I currently live with friends who have two long haired cats. Their apartment is quite small, and no matter how often we vacuum the place and brush the cats, their hair seems to stick to everything. One of my friends has a persistent cough, which I put down to the cats sleeping in her bed when she's at work. Apart from the obvious, such as not allowing the animals to lounge wherever they want (which is easier said than done), what else can be done to get rid of the cat hair?
Honestly, I don't think there's anything that you can do that aren't currently doing. We recently were adopted by a cat, and while he lives in our basement only, it seems the hair follows us whenever we pet him or pick him up. We "de-hair" downstairs with a lint brush, but other than that, I think the only way to get rid of the hair is to get rid of the cat.
I don't think there is anything to keep cat hair from shedding, unless the food they eat had something to do with it. I have a Pit bull and Boxer mixed puppy, and he is shedding me crazy. My floor is always white with his hair, and it is so much that I have to sweep it at least twice a day.
I swear by clear packing tape, if the cat hair is sticking to materials that aren’t too easily damaged. I wouldn’t use it on painted wood floors, for example, but it definitely works on fabrics. I once used packing tape to clean spilled glitter off my carpet when my vacuum was broken. It worked wonders. Anything that manages to clean up a glittery mess will probably work for cat hair as well.
lol @ clear packing tape. Sometimes I use that on my jacket when my roller is used up. I have a tough time with cat hair as well. I have so many handheld vaccuums it's ridiculous. Not to mention the aforementioned rollers that I should put stock in. It's tough. Vacuuming, Swifer-ing, & rolling are the three things I seem to do daily. I think it bothers me most when it's on my clothes.
I think there are those roller type things that you can use to pick up hair and lint just by rolling over them but I think they are mostly sold in small sizes and I've never seen one that's big enough for larger jobs, though I can imagine there's probably one of those invented by now. I think they are excellent in picking up hair and lint but they are mostly just used for clothes so you'd maybe have to find something similar that's more heavy duty.
I also use the pet rollers and clear packing tape. There really doesn't seem to be a way to totally de-hair/fur clothing, furniture, etc. What I've done over the years, is decreased the amount of black or dark clothing I buy and wear, because, obviously, the cat hair stands out more on those colors. Also, the hair/fur sticks to some fabrics more than others, so anything with 'grab' will tend to collect and hold the hair more than something that is smoother or silky.
If you own a cat, then you should get used to the hair "problem". I own three cats, and I already gave up on cleaning cat hair. Anyway, I agree with the other poster. If the hair is on your friend's clothes, then he or she can use tape to "de-hair". Lint remover is quite expensive, and packing tape is very cheap. Hope this helps!
Another thing that can help to decrease the amount of cat hair in the house and on items in the house is, if you have a safe enclosed area outside, take them outside and brush them out there. I even discard the fur and clean the brushes out there, to decrease it getting into the house. I don't mind the cat hair much, since I've had cats all my life, but my long haired kitty sheds so much when she loses her Winter coat, that it's necessary to take precautions, or I'd be wearing balls of fur.
You'll always have cat hair all over the place - that's one of the joys of owning cats, lol. Some cats will let you comb them down real good, which can help a little bit - but be careful, not all cat's are up for this, and they may rip you to shreds for attempting to comb out their excess fur. It helps if you try to coax them into it, as though your giving them a massage. With dogs, it's much easier to just grab them and comb them real good - they love it. But with cats, not so much. There are newer kinds of pet hair rollers now that are made from a gel-like substance that you may want to look for, since they can be re-used. All you do is rinse them off and once they dry, the gel material becomes tacky again. Also, many dollar stores these days sell washable "swiffer" like dusters which also help too. I would also perhaps consider picking up a cheap vacuum cleaner, specifically for pet hair - so you don't ruin any good one you might have with excessive odors and hairs. Use it to get the bulk of the hair first before doing your regular vacuuming.
I'll add on to @ohiotom76's post to say that my cats always run from me as if I'm a serial killer with a chainsaw, when I turn on the vacuum, but I have a small vacuum I use to clean the carpeted (don't get me started) stairs, and I happened to try it out on one of my cats the other day while cleaning the stairs, and to my surprise, he sat there and let me vacuum him. NOTE: this is NOT a vacuum that has huge suction, so is not dangerous to use on a cat or other medium to large pet. This is the one I have, that I used on him ( Black & Decker FHV1200 Flex Vac Cordless Ultra-Compact Vacuum Cleaner) and he didn't seem to mind at all. I'll have to try it on my long haired girl, but she's fairly high strung, so that might not work as well.
Cat hair is the same as dog's fur. We have 2 vacuum cleaners for that - one was the floor type and the other is the portable. But they are no match for the hair or fur that sticks to the fabric. Our best best for cleaning fur is a brush, not the soft but something similar to the bristles of a toothbrush. That could brush off the fur clinging on upholstery particularly on carpets.
