Spinoff of dog thread - how do you keep your house CLEAN?

[Serigraph]

Does anyone else (living on a farm) feel like all they do is clean their house?

The problem is the 3 inside/outside dogs. Well one is really just an inside dog and the other two are in and out. None are out totally.

The other day the two in/out dogs went on a jaunt (not allowed) and a few days later they were covered in seed ticks. Before we realized it they were already in the house.

And then there is the hair. My Dalmatian sheds twice a year for 6 months each time. The Coonhound is about the same, and the total mutt dog malts.

Our vacuum gets a constant workout.

How do you keep your house clean with dogs that live in? Do you sequester them?

[Jaegermonster]

Tile is your friend. Or laminate. Anything but carpet.
I have all my dogs on Revolution, so no ticks or fleas thank God.
But I do have lots of hair.
i just make sure to sweep up every couple of days, and really get after the hair once a week or so with the vacuum that I can't get with the broom (under stuff and so on).
I could spend 90% of my time in the house cleaning, sweeping and dusting, but I am not about to do that. So my house looks very lived in. I would rather be riding, hubby is deployed and I have a full time job so I keep the house livable and once a month or so do a really thorough cleaning. We have 5 acres, and it's mowing time so I do what I can and what I can't has to wait.
But it does not smell (I cant stand a dog funky smelling house)
Really, the key is don't try to make it house beautiful. There is only so much one person can reasonably do. If it is a rainy afternoon, I get house stuff done, or when it's too hot to be outside. It all gets done eventually.

People with spotless houses have no life, and life is too short to spend it all cleaning the house.

[baysngreys]

Roomba! It vacuums while I do, well, whatever!

Our 3 love to sneak down to the lake and come back smelling like pond slime - straight into the wash rack!

Their next favorite thing is to roll in something totally stinky - either dead critters in the woods or deer poo - straight into the wash rack!

I've taken up all the rigs, bare floors are easier and don't hold the doggy smell.

[Serigraph]

Yeah, when I complain about the house looking messy, my husband keeps reminding me we live on a farm :)

Oh and I too cannot stand dog smell in the house. I've got scented candles everywhere and I steam clean the carpet often enough so it smells fresh.

[threedogpack]

Does anyone else (living on a farm) feel like all they do is clean their house?

The problem is the 3 inside/outside dogs. Well one is really just an inside dog and the other two are in and out. None are out totally.

The other day the two in/out dogs went on a jaunt (not allowed) and a few days later they were covered in seed ticks. Before we realized it they were already in the house.

And then there is the hair. My Dalmatian sheds twice a year for 6 months each time. The Coonhound is about the same, and the total mutt dog malts.

Our vacuum gets a constant workout.

How do you keep your house clean with dogs that live in? Do you sequester them?

I live with 7 double-coated dogs. Bathing is my friend, a High Velocity Dryer was one of the best investments I ever made. A quick bath then the Dryer and wha-la, less hair.

I also took up all carpet.

I use my broom every.single.day.

I vacuum every other day.

It is a constant struggle and if I had my way, I'd have one, possibly two dogs. But daughter wants to breed another litter. It will simply have to wait till she can buy the broodie and raise it, then move out. I will keep the stud dog(s) and she can borrow him.

I love my dogs, I'm a good trainer and they are nice dogs but 7 is more than I ever wanted. By the time I get down to a reasonable number of dogs, I will have to be looking for a service dog!

[Serigraph]

Can anyone recommend an especially good broom/dry mop for getting up short hair in corners (and long)? I use the vacuum a lot, but we have hardwood floors in places and don't want to scratch it up.

[shakeytails]

Laminate and tile. Leather furniture that the dogs are not allowed on. I have a few cheap throw rugs that get thrown out when they no longer come clean.

[Jaegermonster]

I sweep up what I can and then the rest I go over with the vacuum cleaner with the attachment

[msj]

Dyson Animal Ball vacuum has been a big help. I abhor hardwoods, tile and linoleum - anything that I have to mop. Give me my vacuum and just let me go. The Dyson is not cheap but it is so easy to use and to clean.

Now, granted my carpets are 20+ yrs old except for the family room which was new a yr ago. I even have my kitchen carpeted. It was fashionable back in the 70-80's I think and I really liked the idea so I did it when I moved to the farm. Next yr I really do have to replace the LR, DR, hallway and stairs though and I'm not sure what kind of carpet I'll use.

A berber carpet is a really hard wearing carpet but the plush ones are more comfortable for the bedrooms.

I'm also fortunate that I only have one indoor/outdoor dog. No cats at present as the dog would kill them. :( I do bring some shavings and hay and horse hair myself though so I can't just blame the dog.

I try to vacuum a couple of times a week and I do generally shut off the additional 2 bedrooms.

But hey, hay is hay and hair is hair and there's really no stopping it.

[MunchkinsMom]

CLEAN?!?!?! What is that exactly?

My DH gave up, and hired a cleaning crew to come in every two weeks to give the place a good cleaning. The rest of the time, we either ignore it, or sweep/vacuum whatever we see.

This time of year with 5 dogs shedding, I am constantly bending over to pick up "tumbleweeds" of hair.

I will tell you that the person that invents a truely odor resistant, pee resistant carpet is going to be my new hero!

[Cloverbarley]

My 5 dogs all live outside, so my house doesn't get all messy with their hairs or dander. I have a Dyson Animal which does its job well for daily dust etc.

[KitKat987]

How do you keep your house clean with dogs that live in?

Simple - I don't......... :lol:

Well okay, I try, but my border collies are the type with that thick undercoat and I swear they shed all year round. I agree on the hardwood/tile. Carpet is just a beotch with dogs. Of course I can blame them for all the hair, but I probably track just as much mud in from the barn as they do :sigh: The dusting, that's what really gets out of hand around here. I don't know who to blame it on......

