Use This Laundry Trick to Remove Pet Hair From Your Clothes and Bedding

Updated: Feb. 23, 2023

Portrait of a brown, long haired adult cat sitting inside of a white laundry basket

Danielle Armstrong/Shutterstock

Use this laundry trick to say bye-bye to pet hair, and avoid the headache of a clogged washer. You won't believe how easy it is!

We all love our furry friends. In fact, we love them so much that we let them sleep in our beds, lay on our couches and rub up on our clothes. Before we know it, everything is covered in pet hair. And unfortunately, getting rid of pet hair on clothing and upholstery isn’t quite as simple as throwing everything in the washer.

The solution is a little-known laundry trick that removes the hair before washing. It’s just as handy as this never-lose-another-sock-again trick!

How to Remove Hair and Lint Pre-Wash

Why not just let the washer remove the hair? Because pet hair clings to fabric fibers—and when you add water, it only gets worse. The wet hair forms into soggy clumps, sticks to the side of the washer drum and can even clog the drain. But the good news is there’s a quick fix—so don’t give up cuddling with Fido just yet.

The trick is to use the dryer first! Yep, you read that correctly. Dryer, then washer, then dryer again. Here’s how it’s done:

First, remove as much pet hair as you can by hand. A lint roller or scotch tape works great. Another option is to put on a rubber glove, get it slightly damp, and then run your hand across the fabric. The hair and lint will stick to the damp rubber. Once you’ve removed as much as you can, give the clothing or bedding a good shake.
Next, put the laundry in the dryer. Throw in one or two dryer sheets—one of our favorite cleaning secret weapons. The anti-static properties of the dryer sheets will help repel the hair and catch it in your dryer’s lint trap.
Set the dryer for about 10 minutes on low heat or no heat. Simply running the laundry through a tumble cycle will loosen the fabrics and pet hair, no heat needed.
When the dryer is done, take out the laundry, give it one last shake to remove any remaining pet hair and put it in the washer. Then, you’ll want to use the dryer again, this time on its normal setting. Don’t forget to clean out the lint trap beforehand!

With this trick in your back pocket, you’ll have fur- and lint-free bedding, blankets and more. Be sure to avoid these laundry mistakes next time you’re cleaning up, too!