If you have a special four-legged (or even two or eight-legged) someone in your life, you'll know just how much happiness your animal companions can bring you.
From keeping you fit with regular walks, to cuddling up when you're feeling down in the dumps, our pets play a wonderful role in our lives, even if they drive you crazy from time to time.
As much as we love our furry friends, however, only too often they are the mortal enemies of our soft furnishings...
cats and dogs can prove particularly destructive when it comes to fabrics in the home. The little rascals can turn your pristine new sofa into a mess, shed fur all over your beautifully made beds and tear up your carpets like nobody's business.
To help bring a little peace between your pets and your home furnishings in celebration of National Pet Day, we've compiled some useful pointers which will help you minimise the damage pets can cause and help you fix some of the common messes pets can create on a few of the worst affected furnishings in your home...
BEDS
Beds are our relaxing sanctuary away from the stresses of long hard days and the outside world – until our pets pounce! While it's lovely to snuggle up with your furry friends in bed, they can make your sleeping spots less than lovely rather quickly. Here's how to keep your bed perfect, even if it's your pet's favourite place to sleep…
Dogs
To stop your dog sleeping in your bed – full stop – buy a special dog bed for your canine companion. Make it as comfy as possible and choose a warm spot by a radiator or over a heating pipe to ensure they prefer their own bed over yours. You may need to train them to use their bed, but once they're used to the idea, you won't have any four-legged night-time visitors.
Cats
To stop your cat scratching up your bed linen or curtains invest in a scratching post which they can get their claws into instead. Some cats will take to a scratching post right away, others will need a bit of persuading to make use of it. To encourage your cat to use the post, add their scent to it by gently rubbing their paws on the post or by rubbing your cats head with a soft towel which you then rub onto the post. This will make them want to scratch the post regularly to keep their scent topped up in order to mark their territory.
To neutralise nasty messes made by cats use a spritz of vinegar before you wash your bedding, this will counteract the “cat smell”, leaving you with perfectly clean bedding after a good wash.
To snuggle up with your cat without extra laundry we recommend that you invest in a fleece blanket for the end of your bed. Cats love snuggling up on fleece, which means you won't need to wash your bedding all of the time to get rid of that cat smell or excess fur, just pop the fleece in the wash.
All Pets
To keep your bed linen clean and still enjoy “snuggle time” purchase an extra sheet you can use on top of your regular bedding when it's time to cuddle up with your pet. There are even options out there designed specifically for messy pets which absorb mess and wetness, while protecting your bedding beneath from clawing and scratching too. Even a regular sheet or fleece can help.
Dog owners with obedient friends can train their companions to hop on the bed only when their special sheet is in place. Using these sheets when you're out of the house will also save you from smelly, scratched up bedding.
THE SOFA
Product featured: The Downton sofa/sofa bed
Your favourite place to relax with a glass of wine and your favourite TV show can also be your pet's favourite place to moult, scratch and generally cause a ruckus. Here's how to minimise the damage…
Dogs
To prevent your canine from chewing on your furniture apply a strong fragrance to your sofa or living room set. Laundry spray or a mixture of your favourite essential oil and water will smell lovely to humans but will likely smell overpowering and unpleasant to your puppy or dog. Spritz liberally and experiment with a few different aromas to find one you love which your dog doesn't like.
Cats
To prevent cats and kittens messing up your cushions while you're out cover the outer edge of your sofa with tin foil, when they attempt to pounce, the crinkly sound will scare them off, leaving your cushions blissfully un-clawed and un-harassed.
All Pets
To remove pet hair from cushion cases, pop your furry covers into your tumble drier with a damp towel on a 20 minute cool cycle. Once the cycle is complete and the damp towel is dry, use a damp sponge to pick up any leftover hairs.
To remove excess pet hair from your sofa, wrap sticky tape around your hand so that the sticky side faces outwards, then pat the affected areas to pick up the fur and fluff. Also, if you have one to hand lint rollers are an extra convenient alternative.
To keep cushion covers pristine during regular washes turn them inside out when you pop them in the washing machine. Pet owners will need to wash cushions more regularly and this technique will help covers maintain their original texture and colour for longer. Wherever possible use a stain remover to deal with smaller stains instead of washing the entire cover.
CARPET
It's pretty much impossible to keep pets off your carpets if you live in a carpeted home, but that doesn't mean you have to resign yourself to furry, scratched up flooring. Here's how to cure your pet-related carpet woes...
Dogs
To prevent dogs pulling up the carpet with their nails give your canine companion a regular manicure and pedicure. Shag pile carpets and loose knit rugs can be seriously messed up by a long-nailed dog, so keep Fido well-trimmed to protect your flooring.
To remove dog messes from the carpet, use a paint scraper to get rid of as much surface mess as possible, then spritz the affected area liberally with laundry stain remover – anything with “oxi” in the name or ingredients list will work well. Next, scrub the area with a brush and cold soapy water (washing up liquid is fine for this situation) before using paper towels or kitchen roll to soak up as much of the remaining moisture as possible. This should help you avoid any carpet staining should your faithful friend make a big mistake...
Cats
To prevent cats scratching the carpet you may need to try a variety of techniques. There are a number of reasons why cats scratch carpets (especially staircases). In some instances, your feline friend is simply in need of some exercise. In this case, invest in some extra toys for them to play with and spend some time each day messing around with your cat to tire them out.
To remove the smell of cat urine from carpets use an enzymatic cleaner as soon as possible. Toilet training a kitten isn't always “accident free” and even adult cats can sometimes get trapped inside and caught short. Unfortunately, cat urine has a very pungent smell and, once an accident has been made, cats can return to the scene of the crime to top up their scent as a way to mark their territory. To prevent this, you need to tackle the problem as soon as possible and clean the mess very thoroughly indeed. Vinegar and bicarbonate of soda are good household ingredients for neutralising the odour, while specialist enzymatic cleaners are also widely available.
All Pets
To remove musty animal smells from the carpet sprinkle your floors with bicarbonate of soda and brush it in before vacuuming, this will help to neutralise any animal odours.
Which problems do your pets cause most often when it comes to your soft furnishings? Do you have any special tips or tricks which help combat damage to your household fabrics? Do you like to snuggle up with your pet in bed? Have your say and share your smart solutions with other pet-loving readers below.
Kind regards,
The Willow & Hall team