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Apr 29, 2023

9 Pet Cleaning Hacks for Every Critter in Your House

By Bridget Reed Morawski For those with pets, you may update your home with the

By Bridget Reed Morawski

For those with pets, you may update your home with the latest pet accommodations (chic toy storage and pet-friendly fabrics), but that doesn't mean you can skip pet cleaning. Even with all the amazing benefits of pet ownership, from cuddles to a mental health a boost, the chore of pet cleaning can be daunting. Fur babies, no matter how adorable, are still animals—albeit slightly more domesticated than the squirrels at the park—meaning they’re hardly going to handle a vaccum.

Exotic birds, for one, may be known for constantly cleaning and preening themselves, but they sure aren't as neat with their cages. "I don't know if [people] realize how messy birds are in general: How they throw stuff everywhere around their cage, how destructive they are, how they’ll go eat your window sills, or walls, or cabinets, or furniture," says Anna Osofsky, president of the Association of Avian Veterinarians and the owner of Quigley, a 30-year-old sulfur-crested cockatoo.

Cats and dogs aren't much better. "Your cat may throw up occasionally or have a little bit of upset, but they’re probably never going to have the volume of accidents, fleas, ticks—anything from outside, really—mud, and dirt that a dog would," says Kate Karam, a Chewy pet expert and the editor in chief of Be Chewy, a pet-centric advice and lifestyle site.

Even fish and turtles can add to the chore list with their algae-filled abodes. Still, all of this doesn't mean that you’re destined to live with your pets’ messes. Knowing the tried-and-true methods for cleaning up after your aquatic, feathery, or furry friends will keep your home clean, so you have more time to play with your little critters.

You wouldn't stand for a rug full of crumbs, so why would your feathered friend? The most important and frequent task, Osofsky says, is replacing the cage liner daily or every other day, since birds poop between 30 to 60 times a day. "I recommend just using newspaper or paper towels rather than corn cob bedding or walnut shells because people don't change those things as often, and so they grow bacteria and mold," she says. "Birds have really sensitive respiratory systems, so we like to keep their environment fairly clean." For cleaning cages, Osofsky takes the cage to the driveway and removes both toys and debris before using Dawn dish soap and hot water to give it a scrub and rinse. But some of her clients use enzymatic cleaners, weak vinegar-water mixture, or even steam cleaners to quickly wash away poop.

Osofsky warned against using harsh chemicals on anything an exotic bird might perch on because they "use their mouths to climb around, so they might ingest it." Bleach solutions can be used as well to disinfect after a bird illness or death, but Osofsky cautioned that any bleach should be completely washed away before birds are put back inside.

You might not want to touch the slobber-covered toy Fido chews on daily, but that squeaky fox is covered with germs. To keep the pet gear from turning gross, allocate a small tub for a weekly rinse. You can fill it in with warm water and unscented dish soap, and even add a splash of white vinegar, and soak for at least 30 minutes. Rinse with fresh water and air dry. Anything plush can be tossed in when you wash the pet beds, mats, and other fabrics. Just use an unscented detergent.

"[Bird] toys are a bit more tricky," Osofsky says. Once toys made from organic materials are heavily soiled, she recommends just disposing of them. But "you can clean and disinfect the synthetic toys, you can even run a lot of those through the dishwasher."

For aquarium decorations and toys made of both natural and synthetic materials, you can use bleach, but make sure you rinse thoroughly and even soak the item in a store-bought dechlorinating agent. "Bleach is a safe thing to use because it is very effective in killing algae, and it's also very easy to get rid of because it degrades into harmless chemicals," says Nate Farnau, curator of fish and invertebrates at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, one of the largest aquariums in the world. Regardless of the type of tank or decorations you have, it's critical to only use cleaning products and tools dedicated and made for an aquarium.

Food and water bowls should be cleaned every day because, if left unattended, they can form a layer of bacterial slime. Osofsky recommends having two sets of bowls to swap out while one is being washed. Plastic bowls, she noted, sometimes develop a detergent residue in the dishwasher that should be hand-washed off, although she hasn't seen that occur with ceramic and metal bowls.

Vacuum attachments are your best friends when it comes to pet cleaning. Greenworks cordless model offers four different attachments to tackle crevices in couches and floorboards that suck up shed fur and unwelcome guests. "Fleas love to hide in baseboards, in the corners of carpets, in the seams of your armchairs, and any place else warm and cozy, so you need to make a real effort to get them out," Karam says.