At least without carpet you can give it a super duper quick run over with the broom if you are like me and suddenly someone calls and says they'll be there in ten minutes to visit and you haven't quite gotten around to cleaning anything other than stalls in the past few days.

[MistyBlue]

I cheat, I have a house rule of one dog and one cat *only.* I've lived in the past with multiple indoor animals. And over the years I have decided that as much as I love animals, I also love a clean house that doesn't stink like wet dog or litter boxes. Or to be able to walk around not covered in more hair than the dog. And to not have to clean 24/7/365 to have those things. ;)
Meanwhile you'd think I'd learn to get a non-shedding or lower shedding breed, LOL! Although GSDs aren't known for being light on the shedding, after our Malamute he almost seems non-shedding.
I do vacuum daily though...but takes all of 5 minutes most days so no big deal.
I think the choice between carpet and hard floors is up to each individual. I have both, hardwoods in the halls and foyer, tile in kitchen and baths and carpet in living room and bedrooms. Had a house that was all hardwood everywhere. But the down side to that was that the dog hair is *really* visible all the time. Hair tumbleweeds floating by all the time, even right after I finished vacuuming. Not to mention really big dogs and real hardwood floors means a lot of scratches. :lol: With all tile, well a house tends to look like a hospital or warehouse with all tile floors. And you still have hair tumbleweeds. And tile and laminate floors show filth more easily. Carpeting is nice and comfy, but the hair sticks to it, all the dirt you can see on hard floors gets ground into carpet and it needs a lot of serious steam cleaning and replacing more often if you want it clean and stink free.
Although a HUGE help is having a mud room. A serious large mud room, not just a small mud area. One with a low floor sink and hose for cleaning dogs off when they come in and that has a door or fence/gate for containing the wet clean dogs until dry. And big enough to have dog beds, a bench, a boot rack with mud tray, laundry, outer clothes storage, etc.
I've been planning on having one built into my walk out basement eventually. As much for me as for the pets.

[Serigraph]

MistyBlue - I agree about the mud room. We have a utility room that is very handy, but the dogs have to come in from outside and thru the sunroom into the utility room. Basically, the sunroom carpet always needs vacuuming.

The 2 dogs that are out more and get into stuff more sleep in the utility room. It is nice and big and they have their beds. It has a sink, but not a low one. All the dogs eat in there too, but they still manage to drool on the kitchen floor while I am preparing their food just enough so I can slip in it :)

[goodhors]

A few rules help with keeping things cleaner. Dogs stay in the back room, EVERY ONE takes off shoes or boots to come past the back room doorway. I have some grippy rugs at strategic doorways, that catch lots of dirt, wash and dry quickly. Dogs have fleece blankets or old fuzzy saddle pads in the back room that they like to lay on, wash fast and easily. Have enough room for crates back there if we have a young puppy just learning the routine. Prevents accidents, destruction or chewed boots, other dog feeling crowded. Not a big room, but works well, before going on into the rest of the house.

All the family rooms are vinyl, only bedrooms are carpeted. I lived in one of those all-carpeted homes as a kid, was horrible to see the dirt come up when you cleaned the rugs, even often. That was a town house too, no farm dirt, just had lots of people in it. Would rather have vinyl!! You can see the dirt if it is there. Keeping dogs groomed weekly, brushed out, cuts down on hair shedding by the Corgi and indoor cat. Bouvier dog does not shed if kept groomed, but does need regular clipping like a poodle. We keep her clipped rather short except in mid-winter. They get regular baths year around, again helps with any dog smells and hair loss. I FEEL for the GSD owner and other shedding breeds, Corgi is enough shedding for us.

We love the dogs, but do not want hair wafting around, dirt tracked all over the house, so they are trained to stay in the back room. They do not sleep in the family beds, though the kid would really like that. Kid has to make do with the cat sleeping with her, who kept indoors, bathed and groomed regularly.

We are rather messy too, so the shoes off rule works pretty well for not tracking stuff thru the house. We get terrible mud and containing it is important. I have a Roomba, which works hard, does a fair job. I do move chairs and pick up small things to allow it clear access when sweeping floors. I have other vacs, for doing stairs and the couple thick area rugs we put down in winter.

We have very light color vinyl, which actually does not show dust or dog hair much. My mother-in-law told me about that when I asked how many times a day she swept with her black Lab mix. Her house always looked just-cleaned. So when picking flooring, I went with no-wax white that has speckled colors in the various rooms. Really does NOT show much except mud clumps. Lightens up the rooms as well so they look bigger.

I don't worry much about company, house is designed to clean fast and easy, for real working farm people. I would consider our standards of housekeeping relaxed. But we do have some standards to prevent losing the battle!! I could not tolerate a dog or cat stinky house. Vinyl is SO easy to clean, doesn't hold smells. Get a mop bucket with a handle squeezer so you can use HOT water, go faster, save your hands, like janitors use. Dogs not allowed on furniture, cat sits on laps or on her own small blanket on couch that she likes best.

I like my dogs a lot, don't need to treat them like children or have them sleep with me to prove it. Dogs accept the rules of the house they are raised with.

[suze]

how do you keep your house CLEAN?

We don't. Our house sits with the front next to one arena & one end next to another arena. Add in dusty arenas, wet/muddy/green with cow poo dogs (4 of them) and it's quite beyond me. I'm allergic to dust (perfect place for us to live, huh?) and have difficulty vacuuming or bending over due to physical problems & you have a house that gets spot cleaned most of the time and really cleaned only when we have company over - and then it depends on who's coming. When my mother was able to visit it would get "Mother Clean" before she came but for the most part it's always in some state of dusty. We have no air conditioner except a tiny one next to the computer, so the windows are open with fans on all summer & often in the winter. My hubby is a never pick up after himself, puts things away or picks up after the dogs have gutted a stuffed toy and after 39 years of marriage he's not likely to change. I've given up, frankly. Hiring someone to clean is out of the question as we simply can't afford it.

