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Stairs and Hairs

post #1 of 22
6/9/08 at 1:06pm
Thread Starter 
Well, Persi is enjoying the new house, running up and down the two flights of stairs, leaving a trail of fur behind him. I just came down the stairs and found puffs of white hair on every step. Who else has this problem and what can you tell me? I can assure you he is well combed every day and handfuls of fur are removed every day. I never even thought about this before moving in so I have no ideas about how, if anything, can be done. Hope to hear from all you people with long haired cats and long flights of stairs!! My stairs are all wood, by the way, no carpeting to hide the hair.
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post #2 of 22
6/9/08 at 1:42pm
Just make sure you vacuum the stairs when you vacuum the rest of the house. Otherwise you get cat hair dust bunnies that are big enough to be scary. The hair tends to accumulate on the side, not the middle where you usually walk. I know from experience.
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post #3 of 22
6/10/08 at 6:50am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by littleraven7726 View Post
Just make sure you vacuum the stairs when you vacuum the rest of the house. Otherwise you get cat hair dust bunnies that are big enough to be scary. The hair tends to accumulate on the side, not the middle where you usually walk. I know from experience.
Thanks. These are the little (or big) things that people don't think about when choosing a longhaired cat.
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post #4 of 22
6/10/08 at 6:53am
I have wood stairs, and with 2 long hair black cats currently, its an endless parade of little black fluff balls on the stairs, and everywhere else

I keep a small hand-held dust vac near the stairway and use it almost every day to vacuum up the stairs, rather than dragging out the regular vacuum.
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post #5 of 22
6/10/08 at 11:18am
Please be VERY careful because if you step on a wad of cat hair with socks on, it can be like ice. I fell down the stairs by doing that a few years ago.

We have a small handheld vacuum we use for the stairs. Easier than lugging the big vac up/down the stairs.

Cally
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post #6 of 22
6/11/08 at 5:07am
I use the back of the Zoom Groom to pull the fur off the carpeted stairs. I find the vacuum has a hard time with it.
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post #7 of 22
6/11/08 at 5:51am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlleyGirl View Post
I have wood stairs, and with 2 long hair black cats currently, its an endless parade of little black fluff balls on the stairs, and everywhere else

I keep a small hand-held dust vac near the stairway and use it almost every day to vacuum up the stairs, rather than dragging out the regular vacuum.
This sounds like a very good idea but is your hand held vacuum without cord and powerful enough to get those long hairs? Also, does it have a narrow head that can get around the bannisters. That is where the hair seems to be piling up. Thanks for any info on your vacuum. I am looking for one for my car and this sounds like a double duty device that I need to buy.
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post #8 of 22
6/11/08 at 5:54am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by pee-cleaner View Post
Please be VERY careful because if you step on a wad of cat hair with socks on, it can be like ice. I fell down the stairs by doing that a few years ago.
Zounds! Something else to worry about. DW insisted on wooden stairs, sounds like they are dangerous. I will be very careful and thanks for your advice. Just something else you don't think about and find out about on The Cat Site.
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post #9 of 22
6/11/08 at 7:01am
Yes, be careful on those stairs Lee Weve got a member here who lives beside me. Fyona has a ragdoll called Tallulah, and she described it as looking like santa was shot on the stairs with all her fur on them
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post #10 of 22
6/11/08 at 7:18am
It is a small cordless vac, that sits on a charger all the time when not in use. It does have a narrow end that folds out for between the railings. Its not super strong, but it does very well with cat hair on the stairs and other wood floors. Its not great on carpet, but I use the zoom groom to get the cat hair off the cat trees, etc.

Mine was just the cheapest one wal-mart carries, but they do have better, stronger ones that you can get. Maybe one like this that would even look nice sitting by the stairs!
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post #11 of 22
6/11/08 at 9:06am
Quote:
Please be VERY careful because if you step on a wad of cat hair with socks on, it can be like ice. I fell down the stairs by doing that a few years ago.
YES! This should be a warning to everyone. Our cats are short-hairs, but since our stairs are used A LOT, hair accumulates. I was coming down a few nights ago and slipped. Luckily, I fell on my bum rather than flying head first, but I have rug burns and bruises all over. I seriously look like a 6-year old with all the scrapes and scratches I have got the past month (I have had an accident prone few weeks for some reason...).

