Memoky’s Ultimate Guide to Pets and Furniture

Where would we be without our pets? Certainly less happy. Also, perhaps, we’d have cleaner furniture. Taking care of animals in the house is one thing – sometimes a thankless task, but more often than not rewarding and more than worth the trouble. What ends up draining all our energy is taking care of the house once animals are living in it. So here’s our ultimate guide to furniture care for animal owners. We are going to update this page with all the latest tips and tricks we find from scouring the web to help balance pet and furniture care. Why? Because we love pets. What would life be without a doggo or a cat? Or some other fine beast? And just to ensure your time here is well spent, we’ve included pictures of cute animals on furniture. Because, you know, the Internet.

How to Keep Your Pets Off Your Furniture

The best way to keep animals from destroying your furniture? Keep them off the furniture. This may seem like a common-sense solution, but if you are a pet owner, you may already understand. Pets are often seen as friends and companions. Inviting them onto furniture seems not only harmless, but a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

In the end, you’ll have to make the call. Many animals will take liberties up to and beyond what you give them. Drawing boundaries with pets allows you to communicate your dominance. You don’t want to let your pet think they are in charge – do you? Before you answer that question, think carefully where you want to draw the line. Sometimes, you may want your bed to yourself. Just a thought.

Once you are ready to keep your pet off your furniture, the next step is to figure out how. And that can be the hard part. But here are some clever tips. Most animals do not like to be on top of foil. Use this to your advantage. Figure out where your pet likes to jump up to, and put out a sheet of aluminum foil. You can get it cheap even from a dollar store. Another method, of course, is using a spray water bottle. But this forces you to police your pets and keep one eye open at all times.

Maybe the best way to handle this is give them an easy alternative. After all, don’t they deserve a cozy bed of their own? Get them a place to sit down, relax, and take a nap. And if you have a big house, add a day bed or two as well so they can rest near you.

How to Clean Animal Hair Off Your Furniture

Well, sometimes your best intentions are not enough. You turn your back or leave the house only to discover that your pet has gotten hair all over your sofa. And probably just in time for your dinner party as well. Or perhaps you’ve decided that your animal companion is welcome on your furniture, or at least some of it. Now you need to figure how to reliably clean it.

We recommend looking below at the fabrics that are easiest to take care of for pet owners. But regardless, the methods remain the same. Skip the tape trick; this is a lot of energy and materials to expel, and honestly, there are easier and better ways to handle this.

One method that is pretty easy to execute only involves a rubber glove. You know, like the kind your mother used to wear to do dishes. The big, clunky yellow ones. Just get the glove wet and rub it over the surface of the upholstery. Rinse the glove when it gets covered in hair. If you don’t have rubber gloves (although honestly you should) you can use a slightly wet sponge (just a hair over damp – pun intended).

With wood furniture, it is easy to use a little anti-static dust spray. This makes it easier to get the hair up without all that annoying cling. Try using this in conjunction with a soft cloth, like a dusting cloth.

If you end getting in there with a vacuum (for really gnarly cases) just remember to use a brush attachment. But seriously, if things get this bad, you either need to clean more often, or give your pet a haircut.

Fabrics for Pet Owners

Maybe the best way to combat pet hair and fur getting all over your furniture is picking the right fabric for upholstery. A simple rule that basically holds true is using fabrics with tight weaves.

Here’s a couple other fabrics to consider. Leather and/or pleather. Because, in our opinion, worn leather looks great. Little scratches as well as a slight deepening of the color adds character. And you can just vacuum the darn thing. But if you want leather furniture to stay in a “like new” condition, you’ll have to keep the pets off.

In that case, try denim. This is great for outside or rooms where pets are welcome to jump around, lay on the furniture, and get their energy out. It automatically has an informal character. Similarly, canvas works great. A lot of canvas is made to be a slipcover, so you can just pop it off and throw it in the wash. Although it’s recommended you remove as much hair as possible before you throw it in the wash.

Want something a little fancier? Try microfiber. This synthetic upholstery is easy to clean and is made to resist tearing or scratching. Also, in the right application, it looks great.

Cat Scratch Fever

Your cat loves to scratch things. Those claws are an evolutionary advantage and your cat relies on them to navigate the world. That’s why they relish sharpening them at every chance. So consider carefully before you plan to remove them.

On the other hand, it can be heart breaking to watch your cat claw up your furniture. They do it on the regular, sharpening their claws, marking their territory, and getting rid of stress, all at the same time.

There’s only one solution – you have to get your cat a scratching post.

What’s that you say? The cat doesn’t like their scratching post? You just aren’t trying hard enough. Figure out what position your cat likes to get in to scratch. Find a post that mirrors their activity and put it in a place they like. Create incentives for the cat to get involved with it. Hang your pet’s favorite toys from the scratching post. Add cat nip. Do anything. Your furniture is at stake! Once the cat starts using the post, you can breathe easy – for now.

I’m not your chew toy, and neither is this couch

Dogs love to chew the way cats love to scratch. And they do it for similar reasons – boredom and stress. Just like the problem with cats scratching furniture, you’ll need to convince your dog to do something else.

If your dog is chewing on furniture, the first thing you should do is figure out why your dog is stressed. And if it seems like maybe they are only bored, give them a chew toy. If they don’t like chew toy, get them more. Seriously, try out different shapes, sizes, densities – no dog is the same, and every dog is different. They all like to chew but it just takes some work to figure out what your dog in its special uniqueness likes to chew. If you have a small dog, it will probably want something smaller that it can handle. Larger dogs may need a couple toys.

Try not to leave your dog alone with the furniture. This is what the crate is for. Be sure to lock them up with their favorite chew toy while you are away. And remember that with dogs, discipline is good. They like it when you are the boss. If they are acting up, you need to assert your authority. That doesn’t necessarily mean going to a class (although for some discipline problems, this is the only way to go). We suggest remembering to reward your dog’s good behavior – with treats, walks, some love – and punishing their worst impulses.

That’s it … for now

We’ll update more late but that’s our Ultimate Guide for now! If you have more suggestions, put them in the contents below. We will research them, try them out on our pets, and if they work, we will include them.