So we are getting practical here. I hate cleaning and tidying but at the same time I hate to look at mess! So I try to make it as easy as possible on myself.

The best way would be to just NOT HAVE THEM in the first place right?!

But you know, you love these little creatures so you gotta accept this is a way of life now!

But these simple things can help…a LOT…

Tiled or Wood Flooring

If you can, invest in easy to clean floors in your living area. This will save you sooo much cleaning time. Muddy paws we don’t care. If you can’t do this, then maybe get some kids playmats, or some carpet tiles to put over your carpet to a create a large boundary area for your dog. Stair gates and pens help to block off areas you don’t want to get filthy dirty.

Steam Mop

Steam mops are AMAZING and come in a large price range to suit all budgets! Just fill, switch on and go. The heads are washable so I pop them on a hot wash with Buddy’s bedding.

I also pop a little bit of Zoflora pet disinfectant into the steam mop. The floors dry really quickly, but remember not to let little paws on them till they are dry if using disinfectant as it’s NOT GOOD for animals.

Zoflora now do more fragrances in the pet range which we are yet to try out!

Hoover once a day

I know I know a huge pain in the backside! But OMG what a difference it will make! Just set aside a time and get on with it. Make it part of your daily routine. We use it as part of our training too! Although Buddy is now okay with the noise and the movement of the hoover, he still gets rewarding for not reacting, be that him sitting on his boundary or sometimes, he likes to follow me around to check all is okay.

Either way we make it part of our every-day life. If I miss even ONE day then it soon becomes like the wild west in here with tumbleweed fur balls I could knit a jumper out of! I once read that someone described their collie’s fur as dog ‘glitter’! Love it!

Storage

So we keep the little takewaway boxes, raw food boxes, jars, anything that can store treats or biscuits! No need to invest in more storage here just use what you have.

My storage is even made up of an old unit I painted, and some old drawers that I painted to create little cubby holes.

I painted an old coat rack too for leads.

And luckily I have a little shelf in my new ‘dog’ room to pop his fitness equipment.

If you can get your pets paraphernalia organised and sorted you will feel way more organised too!

Sprays and Carpet Cleaners

You can of course buy things like fabreeze and carpet fresheners. But did you know you can spray diluted Zoflora on your soft furnishings, sofa and carpet in EXACTLY the same way! (make sure you test an area first).

Zoflora have tons of different fragrances, and the bottles go a realllly long way. It’s my go-to multi purpose cleaner and freshener when you are super busy.

I use it to clean the kitchen, bathroom, floors, and use as a freshener on cushions, carpets etc. It’s a much more money-savvy way to go.

With air fresheners I really rate this pet specific one from Fabreeze. It’s usually about £3-4 a bottle but its worth it.

This spray gets rid of EVERY SMELL going. I love it.

Decent Cat Litter

I have spent a fortune on various cat litter, and CATSAN is the only one I can find that masks the smell of wee, and is still pretty good once the cats have covered their poop over! It’s more expensive than most, but I would rather pay a little bit more for the quality. You don’t have to change it so frequently and the cats seem to like it!

Do It Another Day!

Yep honestly, its not the end of the world, don’t stress. Take a day off,recharge the way that you know how to best, and start again tomorrow. You are WAY more important than a bit of mess and just remember that dog hair is actually dog glitter!

You can pop over to my amazon store for all the above mentioned cleaning products in my cleaning section.   Have you got any cleaning tips? Let me know below!!!