This may sound weird, but I love to clean my home. I don’t know whether it is the surge in popularity of Instagram celebs who show their clean-home hacks, or whether I’m just at that phase in my life. After a good go at the housework, it feels like order has been restored. When the lighter, brighter days of spring arrive, I tend to want to clean even more. That enhanced light really shows up dust and dog hair that I may have missed on a dreary winter’s day. It got me thinking about how often I should clean a dog’s equipment, so I put together a mental checklist of what to do and when.
Dog bowls
Bowls for dog food and water get very dirty, very quickly. So to make sure my pup doesn’t ingest anything nasty, I wash these with hot, soapy water after every meal. It’s quick and easy to do and insures that he always has fresh water in his dish.
Bedding
In our home we use a crate system with blankets and we also have a dog bed (with more blankets). I like to wash the blankets several times a week to keep them fresh. The crate gets a daily wipe down too. It is the dog bed that is washed the least, so I like to take advantage of breezy, sunny spring days to wash the dog bed, leaving it to dry outside in the sunshine.
Leashes, harnesses and collars
How often these are washed depends on how muddy our walks have been. Some warm water and washing detergent clean them quickly and they are quick to dry overnight.
Dog clothing
Our dog doesn’t tend to wear coats or sweaters as he seems to get too hot. So this isn’t a concern in our home. But if you have a dog that does require additional warmth or rain protection, these garments should be washed regularly to remove dirt from mucky walks.
Car
Spring cleaning is not just reserved for our home, but our car as well. The Travall pet barrier, trunk divider, and TailGate are all easily wiped with a damp cloth making it simple to clean a dog’s equipment in the car. For protection of our car trunks interior it is the Travall CargoMat that has been a revelation. Any mud from a walk or drips from rain stay right on the trunk liner itself. Spring is the perfect time to insure that it is spotlessly clean, but with the CargoMat it can be done easily at any time of the year and as frequently as required. Simply hose off or wipe over depending on need. Oh, and the CargoMat is available at reduced prices for a limited time – better get shopping!
