Pet-Friendly Flooring: Best Options and Care Tips
There are plenty of decisions to consider when picking out proper flooring for your home. Factors like humidity, children, noise, and comfort are imperative to selecting the ideal floors that will suit your family’s needs perfectly.
On top of having younger children, many households have furrier, messier kin to take care of that can easily damage your expensive flooring. Yes, dogs and cats, though we love them, can often ruin our fanciest furniture and dirty our favorite carpets. Fortunately, there are great care tips for refurbishing and maintaining flooring, even if your home has some feisty canines or felines. Here are some of the best options for pet-friendly flooring and the optimal ways to preserve them.
Best Flooring For Dogs
Though we know our pets like to scratch, run, and shed, there are ways to navigate these issues to secure ideal flooring. The first part of the process is identifying the major problems your dog produces in your apartment or home. If your pet has long nails or likes to scratch often, ensuring that your flooring is scratch-resistant is a must. If you are afraid your dog might go to the bathroom on your carpeting, finding water-resistant or easy-to-clean flooring is the path to follow.
You’ll also want to consider the general upkeep for your flooring and how much damage your pup could do to your new addition. If you have a dog that sheds massively, steering away from wall-to-wall carpet will help for easier hair clean-up. If you have larger dogs or energetic ones, purchasing rugs for specific areas of your home could keep wear and tear to a minimum. Flooring is not a one-size-fits-all process, so thoroughly analyze your and your dog’s needs before refurbishing or installing new boards.
Some general options most suitable for all dogs, regardless of size, are tile, vinyl, and laminate. These three flooring styles are some of the most popular due to their cost efficiency and easy management.
Tile is one of dog owners’ most popular flooring selections because of its durability. This type of flooring can withstand all types of horrendous messes, from large spills to rain-covered pooches; tile is easily mopped and wiped without fear of floor damage. Though stone tiling can be indisputably expensive, modern porcelain flooring is an exceptional, economical option for pet owners who don’t want to empty their bank accounts.
Vinyl and laminate are also great for any type of dog. These flooring options are relatively waterproof and generally uncostly, which makes them perfect for the most energetic canines. The best part about vinyl and laminate is they often come in styles that mimic quality hardwood flooring, allowing you to get the best of both worlds: luxury and longevity. If you’re worried about your food getting scratched up, laying down laminate boards is perfect for keeping your home looking polished.
Unfortunately for carpet lovers, practicality may be a better choice for your household than comfort. Due to carpet’s fibrous nature, it is the easiest flooring option for a dog to destroy, whether from paws, teeth, or bladder accidents. If your mind is set on comfort, try purchasing smaller area rugs to keep your pets safe without extensive cleaning hassles.
Best Flooring For Cats
Households with cats usually follow the same flooring rules that households with dogs do. Fortunately for feline owners, domestic cats live inside, meaning less opportunity for dirt and grime to ruin your lovely floorings. But any cat owner knows these creatures can get up to their own mischief, like knocking over plants, water glasses, and expensive knick-knacks. Because of cats’ troublesome nature, purchasing flooring that’s painless to clean will make a world of difference for you and your family.
Like houses with dogs, homes or apartments with cats should lean towards vinyl and laminate flooring as a cost-efficient alternative to hardwood. Purchasing this flooring is not only significant for your wallet but also incredibly long-lasting and won’t show cat scratch marks like natural wood does. It’s also water resistant, perfect for the potential liquid messes a cat loves to create.
If carpeting is what you’re set on purchasing, you may be able to get away with it in a cat household. Just make sure to purchase carpets that aren’t loop styles since cat nails can get caught in these fibers more easily. Purchasing cut pile carpeting can be a better option for a more permanent and durable flooring option.
Care Tips
Now that you’ve selected the perfect flooring type for your household, how do you ensure its longevity with rowdy animals running around? Here are some simple things you can do to keep your home and floors looking nice and gleaming.
An obvious tip, but an essential one, is to maintain your pet’s health. Keeping your dog or cat clean and groomed is the best step to ensuring your flooring will sustain its durability and sleekness. If you’re most worried about your flooring getting scratched up, make it a point to cut your pet’s nails more frequently. Suppose you don’t have time to vacuum your floors daily; you can brush your cat or dog’s fur to cut back on the loose tumbleweeds of hair and dander. Focusing on your pet’s hygiene will ultimately see wonderful results for your expensive flooring, so ensure pet care is at the top of your to-do list.
Utilizing the correct cleaning solutions will also help protect your flooring from pet destruction. If you have wood flooring, avoid mopping with lots of water or solutions with furnisher polish. You should opt for products like Bona that are suitable for pets and gentle cleansers for your flooring. Most floor providers will also know the recommended cleaners for each style, so if you’re unsure what product to buy, you can always ask an expert.
Another excellent tip for prolonging your floors’ beauty is cleaning pet accidents quickly and thoroughly. If your dog tracks in mud into your home, leaving it to cake into your floorboards will cause more significant problems down the road. Cleaning up spills or dirt expeditiously is the only way to keep your floors looking like you just installed them.