My friend has a long hair and stairs (wooden)- she just sweeps every night when she scoops the litter box. Another thing to add to the routine!
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post #12 of 22
6/11/08 at 9:21am
Lol Susan, yes my stairs are a terrible mess, there is bundles of fur all over, I have found a damp cloth seems to get rid of it, plus I have carpet so it just hangs from the ledge.
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post #13 of 22
6/15/08 at 7:21am
Having just fallen down a flight of granite stairs last week (and discovered a broken wrist is likely to cause trouble for up to a year), I have to say I would go for carpet every time! And yes, cat hair can be very slippery.
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post #14 of 22
6/15/08 at 4:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlleyGirl View Post
I have wood stairs, and with 2 long hair black cats currently, its an endless parade of little black fluff balls on the stairs, and everywhere else

I keep a small hand-held dust vac near the stairway and use it almost every day to vacuum up the stairs, rather than dragging out the regular vacuum.
When we brought our two cats home, I couldn't get over the hair on the stairs! Steve is a medium haired orange cat and Gigi is a short haired tabbico. Similar to AlleyGirl I had to buy another smaller vaccuum and we purchased this two in one:

Pronto 2 in 1

The bottom of the vacuum comes off and you can use it as a dust buster (which gets great use on our stairs and around the litterbox). Then you just clip it back in and continue vacuuming. We love it.

Any odd hairs it doesn't pick up, we use a Swiffer cloth and all is well.
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post #15 of 22
6/15/08 at 6:51pm
I use a little tiny dust pan/broom on my stairs. All I ever hear about hand held vacuums is that they arent very good at sucking up much. I just tote a little waste basket along with me and sweep up every few days. Like we're not busy enough cleaning up after them in the rest of the house
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post #16 of 22
6/16/08 at 7:07am
The little vac doesn't pick up great, but it is perfect for those fluffs of hair that float around the stairs. If I try to sweep them, they just fly through the air and land somewhere else and have to be picked up by hand

I use it every other day, otherwise it starts looking like I have black carpet on the wood stairs... lol.
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post #17 of 22
6/16/08 at 9:22am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlleyGirl View Post
The little vac doesn't pick up great, but it is perfect for those fluffs of hair that float around the stairs. If I try to sweep them, they just fly through the air and land somewhere else and have to be picked up by hand

I use it every other day, otherwise it starts looking like I have black carpet on the wood stairs... lol.
Until I got this house, I always figured that luxury homes had carpeted stairs. Then I found out how much EXTRA it would cost NOT to have carpeting. DW also wanted hand chipped wooden floors and stairs. Yes they look fantastic but no thought at all was given by either one of us as to the downside since neither of us had experience with such.
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post #18 of 22
6/16/08 at 11:47am
OK, I'm going to make the suggestion that I'll bet you've already thought of...fine Persian rugs!
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post #19 of 22
6/17/08 at 11:23am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrblanche View Post
OK, I'm going to make the suggestion that I'll bet you've already thought of...fine Persian rugs!
We have a fine Persian rug in the formal living room but no other carpets in the house. DW does not want to cover up the wooden floors that she has wanted all her life. We even have wood in the kitchen floor, all hand scraped so that there are little crevices where cat hair can collect.
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post #20 of 22
6/17/08 at 12:21pm
We have that problem with the stairs too! Somehow even the basement stairs get clumps of hair even though none of the animals are allowed in the basement (we keep the door closed)!
We use a shop vac for the stairs.
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post #21 of 22
6/17/08 at 1:29pm
Well try having 4 cats and three flights of stairs in your house!! Actually its not to bad-the spring and fall "molt"is the worst though. As for hardwood floors I'm looking at a couple of fur puffs now!!
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post #22 of 22
6/21/08 at 7:12pm
to get the hairs off the spindles and from the corners i use the sweepa http://image.bizrate.com/resize?sq=1...062&mid=138485 then comes the 15 volt handheld vac. the vac comes with a "crevice device" which i use for the base of the spindles
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