How to Get Rid of Pet Hair in Your House — and Keep Less of It Coming Back

You get rid of pet hair in a house by doing two separate jobs. The first is reducing how much hair reaches your rooms at all: brush your dog or cat regularly, wash whatever they sleep on, and keep the air filters changed. The second is removing what's already there with a method that suits each surface — and for most surfaces, a free method is worth trying before any tool.

No single gadget does the whole house. A carpet, a velvet couch, a fleece blanket and a car seat hold hair in different ways, which is why this page is organized by surface and points you to a detailed guide for each.

Why it's everywhere

Pet hair never fully stops shedding, because every hair follicle runs on its own growth cycle. Once it's out, it doesn't stay put: it rides air currents and the HVAC, and it travels on clothes and feet into rooms your pet barely uses. We covered the biology in where all the pet hair in your house comes from. So cleaning alone won't keep up; cutting how much hair gets loose matters just as much.

Part 1: Reduce the hair at the source

Brush the animal, not just the floor. Hill's Pet Nutrition's first tip is to "regularly brush and groom your pets to capture shedding hair before it can become a problem." Every hair that ends up in a brush is one you don't vacuum up later. The American Kennel Club's technique is to brush against the direction of growth first to pull dead hair out, then with it to remove it, and to switch to a coat rake or shedding tool when a double-coated dog really starts to blow its coat. Our guides on reducing shedding before you reach for the brush and deshedding tools for coat-blow season cover how often and with what.

Wash where they sleep. Beds, throws and crate pads are hair reservoirs. The AKC's dog-bed guide cites CDC advice to wash dog bedding weekly. A washable throw on the one sofa spot your pet always takes does the same job for furniture: it collects the hair so the upholstery doesn't, and it goes in the laundry in one piece.

Filter the air. Hill's suggests changing the air filter on your HVAC unit regularly to help capture pet debris, and notes that an air purifier "can help clean the air of pet hair and dander." For choosing an HVAC filter in general, the US EPA's advice is a filter rated at least MERV 13, or as high as your system will accommodate. That's general indoor-air guidance, not a pet-specific recommendation — but it's the right starting point. Vents and returns collect hair too; our guide to air vents, filters and hard-to-reach spots walks through them.

Part 2: Surface by surface

Surface	Try this first (free or nearly)	Tool worth owning if it's a weekly job	Full guide
Couch and upholstery	Damp rubber dish glove or damp sponge	Electrostatic glove; hand scraper for embedded hair	Couch
Low- and mid-pile carpet	Rubber broom or window squeegee	Dual-sided carpet rake	Carpet
Shag and high-pile rugs	Shake it outside, damp glove on small rugs	Long-edge rake for high pile	—
Hardwood and tile	Dry dust mop or vacuum on a hard-floor setting	—	Hard floors
Clothes	A few minutes in the dryer before washing	Lint roller	Clothes
Blankets and bedding	Shake outside, no-heat tumble before the wash	Electrostatic glove, wool dryer balls	Blankets
Laundry in general	Empty the lint trap, wipe the drum	Wool dryer balls	Laundry
Car	Damp rubber glove on seats	Glove plus a lint roller for seams	Car
Stairs and baseboards	Damp cloth along edges	Small hand scraper	Stairs
Curtains and lampshades	Vacuum brush attachment	—	Curtains

Source: free methods per Hill's Pet Nutrition and the AKC (Sources below); tool picks and guides are ours.

A few notes the table can't hold.

Carpet is where vacuums disappoint. Hair works down between fibers and wraps around them, so suction alone leaves a lot behind. A dual-sided carpet rake with an 11.8 in (30 cm) head pulls it up into rows you can pick up, and then the vacuum finishes the job. If you only have one small rug, a rubber broom or a squeegee dragged across it does a similar thing for free — Hill's mentions both.

Upholstery is a hand-tool job. A damp rubber glove works well and costs nothing. If you're doing a sofa every few days in shedding season, an electrostatic pet hair glove is faster because it doesn't need rinsing mid-job, and if a glove leaves hair woven into tougher fabric behind, the Mini & Max pet hair remover bundle pairs a larger scraper for cushions with a small one for seams and car seats. Check the fabric first: scrapers aren't for knits or delicate weaves.

Fabric that goes in the washer gets a dry step first. Hair and water clump together, which the AKC flags as a clog risk for your machine. Getting the loose layer off dry — by hand or with a short tumble in the dryer on no heat — makes the wash do its actual job.

Part 3: DIY and homemade methods, honestly

Plenty of "pet hair hacks" circulate. Here's what we could and couldn't find support for.

• Damp rubber glove — recommended by Hill's, and mentioned by the AKC for dog beds. Works on upholstery, bedding and car seats, and most kitchens already have one.
• Damp sponge — Hill's suggests lightly rubbing one over upholstery. Slower than a glove, fine for a quick touch-up.
• Window squeegee on carpet — Hill's passes this on as an alternative to a rubber broom. Works best on low pile.
• Packing or masking tape — the AKC lists tape alongside lint rollers for dog beds. Fine for small areas; expensive in tape on large ones.
• Homemade sprays (fabric softener and water) — widely shared, but we couldn't find a veterinary or cleaning-industry source that recommends or tests it, so we're not recommending it here.

Part 4: The order, and how often

Work from soft furnishings to floors, and leave the car for last, or you move hair from one place to the next. Our dog hair remover guide explains the sequence for a heavy shedding week, and the 10-minute weekly routine shows how to keep on top of it the rest of the year.

For tools grouped by surface, the pet hair removal tools collection has everything in one place.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I ever get rid of all the pet hair?

A: Not while you have a pet. Hair follicles cycle continuously, so some shedding is always happening. The realistic goal is less hair reaching your rooms — through brushing, washing bedding and filtering the air — and a quick method for each surface when it does.

Q: What's the best way to get rid of cat hair in the house?

A: The same two jobs apply. Damp rubber gloves and electrostatic gloves are a good first try on cat hair, and regular brushing matters most with long-haired cats.

Q: Does an air purifier get rid of pet hair?

A: It helps with hair and dander floating in the air, according to Hill's, but it doesn't touch hair that has already settled into carpet, upholstery or bedding. Think of it as reducing the supply, not as a cleaning tool.

Q: How often should I clean if I have a shedding dog?

A: The AKC's dog-bed guide cites CDC advice to wash dog bedding weekly, and the Carpet and Rug Institute recommends vacuuming carpet at least once a week, more in busy areas. During heavy shedding weeks, plan on stepping that up.

Sources

• Hill's Pet Nutrition — Getting Rid of Pet Hair Around the House (https://www.hillspet.com/pet-care/routine-care/pet-hair-home-removal-tips)
• American Kennel Club — Scourge of the Sofa: a Shedding Dog (https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/scourge-of-the-sofa-a-shedding-dog/)
• American Kennel Club — How to Clean Your Dog's Bed and Why It's Important (https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/home-living/how-to-clean-a-dog-bed/)
• US Environmental Protection Agency — Guide to Air Cleaners in the Home (https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/guide-air-cleaners-home)
• The Carpet and Rug Institute — Cleaning and Maintenance (https://carpet-rug.org/carpet-for-homes/cleaning-and-maintenance/)