Dog hair removal technique
by Greg NicholsHere in Utah lots of people love to haul their dogs around to the mountains, but this has presented a problem detailing their cars. How do you remove dog hair from the interior of the car? Reflections Detailing of Utah has found an improvement to some of the best detailing methods out there.
I’ve struggled with removing dog hair from clients cars; it’s a pain in the butt to get out. The worst is out of fabric seats, as the little hairs weave themselves into the fabric, even more so is in the carpets of cars. I’ve tried using latex gloves on my hands to help grip and massage out the hairs in the seats, and on the carpets too. While that works pretty well on the fabric seats, you tear up your gloves on the carpets…..its also faster than just using a vacuum, but it’s still slow going. I’ve tried duct tape, but it’s a pain to use. For carpets I have found that using a fine grain pumice stone really helps, but you can’t get aggressive with the stone on the carpet. Detailed Image just picked up these stones, or you can find them at your local beauty supply store. They use them for scraping the bottom of peoples feet to grind off the hard calluses. Check out the video and see how easy it is to remove the hair.
that is a pretty neat idea, i used to use just a crevice brush and some elbow grease! or even a small rough brush.
Thanks Mark for the kudos. The speed at which I can gather the hair is amazing.
Cheers,
GREG
Recently my lab mix passed away and I decided to clean the cargo area behind the seat in my GMC pickup. I was trying to figure out what to use then noticed his old hair brush, the kind that had metal times on one side and stiff bristle on the other. I used the bristle end of the brush and was successful in removing probably 90% of the hair. Then I used a damp cloth to get most of the remaining hair. What was left came out by using a service station vacuum cleaner.
Holy Smokes! That is awesome! Great tip, Greg.
Yes when I first came across this idea I was like “no that sounds like a flute” I gave it a try and was hooked!
Glad you like Nathan.
Cheers,
GREG
Great tip Greg! Hopefully I won’t see any more vehicles with pet hair in them but if I do I’ll be sure to try this out! 😉
Rasky I’m floored I didn’t share this idea with you earlier??? It makes quick work of hair.
Cheers,
GREG
I use a spray bottle with half water half liquid fabric softner..this takes the static cling out of the hair and then I just vacumn the hair up..works well..
Kevin,
I’ve tried that method, while it works pretty well, for hair that gets woven into the carpet and not just sitting on top, the stone works fast. The nice thing about this method is you don’t have any residue left behind, if the stone “sheds” that is vacuumed up with the hair.
Cheers,
GREG
Great advice Greg…thanks for sharing with us!
My wife have three dogs ( two Lab/Spaniel mixes and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel), I am well versed in the” fine art of dog hair removal”…
I have special brush and grooming mitt that I use for dog hair.both have rubber “fingers” that gather the dog hair. I use the brush and mitt to gather the hair, then simply vacuum it away like shown in the video clip. I use the brush on cloth upholstery and the mitt on carpeting.. works like a charm!
Ron,
Yes their are rubber pet brushes that work with varied success, I’ve tried most. The difference for me is the speed it which I can clean ground in and woven in hairs on carpets….the stone works.
cheers,
GREG
I do have a pumice stone.. I’ll have to try it.
Great tip Greg! Is it safe to use the stone on cloth seats (old and new)as well?
-Kody-
Kody,
Like most tools they are as only safe as the user. I’ve used it on cloth seats, but I don’t press down very hard. For most seats if you wear a latex glove that that has a safer margin. I suggest you get comfortable with it on carpets first and get a “feel” for it. I have used it on the older truck seat covers that are pretty tough material when the hairs get woven into the fabric.
Cheers,
GREG
Thanks Greg! With some of the thinner cloth material they are using for seats now I think someone would have to be very careful to use the stone on them. I look forward to trying this technique on carpet.
Wow! Great idea Greg. Thanks.
I never would have thought about that…awesome
Glad to see you share this with the masses. This is what we use at work 😉 Crevice brushes are still best on edges near hard surfaces, but the pumice stone is, without doubt, THE tool for pulling hair from carpet fibers.
hi Greg ,in the uk we use this rubber block which is stippled all the way round and square shaped,rub it over and it removes the pet hair and then u juat vacuum it up
Found the stone at wal-mart and loved the way it worked on carpet. I’ve got a Golden Retriever and a German Shepard that shed like crazy. I still prefer the rubber dish gloves on cloth seats and furniture. Thanks for the tip.
I have a Dalmatian and it seems like their hairs have barbs in them LOL. This is one reason I wish white interiors were easier to find. It seems like the vast majority of car interiors are black.
Will the blue nitrile gloves work as well? The gloves and pumice stone are the two things I haven’t tried and it looks like they work for most everyone. Lots of good tips here!
I’ve used high power vacs like the Rigid, the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser, extra large lint removers from Evercare, duct tape. They all work but it usually takes a combination of methods. The Pet Hair Eraser has an attachment with rubber nibs on it and that actually does a decent job for it’s size. It is a noisy vac and generates a lot of heat though. Not bad for a cheap vac though. The filter does clog and needs to be cleaned often though.
