean, right? But wait...



After taking the photo, I was able to get this mound of dog hair out of the 2 sq ft space immediately in front of Cabana. Okay, it's not a huge amount, and some carpet fibers are probably mixed in--but remember that I did just vacuum yesterday. Also, this isn't a spot where Cabana spends a lot of time. There would be more around her dog bed, which is another place where the Pet Hair Magnet would come in handy, as well as in the car. Best of all, there are no refills to buy. It's fast, cheap and easy.

While I'm on a product recommendation jag, I'll tell you about one other product that is AMAZING. It's called the Magic Eraser, by Mr. Clean, available at grocery and hardware stores. This isn't necessarily a pet-related cleaning item, but it's just too fabulous not to mention.

You get two sponges in a package. They are made of melamine foam, and I don't think there is anything added to them (no chemical or cleaning agent). The melamine foam itself is the active ingredient. Take a pair of scissors and cut each sponge into 4 pieces (you don't need to use the whole big thing at once). You wet the sponge and use it to wipe away all those stains that nothing else seems to get rid of. I had a few marks on my walls that I had tried to clean before, but they wouldn't go away. A few wipes with the Magic Eraser, and they are gone. There's also a bathroom cleaning version, which is fantastic, too. Think stocking stuffers, people!

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Has It Come to This?

When we first got Cabana, I was so squeamish about doggy cooties that I washed my hands after each time I touched her. I also changed my clothes several times each day because I didn't want any dog hairs on me. I made it a habit to put on my pajamas after putting Cabana in her crate at night so that no stray dog hairs would follow me into my bed and "dirty" my sheets. In order to get rid of any puppy odors (just regular fur smell, I'm not even referring to fecal matter or urine), I bought a big can of rug deodorizer and sprinkled my carpets liberally. Unfortunately, the smell of the rug deodorizer was WAY stronger and more unpleasant than any puppy smells, so that was the last time I made that mistake.

I'm not sure how long I kept up with this neat freak behavior, but presently, I find that I've slid a long way down on the mountain of fastidiousness, to be offering Cabana this wooden spoon so she can lick off the remnants of peanut butter cookie dough. (If my sister or anyone else who might come to eat at my house is reading this, I have recycled the wooden spoon and promise not to cook anything for your consumption with it.)

Even though my house and I might not be as cleanly as we used to be pre-dog, I'm fine with it. Obviously. Dog hair, dog germs, dog slobber--so what. Clean is a relative term, isn't it?

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