[pony4me]

No carpet. Floors get swept regularly. Roomba runs when it can. Doggie door leads to fenced in yard, but before the grass, there's a 20' x 20' square of gravel with a gate. That means the dogs run in from the grass and have to walk over the gravel before they can come in the house. This gets lots of mud off their feet. The separate gate allows us to just keep the dogs in the gravel area if we need to, like when we've just mowed the yard. That way they don't track grass into the house. We have four dogs, and we've killed a couple of Roombas. It's still not clean enough, but we try.

[jazzrider]

Just say no to carpet! We fluctuate between 2-3 dogs. Right now we have two big hound mixes that shed, shed, shed. We have hard wood everywhere but our bedroom. I Swiffer (dust, not mop) the floors about every three days. Vacuum once a week. I have throws on everything, and shake them out every couple of days, wash them every week or so depending on use. I wash their beds once a month. When we're not home (I work PT), they get confined to the room above the garage. I do not let guests up there. We steam clean our bedroom about once every few months.

We have a dog door in the basement that they go in and out of. They're trained to check in with me when they come in, so I can usually catch them if they've been digging or are dirty. I have one of those tupperware under-the-bed storage containers on my deck for paw washing/foot baths.

I use those "Citrus magic" 60 day air fresheners you can get at Target (not plug in or spray, it's like a wax cake in a box) meant for basements and pet areas in our basement and in the room above the garage.

Floors get mopped and tile gets bleached about every 10 days, more often if the weather is bad.

When I can, I talk my hubby into taking a shedding blade to them. But that's not often.

[MunchkinsMom]

My husband and I were just talking about the flooring dilemma with dogs, he said the ultimate would be concrete with a center drain, and just hose it down!

We need to replace the living/dining room carpet due to the dogs (puppyhood angst) and we don't know if we should go with laminate (that we did put in the kitchen and hallways) or another carpet. Carpet would be easier and cheaper, but won't last as long. Laminate more work and expense, but might last longer.

[Go Fish]

Housekeeper...

Mohawk laminate...cheap at Costco. Indestructible with a lifetime guarantee.

[TripleRipple]

My dogs have short hair, never was a problem until I brought my little rescue english pointer home. My word, does that girl shed everywhere.

We have hardwood/tile, and I got one of those Bona hardward floor cleaning mops, plus a floor sweeper with some kind of microfiber cloth, and a Bissel steam mop. I sweep the floors with the microfiber into piles, vaccum it up. Then for the hardwood I use the Bona cleaner, just spray and go. And on the tile, I use the same Bona spray mop, then I steam it with the Bissel periodically.

Have never had such clean floors. But I admit I am so loathe to clean anything that I wait until the sun shines in and I see all those little white hairs before I settle down and get to business. But finally, at age 51, I have some products that do the job I need to get done.

In the winter, the dogs all come in through the insulated garage - I wipe or wash off all feet, they stay there for a bit if they need to dry off. We mostly have snow, not much mud here. Back at my old place, we had nothing but rain, mud and half the house was carpeted - I will never have carpet again. Bad enough that you have to clean a floor; worse if you just can't ever get it truly clean and have it even briefly stay that way. Did have one room there with speckled vinyl, a small mud room with a doggie door - that rocked. Had a house cleaner for a brief stint there - didn't like it.

My theory is that you can have a spotless house, or you can have a life rich with experiences. So I have chosen life, not cleaning. But admit I do like how a clean house feels, not that I experience that much:) The "me" of my youth was so fussy that I spent a bit too much time worrying about keeping things ship shape - the old woman I've become isn't so particular any more.

ETA: forgot, also no shoes in the house. That goes for guests and workers as well as us. Throws and fleece blankets on the furniture that the dogs enjoy using, also because I like to be petting a furry dog while I'm reading or watching tv - the little EP turns those white with little hairs, so I just wash them frequently. I get so much of her darned hair on me, that I'd gone to the grocery checkout, and had clerks say "do you have one or two white dogs at home...".

[Kaeleer]

Housekeeper!

My husband knows that, if we get divorced, there will be a bigger fight over who gets to keep Judith than who gets to keep my daughter (she makes mess!)

[equinelaw]

Clean?:confused:

[Larksmom]

They are MUCH harder on an older dogs joints.:(:no::eek: ask me how I know.... I had a chow/shepherd, and did he SHED!:eek: When I had all the carpet yanked up, it is MUCH easier to clean, but I agree even the second you fnish hair tumbleweeds everywhere! They skitter about always. I thought with the passing of the SHEEP dog, it woud be easy. OH NO!!!!! Two slick type dogs shed constantly. I can't believe how much! as my former BO used to say, pet dander is a condiment in my house.....:yes:

[wendy]

My theory is that you can have a spotless house, or you can have a life rich with experiences. So I have chosen life, not cleaning.
ditto. If you can't live with some dog hair in your life, get a poodle. We have hardwood floors and heavy leather furniture, all of which are easy to sweep and wipe clean. We intend to build a nice mudroom at some time in the near future.
Carpets and cloth furniture tend to trap animal hair and animal smells forever.

[witherbee]

We have hardwood and tile floors and I buy fairly cheap rugs from Home Depot (they have the big berber-type area rugs for $135 that are nice), and replace them as needed. My problem with the rugs is more from one of the cats who will occasionally pee on the rugs. I bought the Shark steam mop which said it worked on carpets too, but it did not do ANYTHING, so I returned it. I really want a steam mop to disinfect the rugs and the floors and I'd LOVE To find something to help with the bathroom grout (white tiles, white grout in the main bathroom - ugh!). I plan to re-grout with a dark gray, not to hide the dirt, but because the white just gets discolored and I am tired of getting on my hands and knees to bleach it. Hubby is worse than the dogs - he doesn't always take his shoes off and tracks dirt through the house and then pretends he didn't see the big hunks of dirt.

