For When Your Dog is a Fur Machine

Riley is a little bit like Pigpen from the Snoopy cartoons. Not in the sense that she smells or is covered in dirt, but because she forever has a cloud of little hairs coming off of her. The shedding is so intense that I’m often surprised she doesn’t wake up one day completely naked, with no fur suit at all.

I grew up with Wheaten Terriers, a non-shedding breed. So, I had no clue what kind of mess shedding dogs are capable of. I’m so hypersensitive about having little caramel-colored dog hairs on my clothes and furniture that I vacuum my apartment three times a week. (Pretty sure my neighbors think I’m insane.)

I recently discovered the Pledge Fabric Sweeper for upholstered furniture. It is, in a word, glorious. It gets every single hair off of furniture, and you can even use it on your coats if you don’t have a roll-y brush. However, some people criticize the product because the hair collection container is not reusable. Once it’s full, you’re supposed to dispose of the product. (Yes, SC Johnson, shame on you. Why not just up the price slightly and make it reusable? We’re in a recession, damn it. And whatever happened to your claims of running a “green” business?) But, with a little creativity, you can jimmy open the top with a knife, pull the hair out, reattach the top, and use the product over and over again. (I learned a lot about how to do this by reading the product reviews on Amazon.com.)

The Pledge Fabric Sweeper usually retails for about $9. If you can’t find it at your local Walgreen’s or Duane Reade, you can get it on Amazon here.