Paul,
The rubber gloves work amazingly well on cloth seats. I need to try the pumice stone on the carpet after seeing that impressive video. Getting dog hair off fabric seats is often difficult, but the methods mentioned here really help. Running the vacuum more often, before the hair gets woven into the seats, helps too.
While pet hair removal is easier with leather seats, a dog can cause a lot of wear and tear on leather seats!
And the softer the leather, the faster it will get torn up!
I have been going beserk looking for a way to remove fur from my car and this seems faster enough. While i dont have a vaccum cleaner to drag down to my car i think it can be picked with hand too once the stone works out the magic. Neat. Thanks
From an American on the other side of the pond in Finland….. You Sir, are my freaking hero! I would’ve never thought of this, but after spending 3, 4 hours in the back of cars in the land of dog lovers, I figured there had to be a better way. OMG….. The results are night and day. Kittos (Thanks) for the tip.
Shweta and Scott
Its great you find this useful!
Cheers,
GREG
Where do you buy a fine grit pumice stone? I am having trouble finding a fine grit one.
I use a roller called the Chom Chom. It’s reusable and it’s the best thing I’ve tried so far for hair removal.
So happy I came across this message board. I have a Grand Cherokee, and a German Shepherd. We like to take her camping and around town every chance I get. My wife and I also don’t brush her regularly, which has finally caught up with us.
The back of the Jeep, the floor mats, the nooks & crannies – were covered in her hair after 4 years of shedding. I began to think “If I sell this car…how can I explain the dog hair?” The hair started to overflow into the passenger seats, and when the windows were rolled down – dog hair hurricane!! It became embarrassing, and I bought a canvas cover to lie on top of the back area, as a quick fix. I also tried to vacuum it with a Dyson DC-14 Animal, use various brushes, and sponges. All to no avail.
I now have a job that requires me to pick up folks from the airport. Knowing that they would have to put their luggage in the cargo area – it was time to face the music. I grabbed some rubber gloves, a bottle of fabric softener, and a pumice from the dollar store and went to work.
In seconds I noticed that the hair was clumping up. I didn’t even break out the fabric softener or gloves; the pumice worked wonders. It took all of 90 minutes to rejuvenate my Jeep. It feels fresher and its no longer something I worry about.
THANK YOU!!!
I have a white dog and all black interior. My back seat carpet looks like a furby. I cleaned&detailed today for 6 hours…. 3 of which was spent vaccuming. At the end of the 3 hours my car…looked like it needed to be vaccumed. I decided to see what I could find on Google. I will be buying a stone in the morning. If it works as well as it appears in the video, you may have spared my dog from riding in the trunk from now on. She thanks you& so do I. Genius
this is great info….I had no idea how to remove dog hair…thanks!
You are welcome Marcus
G
I have 3 German Shepherds, it works and you have become my favourite person
Thanks Duncan!
G
Thank you so much for sharing this trick. I have a jack russell who goes everywhere with me and leaves my car covered in little white hairs. Trying to sell my car and this really works. Thanks again!!
You are welcome Cheryl!
G
Thank you. I feel like I have been saved! Now what do I put on the light scratches that keep appearing on the black plastic finishes on the cargo interior and the door panels, Any tricks. Greg?
Glad it works well for you Tom!
help me more on the light scratches problem you have. Are they dug into the plastic? Just on the surface? Is the plastic textured?
G
Try using an edged tool such as a knife or a razor blade and a spray wax wear gloves cause it get a little gross if its really filthy doing a van as we speak
Thanks! Really need this!
Hi Greg I will try this technique to see if it works on my vehicle that we just bought. It has a lot of dog hair in it. So Ido need the extra help to remove the dog hair……thanks for the advice…
My dog is a greyhound, and they have really coarse fur, so it really gets stuck in my car’s upholstery. Thanks for the tip about using a pumice stone to get the fur out! I might give it a try, but it looks like it will take a long time to cover my entire car. Maybe I’ll get it detailed so I don’t have to worry about it.
The pumice stone along with garden gloves similar to rubber gloves only are “nubed”. Works great and I have tried everything for my lab. Thanks so much for the tips. I can finally get that hair out.
Wow!!! I have three mutts and can’t get the dog hair out of the back of my SUV. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this video. I will try it this week. Appreciate the tip so much.
The pumice stone is amazing. I have a question though. You’re using it on more of a carpet. I have a jeep wrangler and the cargo area is more of a velcro type materials. Will is work on that? Also, is there a universal pet eraser attachment for vacuums?
Thanks.
One more question. What can I use to clean the plastic windows on jeep softop?
What would the pet world do without somebody who really knows their business regarding pet hair removal. Thank you and I am going to give the stone a try because I am in the process of starting a detailing business and pet hair will definitely be one of the things I will be dealing with.