I vac & dust on Fridays and the rest of the week just pick up tumbling tumbleweeds (mostly from the corgi and chessie's under-coats). I have a lot of cat litter on the downstairs bathroom floor (the cats litter boxes are in there), so have to keep up with that as well. House is often dusty, so the swiffer duster is my friend.

When I have company, I really deep clean and I try to dust the baseboards and wash the kitchen and bathroom floors regularly as well. I just remind myself that we live on a farm and it will not always be clean, but it can be embarassing if someone stops by and the floors are a mess or the dishes are in the sink (sometimes we get in so late that I rinse and leave the dishes over-night). Oh well....

[bdbeitel]

Oh - I loved the shedding twice a year for six months a time... My goldens get shaved in the spring and summer - but the chessies hair is so funny it eats up my clippers.

After trying for years to keep the house clean - I have come to the realization that it just isnt going to happen. Thankfully in our house now the basement is unfinished so it has become the dog room. It has concrete floors with floor drains so muddy, pond water filled retrievers are always welcome there. We have a raised floor with their beds on it and when it gets gross (about every 2 days) we throw some bleach down, scrub and rinse with a hose. It is nothing lavish but certianly is better than listening to a whinning neat freak husband (why did the man marry a woman like me?). When they are dry or otherwise clean they come upstairs and have full run of the house.

[Brookes]

Nothing says love like a little dog hair in your dinner!!!

Tile, hardwood, shark steam cleaner (thanks to a COTH member!!!) dyson animal hair vacuum every day.

We keep the setters in the family room/kitchen/office. We have a dog gate. This does help keep the majority of the hair in one place.

My dogs are show dogs so they are brushed and groomed tons. It doesn't make a freakin difference. I will get a load of hair off of them and they still have tons to spare, always in the house.

I second the leather furniture, we have doggy covers on the sofas in the family room that can be washed on a regular basis. Cause ya just gotta snuggle on the sofa with the dogs.

You just have to try to stay on top of it without letting it take over your life. A little dog hair never killed anyone. Just ask our friends who dine over at our house, not one of them has died yet from ingesting dog hair!!!

[saddleup]

When I bought horse property I bought a much smaller home, and believe me, that helped!

I vacuum every single day...but with a small house it's not a big deal. With a spaniel, there's lots of hair, and that's the only way to stay on top of it. Half the house is hardwood floor, half carpet. My goal for next year is to have the whole thing be hardwood floors. I have a central vac system, which makes it very easy to vacuum the wood floors.

[MunchkinsMom]

When I have company, I really deep clean and I try to dust the baseboards and wash the kitchen and bathroom floors regularly as well. I just remind myself that we live on a farm and it will not always be clean, but it can be embarassing if someone stops by and the floors are a mess or the dishes are in the sink (sometimes we get in so late that I rinse and leave the dishes over-night). Oh well....

Well, I for one have not seen your house messy - unlike mine - hahaha. And anyone that stops by unannounced, I just say "sorry, the place is a disaster, been too busy to clean". If they don't like it, they can stop dropping in. Even my mother, who is a self confessed neat freak lowers her standards when she comes to stay for a visit. I give her kudo's for not nagging me, she has accepted that I am not like her, and that neatness is not my number 1 priority.

[Sparky Boy]

It's very difficult. I'd LOVE a weekly housekeeper!! That will never happen.

Husband likes to comment that the barn is always clean and tidy, what's going on in this house?!? :rolleyes: whatever.....It's difficult to work full-time, take care of the horses, then cook/clean, etc. Oh, and somewhere in there you have to RIDE! Maybe once a month I'll take a day off work just to stay home and catch up on laundry and house work.

We both are guilty of dragging the outside dirt in. The two dogs as well. We have hardwood everywhere so that helps. The dust bunny/tumbleweeds pile up quick though. ;)

Edited to say that I really like an Oreck for keeping hard floors clean.

[ManyDogs]

We let the 10 month old Peke-a-Poo clean the house. Everything sticks to him. :winkgrin:
All dogs are color matched to what carpeting we have. Or is it vice versa? Oh wait, forgot about the tri-colored basset. :eek:

We have laminate that looks like stone in the main traffic area. "Playroom carpet" that looks nice in the family room but is stain resistant. Beige blankets over the couch. Baby gate blocking the entrance to the living room. Floors in kitchen and bedrooms are hardwood.

We use a wet/dry vac to clean up. DH bought a steamer that not only cleans, it disinfects, too.

But believe me, I don't spend all of my time cleaning. I would be totally embarrassed if company came unexpectedly. I must have 3 pair of muddy paddock boots by the door. Dog toys are strewn about (crunched up plastic bottles). Corners would not pass the white glove inspection. Bed unmade because JRT uses it most of the day.

Anyway, aren't artistic types supposed to be messy?

[DiablosHalo]

We have all hardwood floors and thin carpet in small tv room. We have 4 dogs, but only one sheds. They are all on Revolution so no ticks, fleas, etc.

I have a 10m old daughter and we hang out in the carpeted tv room. I vacuum that room every day before I get her out of car seat after school. The dogs are not allowed in that room (for the most part) so it doesn't get too bad, but I still vacuum bc believe or not, dd can find and pick up with her lil claws one single dog hair and try to eat it!

The dogs pretty much stay in kitchen/dining room. Its a big old farm house so we shut doors when we have window a/c on (or zone heat in winter) in tv room/kitchen. The other side of the house/stairs are not cooled and pretty much unused. The cat hangs out there and there are hair/dust balls everywhere. She sheds like a collie! I sweep the stairs/hallway everyfew days into a corner pile and suck itup with vacuum on weekends.

