Removing Hair From Carpet

A hairy carpet is never a good look, but unless every occupant in the home -- including the pets -- is bald, expect to find hair accumulating in the pile or fibers. Hair tends to tangle around carpet fibers. As you walk over it, it becomes almost locked in, sometimes so badly even the vacuum cleaner can't get it out.

A window squeegee does more than leave your windows streak-free and shiny; it can help rid carpet of hair. The dry, rubbery edge catches fine hair, pulls it free, "evicting" it from its new residence. Rubber gloves basically do the same thing but allow you to put both hands to work.

For hairballs in the corners or tangled hairs restricted to small areas, use tape to pluck them from the carpet. Wrap a length of wide, sticky tape such as packing tape around your dominant hand, sticky side out. Pat the area to catch and pick up the hairs. For larger areas, create a sticky roller by wrapping the tape around a paint roller; a long-handled roller makes this job about as easy as sweeping. Alternatively, use a sticky lint roller you can rinse and reuse.

Your vacuum cleaner's standard attachments aren't designed to get ground-in hair or fur out of carpeting or upholstery so look beyond "standard." Use an attachment tool made for the job. Such a tool might resemble a lint brush or have numerous short "fingers" that grab and pull the hair into the wand, and often is universally designed to fit many wand types. For shag carpets, use a shag-rug attachment with rake-like fingers.

A rubber-bristle broom acts as a catch, gripping and pulling hair from carpeting. It's a handy option when you don't feel like getting out the vacuum cleaner. Check the manufacturer's label; you may be able to use this multipurpose tool to remove hair from other flooring surfaces, including hardwood, tile or vinyl.

Chances are you've noticed how balloons become static charged when you rub them against smooth fabric or hair. As a simple and kind of fun tool to use, rub a balloon over the carpet, using its static cling to pick up hairs.

By steam cleaning carpets once or twice a year, you not only remove people and pet hair but reduce allergens that come with the latter. The more powerful the machine's extractor, the more hair removed. Vacuum first for best results.

After you've removed much of the hair from your carpeting, you likely want to keep it from building back up. If pet hair is the main issue, groom furry comrades daily -- preferably outdoors or in a room with hard-surface flooring such as the bathroom. Vacuum flooring daily with the vacuum's regular attachment to help keep the problem under control.