Date: 11/1/09 12:23 PM

Does anyone have recommendation for a fabric that very sticky cat hair will come out of in the wash and dryer?

One of my cats has the most sticky hair. It doesn't come off of many fabrics in the wash. I need to make throws that coordinate with some upholstery for 2 chairs that he sleeps on a lot. I really don't want to banish him from the chairs. The chairs are very nice but are getting worn from all the aggressive vacuuming, like I just spent 45 minutes doing! On only 2 chairs!

I got a Furminator and that does a wonderful job on him, but still need a throw so these chairs will last the decades they're supposed to last. I'm looking for a fabric I can just throw in the wash once a week and then put back on the chairs. Any ideas??


Edited to add a pic of the cat, OF COURSE!


-- Edited on 11/1/09 12:36 PM --

------
Deb

Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.

http://visualobsessions.blogspot.com/

Next page>>

Reply to sailonsilvergirl
Date: 11/1/09 1:21 PM

Beautiful cat. He looks quite a bit like our Patches.

Good Luck finding a fabric his hair will not stick to. With Patches his hair does not stick to really hard tightly woven fabrics. But one they do not make nice throws and two he would just find another place to sleep.

He does love to sleep on fleece, which tends to hold the hair, I keep saying our next pets will match the upholstery, but with a black and white dog, gray tabby and white cat and a calico cat, that is not happening.

If you are not adverse to real fur, my cats absolutely love to sleep on real fur. I buy them at the thrift shop and line a basket with the fur, the cats love it and tend to go there to sleep. I just shake out the fur to get rid of the cat hair.

My cats also love sheep skin rugs. I throw mine in the washing machine and dryer to clean them. They are fairly reasonable at Ikea, look quite nice and you can remove them from the chairs when people need to sit. But you might find that if you put the rugs on the floor the cats will gravitate to them.

Have you tried to use a sticky lint roller on the chairs before vacuuming?

I have to admit that as pet owners we have given up and bought leather living room furniture. We have lint rollers all over the place and still wind up wearing our pets.

------
2008 fabric in 0
2008 Fabric used 1 m

Next page>>

Reply to Michelle T
Date: 11/1/09 2:48 PM

AM Another one thinking about going to leather in my den.. I love my paprika covered couch, but have everything covered in cheap fleece, as its easy to wash and fast to dry..so as a result don't see my nice upholstery anyway.

Still working on solutions.. I have five dogs and a cat, as well as other animals.

Currently, on top of washable slipcovers, which I tire of taking on and off, not to mention washing. , SO am making small ottomans, footstools, etc. and placing them on the chairs so the animals cannot sit on them.

Am convinced there is no good solution to this problem. and have never met an animal that will stay off your furniture,, so if there are any other ideas out there I would love to hear them too.

Next page>>

Date: 11/1/09 4:49 PM

What about changing your color scheme to incorporate a heather grey? I have a black and white short-haired English pointer, so I can relate, although our furniture right now is "dorm room chic" so I don't really sweat the hair at the moment.

As far as fabric the hair doesn't stick to - it seems like hair doesn't stick as much to woven cottons (without a nap) or denim, at least for clothes. I'm not sure if that's the case for your cat's especially sticky hair! But, maybe something like a cotton poplin or twill? A print would probably show the hair less too, rather than a solid color.

Next page>>

Date: 11/1/09 4:53 PM

I hear ya. We have a house full of dogs and, consequently, a house full of dog fur. As another poster mentioned, tightly woven fabrics are best (like denim). We've had the best luck, frankly, with inexpensive RTW cotton quilts (a twin will cover most of an average-sized couch). I would definitely stay away from fleece; it seems to be the very worst offender for grabbing hold of fur and not letting go! I pretty much banished all fleece from my wardrobe about 5 years ago; it just wasn't worth it!

Next to the quilts, plush acrylic blankets are good (Biederlack type), but I've never seen this sold as yardage, I'm afraid. I've also noticed that velour, surprisingly, doesn't seem to pick up fur.

Good luck!

------
~Gem in the prairie

Next page>>

Date: 11/1/09 5:41 PM

Thanks for the ideas. I do have an IKEA sheepskin in one room but have never found the cats on it. They do really like fleece. They LOVE it when someone forgets a fleece jacket lying on a couch. It's a cat magnet. Maybe I shouldn't worry so much about washing the hair out of the throw. If fleece captures the fur so it doesn't go everywhere else, that's great. The throw is mostly to keep the chair clean to when a human wants to sit on a chair, we can just pull the throw off and sit.

We have a leather couch in the same room, and it's so easy to keep clean. I'd highly recommend leather. But be sure it's not an easily distressable leather. There are distressable leather sofas elsewhere in the house, and the cats know they're not allowed on those. They are surprisingly easily trainable -- those sofas scratch so easily, I know whenever a cat's been on them, and it very rarely happens.

I also did a test with our Siamese cat with fleece and cashmere -- she sleeps on our bed on a square of fleece, because she loves the fleece, but once I left a cashmere sweater on the bed too. Of course when given the choice, she prefers cashmere! If they want cashmere throws, they will both have to go out and get good jobs ...

------
Deb

Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.

http://visualobsessions.blogspot.com/

Next page>>

Reply to stirwatersblue
Date: 11/1/09 9:52 PM

I DID TRY QUILTS.. sigh.. but I have a lot of chairs and such..more than normal. and was just too many loads of laundry to do to wash them all. I found that with fleece you can get several pieces into the washer and they dry fast..
They may still have hair on them, but they are clean and smell okay after washing. Where with the quilts, I could only put one at a time into the washing machine.

BTW.. If you have a quilt or such that smells like dog,, maybe a throw rug, then sit it outside in the sun for some time and it will refresh it and smell much better.. I put mine out in the rain, and allow the rain to wash them and then dry in the sun.. My rugs smell terrific after doing this.

Next page>>

Date: 11/1/09 10:02 PM

I had a vinyl couch for years. Then I got free furniture from CraigslistThe cats ( we usually have a minimum of four ), have no favorite spot - they are EVERYWHERE! I just put a lint brush in every room and only have friends with pets. :)

Next page>>

Date: 11/2/09 2:59 PM

I swear by the Pledge pet hair removers. I even use them on my rugs (vacumn doesn't seem to work as well on cat hair but ok on all the other crud)

They are a rather low-tech velcro gizmo. I buy at Walgreens or at my local grocery store in the cleaning supply aisle.

I'd avoid fleece...it seems to allow the hair to pierce rather than land. Denim seems to be rather cat-hair resistant...as long as it's not a brushed denim.

------
Catherine

Next page>>

Date: 11/2/09 3:05 PM

Handsome fella, your cat. Looks like he has Maine Coon blood flowing through his veins. If so, Maine Coons have a triple coat and that innermost fine coat is a stinker when it comes to sticking to most fabrics.

All possible fabric/hair removal suggestions have been made. Good luck with Mr. Handsome, Lily

------
Lily

Next page>>