It gets to be such a headache and most days I wish I did not have them all, but still couldn't give them up (except for dh's cat!!). It's hard enough to keep things tidy let alone actually clean!

[IFG]

You clean?

We have a Standard Poodle Puppy. He doesn't shed, and anything that we left out, he ate. Now the floors are clear of trash and dirty clothing. It is great. My daughter left her favorite ball cap on the floor. I watched it there for a day or two, then the puppy ate it. Now, she picks up her hats.

Furniture is no problem because he ate the couch. We are going to have to go get a denim slip cover because we have relatives coming to visit. Otherwise, I live with what works.

As for flooring, we take off shoes and have laminate since the house carpeting came infested with fleas. We have one carpet left, and when I have time and money, that will go too.

My husband went and got a Dyson for the one carpet. I do like it a lot better than the central vac that came with the house.

Great for when I clip the puppy. It used to be a pain to clean up the hair, now I just Dyson it.

[monstrpony]

I gave up.

Top this: Had a Corgi with spinal arthritis, lost the use of his back end. The only in/out that had no steps to the fenced yard was through the living room, which is carpeted. We had the wettest spring in ages, rained a great deal.

Lost the dog in May, he was a once-in-a-lifetime guy. Haven't had the heart to tackle the livingroom carpet yet; I actually *never* use the room, I live in the big farm kitchen and my bedroom which is off the kitchen. And am just not in the house that much during the summer.

I suspect I will lose that carpet ...

No carpet in the rooms I use; sweep or use the shop vac, also just live with it.

[txladybug]

For those of you that use the roomba, which one can hold up to the farm and pet mess? I had a first gen machine but it ate a spilled glass of water. Still miss it!

[Serigraph]

Anyway, aren't artistic types supposed to be messy?

Well probably, but I'm a graphic designer and can have anal tendencies.:)

My house would not pass the white glove inspection either. I am pretty lucky that my husband helps clean. In fact, he grew up with a Mother that made all her children make the beds with hospital corners, so there are some things he does much better than me.

Of course, he hates to make the bed now though. But man, when he does you can bounce a coin off those sheets. And right after the bed is all made and pretty, the Dalmatian gets on an humps the pillows.

[wendy]

For those of you that use the roomba, which one can hold up to the farm and pet mess?
we have the newer "PET" model, it works pretty well.

[Blinkers On]

I too have mostly given up. This thread is making me think I ought to vacuum. The house is hardwood and tile. The yard is grass and mud. Dogs are hard on the yard.
I LOVE the no shoe rule, unfortunately I am the only one who does it. My husband says it's not like I am a neat freak which is true, but I object to the filthy public restroom etc germs on the bottom of shoes.
Dog hair does seem to collect in the most interesting places.

[Buffyblue]

I gave up. When I get a little extra cash I hope to buy a better vacuum cleaner, which should help. (My old Kenmore is not doing the job.)

[Boomer]

When I built the farmhouse I had critter hair, grass, sand etc in mind. I have stained concrete floors with area rugs.

Only have a cat & dog in the house, but the grass & sand seem to get inside way too fast.

The dog gets her feet wiped off if it's wet/muddy before she comes in. I take my boots off in the mudroom and switch to "house only sandels".

Occassionally the farm mutts are led through the house from the back yard to the garage if there's a really bad t-storm. They like hiding in the garage. But it does cause wet paw prints.

Otherwise I vacuum as needed. Other times the grass & furball tumble weeds are just left to their own devices.

[paintlady]

Easy... we have greyhounds. They are basically indoor dogs. They really only like to go outside for brief periods of time - they do their business and then it's right back inside. They also have very short coats and don't shed much. They are the perfect low maintainance dogs.

[Arcadien]

Hardwood floors and disposable furniture. Seriously, every 6 months or so I throw out anything with cloth on it (sofa, recliners) and go on Craigslist or my latest favorite "Freecycle" and pick up new stuff for free or a few bucks.

And, um, lower standards. If there aren't too many tumbleweeds, the largest chunks of mud and stick pieces are picked up, any counters or hard surfaces are Lysoled, then (cough) it's "clean". Throw rugs constantly getting washed or tossed & replaced, and "disposable" furniture policy keeps it smelling okay, and Frontline & Advantix cured the bug problem.

Of course, I'm single w/no kids which definitely helps!

[RockingN]

One word: Furminator!

[SarahandSam]

I'm not on a farm, but I do have an old house with three cats and a dog, plus bringing home my horsey stuff. (: I have a Dustbuster and use it a lot--just walk quickly around the house bent over and getting all the tumbleweeds in the corners. I also have a little wastepaper basket in the entryway for junk mail, so when I walk through the house, I'll pick up a tumbleweed or two and toss into the trash.

I also have gotten hooked on the FlyLady system... FlyLady.net. It lets you work in baby steps and in zones and for limited amounts of time... so that helps me a lot.

[Romany]

I second the Furminator! It's a godsend, as I don't have the guts to shave 4 dogs (they'd never forgive me).

And baby gates.

And no carpets.

And slip covers for the living room furniture.

And a mud room.

And a Roomba (although mine is now in therapy).

Just bought a wondrous new mop which seems to cope well with household/animal grunge - it's a self-wringing Quickie mop (and to think, some poor sod went all the way through engineering and marketing to learn how to create such a sorry gadget for my inner rural domestic goddess :rolleyes: ).

[sickofcollege]

I have been thinking about posting about this EXACT topic for awhile. I was just waiting for OT day! Lol.

I have two dogs (1 long hair lab/chow and 1 short haired Australian Kelpie) they shed TONS.

I live in a 525-550 sq foot apartment and due to my insane schedule I cannot clean as much as I should (or like). I have a Dyson, which does an amazing job, but have been considering a Roomba.

