Chester's Clean House: Furminator

One of the biggest challenges to keeping our house clean is pet hair. We have a Newfoundland dog and an orange tabby cat. I could have made several sweaters from all of the hair that they have shed over the years, too bad there isn’t a market for Newfoundland dog fur sweaters because I would be rich. We started using the FURminator brush several years ago, and while the brush does a great job, we still get lots of pet hair scattered throughout the house. When we first got Bear, we vacuumed everyday to keep up with her hair output. During shedding season we couldn’t keep up vacuuming two to three times a day. Needless to say it wasn’t too long before our vacuum gave out. After our first sweeper broke we started the process of finding a new one.

Over the last 10 years we have bought too many vacuums; the first thing we learned is that not all vacuums are made with the same quality. Using the vacuum every day, most models only lasted a year or so. The other thing we noticed was that over time they all started to lose suction as we used them. No matter how well we cleaned their filters or changed the bags they just lost all of their power over time. We were not buying the right pet hair vacuum.

The Dyson Animal

After going through 5 different models in five years we decided to splurge on a new vacuum that was specially made for pet hair. We chose the Dyson DC17 Animal after a lot of research. At first I wasn’t willing to pay close to $500 dollars for a pet hair vacuum, but I am glad that we did. The Dyson is by far the best pet hair vacuum that we have ever used.

The Dyson is an engineering masterpiece. The first time you use one you will quickly notice the attention to detail used in its construction. First, the Dyson has an incredible amount of suction. Not only is the suction strong but it hasn’t lost any of its power in the last five years. The hoses and attachments all snap tightly together and don’t fall off when you use them. Each of the attachments is also made with a lot of thought and quality. For instance, the upholstery tool has red velvet lint collectors built into each side of the tool. This allows the tool to really grab any pet hair that is caught in the upholstery. This tool does wonders at removing pet hair from your furniture and carpet. We use it on the stairs with great success.

Pet Hair Vacuum Features To Look For

If you are looking for a new pet hair vacuum, from my experience you should look for the following features. Suction is the most important factor in a good pet hair vacuum. Suction is what will pull the hair out of the carpet and upholstery, so without good suction you will not be able to get the deeply embedded hairs. The vacuum should also have an aggressive beater bar and other materials that will help to physically grab the hairs so that the suction may capture it. The collection bin is also important because the volume of hair can be overwhelming, so having the right size dust bin will keep you from excessive empting. One optional feature you might want to look for is a HEPA filter. We have noticed a dramatic decrease in the amount of dust around our house after we started using one. With these features in mind you should be able to find the best pet hair vacuum.

I recently wrote about how mobile dog grooming helps my eleven year old Newfoundland, Bear, lead a less painful life while keeping her clean and pretty. Newfoundlands are very hairy dogs. They have a thick undercoat that allows them to swim in icy waters without the water reaching their skin which keeps them from getting cold. Although great for swimming in icy waters, they shed their undercoat twice a year making a big mess. Every spring and fall her fur can easily destroy the house, spreading hair to every corner of the house. To fight the hair we used to have her groomed every three weeks during shedding season, but that gets very expensive very fast. Luckily our groomer started providing a new service using the best dog brush, the FURminator.

The Furminator is a life saver. The first time the groomers did the FURminator treatment, they saved the pile of fur that they removed from Bear. It was bigger than a small dog. It was pretty amazing to see all the hair that would have ended up on my floor already collected for me. After that treatment Bear only shed about 5% of what she normally would have. Luckily the FURminator is available to buy for about the same price as one treatment at the pet salon.

How do you make the best dog brush?

The Furminator was developed to solve the number one complaint of pet owners, shedding. After years of development, a groomer and her husband developed the perfect tool that didn’t cut the hair, but grabbed a hold of the loose undercoat that ended up as shed fur. Experimentation led to the development of a stainless steel de-shedding tool that only worked on the undercoat. The special feature of this new tool was an edge that not only removed the loose undercoat, but also brought out a wonderful shine and healthy look to the coat.

The FURminator is great at removing the undercoat, but is also easy to use. Within 15 minutes we can completely comb our dog and our cat. The brush glides thru the fur and grabs just the loose under coat. Within ten or so strokes you will have a fist full of hair. Just follow up with your normal pet brush and your dog or cat will be looking their best. If you have shedding problems at home, I highly recommend you look into the best dog brush, the FURminator.

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