Cat Hair - Handheld vacs worth it?

[Geila]

For cat owners: do you find a handheld vac useful for getting rid of cat hair on cushions and upholstered furniture?
If so, how often do you use it?

My kitties are starting to shed quite a bit and leave their favorite spots covered in hair. I keep thinking that if I had a handheld I would just whip it out and take care of it right away.

The thing is, I'm not a gadget person and have a bunch of them sitting around unused (food processor, stick blender, crockpot, etc.) and wishing I never bought them. I find that I prefer cooking the old-fashioned way with pots, pans, and oven. And regular knives! :)

But the hair is getting to a nuisance and making me feel that my house is dirty.

I looked at Amazon & Target and they have the Black & Decker for around $30-$50 with good reviews. I was thinking of going with the $40 range.

I'm wondering if this price range has enough suction to really get the hair out of upholstery. My cats especially like the fleece-covered stools and cushions.

[Teacher Terry]

I have dogs and the hand held vacuums never worked well. I have given up. Instead I cover my couch with a cover and then wash it. YOu can buy them at Kohl's.

[Geila]

I have dogs and the hand held vacuums never worked well.

This is what I'm afraid of. Right now I use the hose attachment on my upright and even with that, it takes several passes to get all the hair out. I doubt if a small 14-15 volt battery would do it.

I have two dogs as well but the cat hair seems more tenacious - although it could be that they nest in the fleece and the dogs do not.

[kib]

I have two easy ways of dealing with four cats' hair, depending on the surface. 1. using the wire brush intended for the cats - they hate it. Quickly picks up all sorts of fuzz as well as cat hair from carpets. 2. Wetting my hand and running it over the surface. I take a bowl of warm water, dip my hand, swipe, hand back in bowl to rinse it off, repeat. This isn't as complete but it's simple and not as tough on surfaces like the couch, assuming you've got something that can get a little damp. Have never found a vacuum that really does an adequate job to justify the effort or the cost.

[pinkytoe]

I have a Eureka hand held that has little rubber like spindles on the roller and it picks up cat hair off of upholstery or fabric like magic. Kind of like a cat's tongue I guess.

[JaneV2.0]

I have a Eureka hand held that has little rubber like spindles on the roller and it picks up cat hair off of upholstery or fabric like magic. Kind of like a cat's tongue I guess.

That's the principle behind those rubber brooms. Amazon's best seller in the category is the Evriholder FURemover Broom.

[kib]

I have a lint roller made with that sticky rubber and it does work but it only takes up a 4*8" section of the couch before I have to rinse it, and it's a lot more work to rinse than my hand. Doesn't even properly do a small garment without numerous rinsings.

[Dhiana]

I found dishwashing gloves worked the best!
There's always that left one after the right one gets a hole in it :)

Vacuums didn't work, picked up the bigger clumps, but that was it.

Or do as another poster mentioned. Lay a washable item over the upholstery.

[KayLR]

I use a cover, too....but I think I might get a pair of rubber gloves for the ottoman she sometimes hangs out on. I like that idea.

[Meezer_Mom]

Rubber also works well when grooming. That's the principle behind the Zoom Groom. It turns lions into kittens, too. ;)

[mschrisgo2]

I just checked in with a friend who has 5 cats and whose house is always immaculate... She said she has tried every small vac on the market for the last several years, and ended returning every one of them because they just don't work well enough to bother with.

Instead, she uses a washable cover on her couch, washable comforter on her bed, a wire slicker brush on the flat area rug, and "one of those lint brushes that looks like corduroy on both sides, not the throw-away sticky ones" for everything else cloth, and a soft broom for the laminate floors.

[Geila]

Thank you for the excellent responses everyone! I'm so happy to see that there are some good tricks for this that don't involve buying a new appliance. A special thanks to mschrisgo2 for the great info on how to tackle the job from different angles. I'm going to look for that corduroy lint brush.

Last night I tried the damp cloth trick and it worked great. So simple! I'm also going to try the dish glove today. I do my dishes by hand and use the gloves so it will be a quick and easy thing to do. My cats really like nesting in chairs or on cushions and I think this will work wonders.

I also need to do a better job at brushing them. One of them likes being brushed but the other doesn't so I'll have to think of some way to do him. I used to have a dog who enjoyed being vacuumed - somehow I don't think the cats will go for that ...

[Tenngal]

I don't have a hand-held vac but one trick that makes my regular vac pick up dog hair better is misting the rug with water before cleaning.
Something about the moisture makes the hair turn loose a little better.

[Geila]

Update: I tried the plastic gloves this weekend while doing dishes, and - wow! Works great, even better than the vacuum hose. I didn't realize there was so much hair on there.

Thanks again for all the tips.
:thankyou:

[iris lilies]

I have dogs and the hand held vacuums never worked well. I have given up. Instead I cover my couch with a cover and then wash it. YOu can buy them at Kohl's.
I agree. While I do have a hand held vac, I use it for getting dirt out from between cushions.

i also keep covers on the furniture and shake them out or wash them. Our dog is dirty because he rolls in the dirt. And then he sheds. He is Harry the dirty Dog. Smart people wouldn't let him on the furniture, but I'm not smart.

[iris lilies]

I am for the first time seriously planning fabric at the windows I our living/dining area. They are saris discussed elsewhere.

For one thing, the silk weave is fine and shiney, so
I Dont think pet hair will,stick to them in the same way as other heavier fabrics. Secondly, they are easy to wash. That will require one full day devoted to ironing them when out of the wash, but I think I can commit to that.We will try it once and see.

for the window saris next to the kitchen which will have lots of grease grime impossible to remove, I can toss them if too dirty. They are inexpensive. It remains to be seen if I could actually toss them.

[Teacher Terry]

My 3 Maltese never shed so it was never an issue. Then I inherited my son's 80lb shedding machine-husky/shephard mix so had to let him on the couch because with the girls up there his feelings would be hurt, etc:|(. I do draw the line at my bed though because I have asthma. He did not like that at first but has adjusted.

[mschrisgo2]

I noticed yesterday that Target has the "corduroy" lint brushes in the Pet section.

[merince]

I use either the dogs' brush/shedding tool or a little rubber brush to pick the hair from the furniture.

[Geila]

I noticed yesterday that Target has the "corduroy" lint brushes in the Pet section.

Thanks for the tip! I'll check it out this week. I always forget that Target has a pet section.