Could I program it to run once or twice throughout the day? How well does it pickup on fake hardwood floors? Does it actually pick it up or push it around? As a student, I don't want to buy something that won't work 100%.

[txladybug]

Roombas work amazing but mine would get "stuck" on rug tassles, small toys such as legos, shoe strings, etc. Some "pre cleaning" is in order to make sure the roombas don't have obstacles hiding under the couch, etc. They work great. I want another one now.

I wonder if the "workshop roomba" would be better than the "pet roomba" for a farm home?

And yes, you can schedule most of the units. Read the description of the unit to see if it has the features you want. My original unit died due to eating a glass of water that my toddler spilled. I don't know how long lived these machines are. I would guess my regular vacuum is more durable, but these do such a good job in all the hidden areas. I love to turn it on before I go out to pick up my son from school and come home to a clean floor.

I am thinking of buying the irobot 110 workshop from amazon.com. It's $129 right now.

[SilverSpringFarm]

I think we all need to start a support group. I thought I was the only one pulling my hair out over "cleaning" issues.

Got a double coated 60lb dog & 2 cats in the house.

Leather furniture: :yes:

Carpet: :cry:

White linoleum flooring: :no:

The carpet & linoleum are out of there as soon as we can afford it. Who in their right mind puts WHITE linoleum in a kitchen and mud room??? ON A FARM no less???

This is what keeps me somewhat sane in the meantime:

http://www.beststuff.com/housewares/hoover-quik-broom-vacuum-cleaner.html

That electric broom + the Swiffer wet-jet are a force to be reckoned with.

We plan on replacing the carpet with Pergo or some other wood-like laminate. Once that is in place the roomba will once again roam in full-force. That little robot is great. We ran it every day in our old house where we had wood floors throughout. I don't think it would last a minute on that old, hairy carpet though.

My cats hate the carpet so much that they barf on it nearly every day in disgust. (OH HOW I MISS THOSE WOOD FLOORS!)

I also pay to have my dog professionally groomed whenever I can. Grooming + shedding treatment at Petco only runs me around $35.

[caradino]

i have one standard poodle. :winkgrin:

[MunchkinsMom]

Who in their right mind puts WHITE linoleum in a kitchen and mud room??? ON A FARM no less???

The same nitwits that put white tile and off white berber carpet in my house! They were city folks that bought a farm, and found it was too much work/expense, sold the farm after spending a bit of money doing some renovations, and moved back to the suburbs.

White tile is gone, replaced with wood laminate. The carpet replacement is being debated, meaning do we get more carpet or more laminate. Leaving that up to DH, since he will be footing the bill, and/or doing the work.

When we built the additions, I had a textured berber installed in the bedroom, with a color (mixture of dark beige, grays, blues and browns) to hide the dirt.

[katarine]

--almost 100% tile and hardwood. Dirt colored grout in between those dirt colored tiles. Carpet only in the BR and wish I hadn't - carpet kinda grosses me out.

--mostly shoes off when you come inside but DH wears lace up boots. Meh. I bark loudly if they are dirty enough to warrant it.

--only one dog sleeps inside and he has a leather sofa with his name on it. Eventually that sofa will leave my house following said dog's demise, which suits me just fine. NO blue leather sectional leftover sofas, DH, let's give it to the dog.

--cats are mostly outside cats.

--Electrolux vacuum-vacuum everything Saturday AM if we're home. hardwood setting means no beater brush hitting the floor- occasionally mop. Like, 6 times a year LOL.

-- Each bathroom has it's own set of supplies so I can knock out a BA in 10 minutes, tops.

--area and throw rugs I can toss in the wash and toss out when they are ratty enough...

[SilverSpringFarm]

The same nitwits that put white tile and off white berber carpet in my house! They were city folks that bought a farm, and found it was too much work/expense, sold the farm after spending a bit of money doing some renovations, and moved back to the suburbs.

White tile is gone, replaced with wood laminate. The carpet replacement is being debated, meaning do we get more carpet or more laminate. Leaving that up to DH, since he will be footing the bill, and/or doing the work.

When we built the additions, I had a textured berber installed in the bedroom, with a color (mixture of dark beige, grays, blues and browns) to hide the dirt.

I am very jealous of your wood laminate. I can't wait to have my own.

I may even replace the white laminate with new "colored" laminate BEFORE I replace the disgusting carpet, even though that white laminate is virtually like new.

I just cant stand the fact that every single strand of hair and every minuscule piece of fuzz screams up at me like a traffic light from that bright white background.

[pony grandma]

My epitaph will NOT read, when I die :lol:

"Here lies a lady who stayed home to clean her floors!"

and who's the idiot who keeps building homes with white yuppie carpeting to get to the powder room? what's that bullshit all about?

[msj]

and who's the idiot who keeps building homes with white yuppie carpeting to get to the powder room? what's that bullshit all about?

:lol: :lol: I have a neighbor, who has horses and when she built her home, her husband, who also has horses, decided they should have white carpeting throughout the entire house except for white linoleum in the kitchen and bath. VERY white, white, white carpeting. :eek:

They knew they would be adding a barn in a couple of yrs but what the heck they were thinking is beyond me and all the rest of her horsey friends! :eek::eek: :sigh:

Most people that I know are not that stupid, but this was beyond stupidity! :yes:

[RiverBendPol]

Does anyone else (living on a farm) feel like all they do is clean their house?........


Hahahaha-NO, I don't. Because I avoid it at all cost. Yesterday I dragged the vac around this house. It took 2 hours. I was so grumpy I decided never to do that again!:winkgrin:
Also, I have the worst vac known to man. Bissell, claims to be the pet hair champion. Well, guess what. The thing is miserable. Don't ever buy one even though the ads tell you you'll never have a pet hair problem again. I have a major pet hair whether I vacuum or not!
4 dogs, 2 inside cats, 5 people, horses, chickens, gardens, the whole kitnkaboodle tracks all over the house and it falls to ME to be the cleaner? I doubt it, I am NOT good at it nor do I enjoy it. Therefore, I pick up Labrador tumbleweeds as I see them.

