A practical guide

The fur your hoover can't reach

Why carpets and rugs keep a grey haze even after a good hoover, and a fifteen-minute way to pull it out.

You've just hoovered. The rug looks fine, until the sun comes through the window and catches it: a fine grey haze, woven right into the pile. Then the dog wanders back in and lies down exactly where you've cleaned, and you start wondering why you bother.

You're not imagining it, and your hoover isn't broken. It's just the wrong tool for that particular job.

Why it happens

Fur doesn't sit on a carpet. It threads into it.

  • It works its way down. Every time your pet lies, rolls or trots across the rug, loose hairs get pushed between the fibres and wound around them. The fine, soft undercoat is the worst for it.
  • Suction lifts, it doesn't pull. A hoover is brilliant at what's loose on top. Hair that's wrapped around the fibres needs something to grip it and drag it out.
  • It comes in waves. Most dogs and cats moult hardest in spring and autumn, so the haze builds up fastest just when you have the least patience for it.

That's why Hill's Pet suggests a rubber-bristled broom to loosen the hair from carpet fibres and scrape it into a pile. The trick is a drag, not a suck.

A pet hair rake used on a carpet, a rug and the stairs

Not your fault

What you've probably tried already

All of these help a bit. None of them was made for hair that's wound into the pile.

  1. Hoovering it again

    More passes lift more of what's loose. What's wrapped around the fibres stays put, and the haze is back the next time the sun hits the rug.

  2. The lint roller

    Fine for a jumper. On a rug it's full after a few strokes, and you end up with a bin of sticky sheets.

  3. A damp rubber glove

    It works, and it's free. On your knees across a whole living room, it's a long afternoon.

  4. Brushing the pet more

    Well worth doing: it means less fur on the floor tomorrow. But what's already in the carpet stays there.

The routine

Fifteen minutes, twice a week while they moult

Once a week is plenty the rest of the year.

  1. Brush the pet first

    Five minutes in the garden or on an old towel catches hair before it ever reaches the floor.

  2. Rake before you hoover

    Short strokes towards you, always in the same direction, starting with their favourite spots: by the sofa, beside the bed, inside the door.

  3. Pick up the piles

    The hair rolls up into soft clumps in front of the edge. Pick them up by hand and bin them.

  4. Then hoover

    Now the hoover only has dust and crumbs to deal with, and the brush roll doesn't clog with fur.

  5. Sofa, stairs and car

    The same short strokes with a hand-sized rake on cushions, stair treads and car seats.

Where Meoggy fits

Drag, don't suck.

The All-Surface Tool is that idea in three pieces: a rake on a telescopic handle for carpets and rugs, so there's no kneeling; a handheld rake for the sofa, the stairs and the car seats; and a small pad. No plug, no noise, nothing to refill, so it can live by the sofa instead of at the back of a cupboard.

To be straight with you: it works alongside your hoover, not instead of it. It isn't for your pet, for knitwear or for deep shaggy rugs, and it's worth trying velvet on a hidden patch first.

See the All-Surface Tool

From £39.99 · 3 pieces, no refills

Or get it in the Fur-Free Kit, with the Fur Wiper and the glove · £49.99

30 days to try it at home

If it doesn't pull more out of your carpet than the hoover did, email us your order number and a photo and we'll refund you in full. No need to send anything back.

Sources: Hill's Pet, How to get rid of pet hair around the house · PDSA, Why and when pets moult · Ideal Home, the rubber-glove pet hair hack. Always check the care label on your carpet or sofa first.