If you have a cat or a dog, you know that unexpected furniture and household goods mishaps are inevitable: When you least expect it, they’ve peed, pooped, or puked on something you love (or at least don't want to replace). If your pet is prone to accidents, cover up precious furniture and carpets with Pupiboo pee pads that happen to look like pretty blankets, but are actually waterproof and can be regularly laundered (separately from your clothes). The pads also work great as mats under food bowls so you don't have kibble all over the kitchen.

To keep up with the usual amount of slobber, snot, and soil that your dog brings into its bedding, Karam recommends a double wash of the bedding twice a month, preceded by vacuuming to keep the excess fur out of your washing machine and dryer. If your pup loves trotting through tall grasses, you’ll want to launder the bedding in hot water. And don't try to sneak some of your own clothes in while washing theirs, in case any pests manage to survive and to prevent gross pet fluids from mingling with your things, she adds.

One of the best pet cleaning tricks is to think proactively and preventatively. That could look like staying up-to-date on your pets’ flea and tick medications to prevent as many of those crawlies from entering your home as possible, as well as keeping enzymatic cleaners on-hand to break down any messes as quickly as possible.

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Another proactive measure is to keep your cats and dogs groomed. "It will come as no surprise that the more you routinely brush your dog and cat, the less shedding they’re going to have because you’re gonna capture all of it before it ends up all over the place," Karam says. She recommends stiff metal brushes, like the Furminator, for most cats and dogs.

Metal tools can be used both on pets and on fabrics, Karam says. She adds that disposable products, like lint rollers, barely make an impact. A portable lint remover, however, will grab pet hair off of furniture and carpet. Using a metal shedding tool on a couch or carpet is "terrific" on flat surfaces, she said, adding that "if you’re on a really nubby surface, they’re not as easy to maneuver as on a flat carpet or on an upholstered chair that's just flat material." Before taking a metal tool to your upholstery and carpets, take a vacuum to it to suck up the bulk of the shed fur.

You might not think kitchen countertops need pet cleaning, but let's be honest: The minute you’re out of sight, your pets are hopping up there. That means you should be wiping down prep surfaces before cooking, but you also need to use products that won't harm your pet. "Avoid bleach wipes, because [your pet is] gonna walk across or sit on the counter, and then they’re gonna lick themselves," Karam says. "And you don't want them to be getting a mouthful of bleach." Koala Eco Natural Multi-Purpose cleaner not only gets rid of paw prints, but it will also freshen your kitchen with a blend of lemon myrtle and mandarin essential oils.

You can find more information about best care practices for your bird—whether an exotic bird or a domestic poultry species—on the AAV's website, including a list of household toxins.

Tackle algae buildup by cleaning at least once a week. "Algae in most aquarium contexts is not bad for any animal safety or health reasons, it's simply an aesthetic pain," Farnau says. "It may in some circumstances indicate an imbalance of some component of your filtration, but for the most part, it just looks bad."

You should scrub and siphon rocks, decor, or the tank itself before changing the water—roughly between 10–15% at a time—because "any of the debris that you’ve kicked up into the water column is removed in part" by changing the water, Farnau explains. One of the most important cleaning rules for fish tanks is to always use fish-specific products, even seemingly simple things, like sponges. "A lot of people might use an over-the-counter sponge designed for kitchen cleaning, but it may have surfactants or solvents impregnated into it that would help clean your sink or your stove but would be toxic in an aquarium," he says. "It's definitely important to make sure that you’re using completely inert tools when putting anything in your tank that's going to interact with the water." You’ll want to scrape the sides with a razor blade to remove algae from a glass tank. For a plastic tank, use a plastic scraper.

If you’re hoping for a passive cleaning method, investing in algae-eating fish to do your dirty work won't be as helpful as you think. "A lot of fish are certainly sold by aquarium dealers as so-called magic remedies for algae, and in most instances that is not true," Farnau says. He also notes that armored catfish are often advertised that way.

Farnau adds that to slow down algal growth, maintaining good water quality is key, "which means doing frequent water changes to limit nutrient buildup in that water and making sure your lights aren't on for too many hours per day" since natural sunlight will "turbocharge algae."

Keep in mind that when cleaning filters, you should focus only on the mechanical parts and not the biological filtration parts. "You leave that stuff alone. Contrary to popular belief, the most important part of an aquarium filter does not get cleaned because you do not want to disturb that bed of bacteria," Farnau says. "But typically, those chambers of biological activity will have a sleeve around them that will prevent them from being fouled by organic material, detritus, etc."