[camohn]

I clean once a week and don't worry about it the rest of the time.....

[MrWinston]

After many years of living with combinations of carpet and wood floors I went with scored and sealed concrete floor for our new house (built 5 years ago). Has held up fabulously to dog nails and wipes clean with a mop. Short haired dogs that come in to a screened porch and get the sand toweled off outside when needed. Porch needs sweeping or vacuuming often. I can also leave them on the porch to dry out if they've been in the pond and/or got hosed off. I'm lucky because my husband seems to LIKE vacuuming! I only have area rugs.

Nobody has mentioned this on this thread yet but Odoban is a great product. Sold in Sam's and Walmart, it will take odor out of everything. You can use it in the washer and use it in capet cleaning machines. The porch was smelling "doggie" and musty, mopped down with it and no odor. I have those interlocking "fatigue mats" sold at Lowes and Home Depot on the porch so the dogs are comfortaable lying on them.

[Janet]

CLEAN?!?!?! What is that exactly?

My DH gave up, and hired a cleaning crew to come in every two weeks to give the place a good cleaning. The rest of the time, we either ignore it, or sweep/vacuum whatever we see.

Same here.

[Oakstable]

Timely thread for me.

We've been in the same house now for 20 years. We're in SoCal on the edge of the desert so there is NO lawn. So the dust blows in from all sides and we heat the house with a wood stove in the winter so there is a light ash from that too.

We're replacing the carpet in the LR this next week with a laminate that I got a good buy on.

Now to replace the carpeting elsewhere AND the white vinyl in the kitchen-pantry-bath.

Our house is dark so we need to keep that in mind when choosing colors.

The dogs sit on the couches and the fabric is now torn and I cannot find slipcovers so I am looking for throws. Anyone have a source?

I'm thinking of compiling a book on a Practical Guide to Country Living with Animals.

Would there be takers?

[wildlifer]

I just don't worry about it. With a Shepherd/Collie mix and two sheddy cats, hair is just a part of life. Embrace it and find all kinds of free time you never knew you had! Life is too short to spend half of it behind a vaccuum and I have a horse to ride!

[AiryFairy]

I agree with the aforementioned hardwood and leather furniture, best money I ever spent was buying leather furniture, I could NOT get the dog hair off the old one, no matter what I tried.

For those with carpets, try Kim and Aggie's remedy for freshening them - big jar of baking powder with several drops of essential oil shaken in and mixed well - I use lavender and tea tree oil which is an antibacterial as well. Sprinkle it on the carpet and brush it in, after it's sat for a little while vac it up. I also use my old bed sheets on the dog's beds so I don't have to take the beds apart except a couple of times a year. The sheets get that 'dog' smell, but I"ve discovered that a cap of tea tree oil in the rinse gets the stink out without leaving a 'bleachy' smell behind.

[Candle]

I LOVE my Swiffer!!! I got the plain dry one with a bunch of dry cloths. I stick one on, spray whatever cleaning thing I need on it (Lysol for the bathroom & kitchen, hardwood cleaner for wood), run it around the floor, scrub the corners with it, take the cloth off, done in five minutes or less. I bought a bunch of $3 fleece blankets from Wal-mart and Ikea and put those on the couch for the dog. That way, when company comes over, pull up the fleece blankets, glare menacingly at the dog to reinforce that it is my.couch. and we're good to go :D

[wateryglen]

CLEAN HOUSE!!!???? :eek:

Oxymoron - ain't gonna happen!

Horsework before housework!!!

[Oakstable]

My house was built in the mid-'60s. I'm thinking about buying bedspreads to use as throws.

I'm going to look at the Vermont Country Store website for options.

Anyone else have problems with hard well water?

[msj]

My house was built in the mid-'60s. I'm thinking about buying bedspreads to use as throws.

I'm going to look at the Vermont Country Store website for options.

Anyone else have problems with hard well water?

Well, as to well water, mine's so hard I have to cut it with a knife! :D

Actually, my water softener makes it OK for bathing and laundry and I wouldn't trade the flavor for 'public water' ever.

As for throws, try Domestications. I think the website is www.domestications.com. They have a lot of very attractive and reasonable quilts with matching shams.

[Marshfield]

Well, when we were home shopping, carpeting was a big turnoff. We have all wood flooring, some is 200+ year old wide pine. The Shop Vac is my friend. I vacuum and mop at least weekly. Staying up on it is important. We have 5 German Shorthaired Pointer, 2 Corgis, and a cat.

[Oakstable]

Susan,
Thanks for that website. Some good options.

I'm thinking of buying some throws and sewing them together to make them long enough to cover a couch.

We have a matching couch and love seat in a pastel flowery faux silk fabric and the dog's nails have shred it. We adopted this dog from someone who never let her in the house. So she gets lots of love here and thought she was overdue for sitting on the couch.

So those two pieces of furniture need to be covered up.

Anyone else have issues with spiders? It may be a sign to just crank up the vacuum more often.

The laminate floor goes down this week. Once I see how I like it, I'll make decisions on the other rooms.

[Auventera Two]

3 big dogs and a cat in the house here. My husband is anal retentive about house cleaning, so he's my live-in scrubbing bubble. We use these, http://www.pledge.com/fabric-sweeper/ and it's GREAT! They say its a one-time use thing, when its full, throw it away. Haaa, right! We fill it up about every 2 days. My husband figured out how to pop the rollers off, dump it out, and put them back on. The instructions say don't try to open and dump it. Well, we've dumped them probably 15 times before having to buy a new one.

