Remove Pet Hair From Fabrics With a Dryer
Cleaning pet hair from any surface is always a chore, but the worst is with textiles. As tempting as it may be, tossing the coverlet of hair along with the rest of the wash will only transfer that hair to the rest of the laundry, and the rest will be sent straight to you through the pipes. There is a better way: just toss the very hairy fabric in the dryer before washing it.
It’s as easy as it sounds: place the hairy item in the dryer separately and run the air fuzz setting for 10 minutes to an hour, longer for larger items or those with a lot of hair. Drying sheets work well here, but they are optional – our wool drying balls work really well. At the end of the cycle, remove the object and shake vigorously to discard any stragglers; the hair dryer should free most of the hair from the surface of the fabric. If not, clean the lint trap and wait another 10 minutes, repeating as needed. When you are happy with the level of hair removal, wash the item as usual.
With two cats and two medium-haired people in my small apartment, I use this trick all the time. The best part? Since there is no heat here, it works with anything that can safely fit in the dryer, including items that cannot be tumbled dry. My favorite target is a cheap rubberized bath mat. Even the delicate setting on our tumble dryer is too hot for brittle rubber, but a quick spin in the lint cleaning cycle effectively loosened up collected hair and lint, so they come out of the washing machine truly clean.