9 Tricks for How to Get Dog Hair Out of Carpet

As much as we love our furry friends, their hair isn’t exactly the best part of the deal. Whether you count yourself as a cat person or are a loyal fan of any and all dogs – or maybe you don’t discriminate and love all pets equally – managing their hair is an essential part of keeping your house clean.

Unfortunately, rugs and carpets are almost like a magnet, attracting and keeping pet fur in the fibers and keeping that pet smell and un-clean feeling in your house even if you keep everything else tidy.

Luckily, it isn’t that hard to remove dog hair from carpet. You can even find useful tools without leaving your home. Below we share with you nine tricks to get dog hair out of carpet; these work for cat hair too if you have kitties in your home too. 

Carpet Rakes

Carpet rakes work like a charm to get dog hair out of the carpet. These tools look like a broom, but the rubber bristles act like a magnet, attracting dog hair and removing it from the carpet’s fibers. Moreover, they’re easy to use. Carpet rakes come with adjustable handles, so you can set them at a comfortable height and cover larger surfaces with less effort. 

Personally, we recently bought an Uproot Clean rake and it works wonders!

Pro-tip: Always check out that the head is clean before cleaning and remove build-up throughout the process. 

Lint Rollers

Sticky materials are great allies when trying to remove dog hair from your carpet. That’s why lint rollers have a place in every dog owner’s cupboard. Lint rollers come with adhesive sheets that pick up fur from the fabric. You can find lint rollers in different shapes and sizes and are versatile enough to remove dog hair from multiple surfaces in your home.

Squeegees

When dog owners google how to get dog hair out of carpet, they never expect to see squeegees in the list. Yep, the same ones you use to wash your windows are fantastic to remove dog hair. The squeegee’s rubber, similar to the bristles in a carpet rake, acts like a magnet when in contact with the fabric and pulls out the hair that’s entangled in the carpet’s fibers. 

Pro-tip: Pull the squeegee along the carpet toward your direction with a little pressure. 

Dog Brush

The dog brush you use to groom your four-legged buddy can be used to remove fur and fluff from the carpet, too. There are different types of dog brushes, but you’ll want to use a brush with metal bristles for the best results.

Hairbrush

A hairbrush is another useful tool to get dog hair off your carpet. Not any hair brush, though. A hairbrush with stiff metal bristles is an adequate choice for this task. Try to use long and short strokes in various directions – but always leading toward you– and define a common collection point to pick up the hair afterward.

Baking Soda & Vacuum

A holy grail among homemade cleaners, baking soda works wonders to remove dog hair from your carpet. If you’re trying to figure out how to get dog hair out of the carpet with baking soda, let us explain. 

Baking soda doesn’t actually remove dog hair by itself. It helps loosen up pet hair and debris from the carpet’s fabric. So you’ll need another method, preferably vacuuming, to remove the powder and hair. Another perk of baking soda is that it neutralizes pesky odors, so it will leave your carpet smelling great. 

Get a can of baking soda, sprinkle a light coating on your carpet, let it sit for about 10-15 minutes, and then vacuum. 

Fabric Softener 

Depending on the fabric, dog hair can get stuck in the carpet and become a nightmare to remove. When this happens, you can use a fabric softener to loosen up stubborn dog hair and remove it afterward with one of the methods we’ve mentioned in this list. 

You’ll have to dilute the fabric softener with water in a spray bottle first. Then, spray the carpet with the solution and wait for a couple of minutes.

Rubber Glove

Rubber gloves are another cleaning tool that comes to the rescue when you need to remove dog hair from the carpet. Head to the kitchen sink, don a rubber glove and let’s get rid of that pesky hair. The technique is easy. Simply rub your hand all over the rug. The friction between the rubber and the fabric will create a static effect and pull out the fur from the carpet.  

When rubbing, remember to follow a single direction, preferably toward you. You’ll see that some people recommend using gloves with knobs for better results and others suggest slightly dampening the gloves to remove dog hair. Experiment with both methods to see which one works best for you.   

Pet Hair Vacuum Cleaners

Tried all of the techniques above and still struggling to remove dog hair from your carpets? You can always resort to products made especially to remove dog hair, like pet hair vacuum cleaners. 

A pet hair vacuum cleaner is an excellent investment if you have more than one dog or a breed that sheds a lot of hair. Since these vacuums are made to break static bonds and lift fur from surfaces, they will save you time and make cleaning a lot easier. 


Between these various techniques, you can surely find at least one that helps you manage the pet hair that is always threatening to take over your home.

If you want additional help keeping your house clean on a regular basis, reach out as Summit Maids can help.

Author

  • Jacob W. Bailey

    Jacob is the Cleveland-based founder and CEO of Summit Maids, a local cleaning company with a mission to make a mark on its community by providing good jobs to more than 1,000 people.