Once a week I sweep and mop the kitchen floor, which only takes 15 minutes. I vaccum almost daily, and for Christmas I want one of those no-plug in deals with the little trap door you just open and dump. Don't know what they're called.

It helps that we have a big house and the dogs have their own couches in in our bedroom. There are 2 couches, and one dog goes on each couch, then the 3rd dog has his bed on the floor next to my bed. Their couches have blankets on them, and every weekend I run the vacuum over their couches, and throw their blankets in the wash. Doesn't take long at all.

We have a mud room with colapsible, canvas kennels so the dogs go there while we clean, or when they're wet/very dirty. Each kennel has a 31x31 Pro-Craft white 1/2" wool western saddle pad it. They cost about $20 each from www.horse.com (http://www.horse.com). Once a week I throw the pad down on the floor and run the vaccum over both sides. They last forever, provide plenty of cushion, and I only wash them once a year.

We get lots of dust too because of the dogs, so I use those Pledge Grab-It cloths, or the Swiffer dusters. Anything to avoid a spray and cloth, which takes too long.

I tried using those doggie placemats under the food and water dishes but that was a joke. Instead I just bought 2 nice looking rugs that match our kitchen decor, and I throw them in the wash every weekend. They absorb all the water that the Pit Bull drools out of his big floppy jowls. Ugh.

[Oakstable]

What are the preferred window coverings for homes prone to dust, dander, etc.?

[TripleRipple]

Re the window coverings - we live so remotely that we don't even have covering on some windows (that saves some cleaning right there!:)

In the bed/bath/tv room, I put up some hunter douglas cellular shades I ordered from blinds.com (blackout backing so I can sleep better/watch tv better if the sun is bright). I can use a vac brush attachment to whip off any accummulated dust (and even if dusty, mine don't seem to show it).

[Oakstable]

Is leather furniture impervious to dog toe nails?

I found a used couch that I was going to look at this morning but someone came by to look at another piece of furniture last night and she bought "my" couch.

So now I am going to consider leather.

[mellsmom]

Seriously..... I don't have time. Life's too short. I clean if I have company. I have three/four dogs and three horses. I work full time an hour away from home and teach lessons after work.
My mother once told me No ones dies and thinks I wish I'd spent more time cleaning my house.

I try to keep the dust and clutter to a minimally repulsive level, but no way is it going to be suburban housewife clean ever.

[msj]

Is leather furniture impervious to dog toe nails?

I found a used couch that I was going to look at this morning but someone came by to look at another piece of furniture last night and she bought "my" couch.

So now I am going to consider leather.

I can tell you that leather furniture ISN'T impervious to cat claws. My cat used to sit on the armrest of my leather chair cause it was nice and wide and comfy and there were little kitty nicks in the leather. I imagine that a dog would make even deeper gouges. My dog has her own bed's and isn't allowed on the sofa or chairs or bed but sometimes she will crawl onto my most used chair. After a few minutes she hops down and realizes her bed's are much more comfy and I've caught her doing it and holler at her. :)

As others have posted though, leather sheds animal hair very easily. It doesn't stick like a cloth sofa would.

[TripleRipple]

There are a lot of leather couches out there now that are impervious to scratches. Some are definitely trouble - when I look for a couch I ask if it is scratch proof; if they tell me yes, I ask if I can scratch the floor model on the underside of the seat cushion, and have never had them say no.

Did that with the last leather couch we bought, and it passed with flying colors.. Easy to clean up any dog hairs. The bigger problem is turning out to be my dh when he snacks while sitting on it, not the dogs - the throw blanket I put on is really for him:) A couple of times my older dog has slipped while trying to get on the couch (he is pretty arthritic and won't admit it), and despite raking his front claws right across the leather ottoman while trying to stablize himself, he has left no marks.

Just watch out for some of the finer leathers, they won't take as much abuse, esp. from dog nails, spills, etc.

[Uncle Fester]

Good gad, farm dogs in the house? :eek::eek:...you've got to be kidding, right?

5 dogs, a Shiloh Shepherd, 2 Shiba Inus, a Rotti and a Rat Terrier all live outside year round, well in an attached garage which we keep open, the Rotti and the Terrier get to come in to the laundry room on the coldest winter nights but the others with double coats prefer to stay outside. We have a mud room off the laundry where we change out of farm clothes/shoes before we go anywhere else in the house.

The house stays pretty clean with this routine.

[HuntJumpSC]

I married a neat freak. Who will. not. allow. dogs or cats in our house. I come from a family who has always had an inside small dog, and a mom who is an O/C housecleaner (I drove her nuts with my manure caked boots!)

When I moved into another house on our property, it was me and my JRT along with an outside kitty (who was up in years and came in on cold nights) I kept it relatively clean, since I can't stand doggie smell or hair everywhere. That's one thing about being single: no one cares that there's a stack of saddle pads in your laundry room, muddy paddock boots by the door, and that you clean your tack and polish your boots on the living room rug.

That came to a screeching halt when I got married. It took an act of congress to get my tack (in a cedar lined custom trunk!) in the house & convince hubby that no, there were NOT bugs and creepy crawlies all over it. My barn stays neat as a pin, everything in its place. House, for the most part, does too.

Thankfully we have off white berber carpet with these little multi color threads in it, so dirt doesn't show too bad. I vacuum once a week, sweep & mop once or twice a week, and try to hit the high spots with the dust rag when needed. My pet peeve is spots on the mirror, and hair on the floor. I love my husband, but I swear I married a yak. He sheds chest hair everywhere!

He really had to get onto me about keeping things clean, and I'm much better about it (I did need some improvement), but as long as I keep things put away and fairly clean, he's ok. (I do cheat sometimes and skip vacuuming if the hardwood & tile is clean) I will admit, though, my closet is a disaster area at the moment!