Guide to Cleaning your Pet’s Belongings

There is nothing better than having a pet as a companion! Sixty-seven percent of U.S. households own a pet according to the 2019-2020 National Pet Owners Survey, that’s a lot! From dressing your dogs in little sweaters and making them their own Instagram accounts, our love for our pets is almost ridiculous at this point. With that being said, have you ever paid attention to the cleanliness of their belongings like we do with ourselves or our human children? Here are some helpful tips to make sure your pets are being taken care of the best they can be!

Why should I clean my pet’s stuff?
Now you’re probably asking yourself ‘do I really need to go into this much detail for my pet?’ and honestly- no, you don’t…. but you should! The peace of mind knowing there isn’t extra bacteria around your home and in your pet’s things is really reassuring. Diseases and bacteria can form in your dog’s food and water dishes, diseases that can even be transferred to humans! Dog’s water bowls have been known as the third most contaminated areas in your home! Water and food bowls are only the tip of the ice berg. Now, tell me- next time your dog gives you a big smooch is this not going to be the first thing you think of?

Exactly WHAT do I need to clean?
Everything that belongs to your pet, needs to be cleaned and disinfected, whether you realize it or not. If you have a St. Bernard, I’m sure it will be much easier to tell from the coat of slobber covering everything they come near but even your precious miniature poodle can be transferring bacteria through the house. Their toys, food and water bowls, collar, leash, beds, and anything else they come in contact with on a regular basis should also be cleaned on a regular basis!

How?
We all have our favorite cleaning products and regime to cleaning, which is absolutely okay! You just need to make sure everything is natural and pet friendly of course. A DIY cleaner for your pet’s things is as simple as peeled lemons with a 50/50 mixture of white vinegar and water. This is safe to use on everything! With your dog’s beds and blankets, I would recommend when you are washing these to add some vinegar to the load to remove any odors that can otherwise be left behind. Wood floors are ideal when you are a pet owner, but some of us are stuck with carpet anyways. Hiring a carpet cleaning company is great but it isn’t realistic to do this as often as we want. Another DIY cleaner that is pet safe is a carpet sprinkle made of baking soda and your favorite essential oil (lavender is mine), sprinkle this on your carpet or your rugs, let it sit for 15-20 minutes then simply vacuum it up. Ta da! Fresh smelling carpets and healthy, happy fur babies (and moms)!

How often?
This is the key to keeping your home and everyone in it as healthy and clean as possible. In order to keep bacteria away, keeping up with cleaning your pet’s items on a regular basis should be a priority. Water and food dishes should be cleaned daily, I understand this may not be super realistic for a lot of us, but at least every other day would be good. As far as your dog’s toys go, these should be cleaned weekly (depending on how much they are used). I would recommend all rubber pet toys; this will make it really easy to clean or even just quickly rinse them off with hot water. For all of your dog’s bedding, I would also recommend washing once a week. There’s nothing worse than the smell that can linger on your pet’s bedding (again, make sure to throw some vinegar in the wash!). Of course, how often you clean your pet’s things will be a case-by-case situation, this is just a general guide to follow!

Now that we are all worried about the bacteria in our house that never crossed our minds, at least we are all aware of it and can now take action! Keeping up with your home is a lot of work, especially when you are a pet owner. We are all willing to take on that extra work in order to have a furry friend but sometimes to still becomes too much. If you are sick of vacuuming your couch and washing your glass doors that are covered in marks from wet noses- hire a cleaning company! With doing the dishes, cooking meals, and everything else on your plate, having some help is so….well, helpful! From carpet cleaning to recurring interior cleaning, we’ve got you covered!