How To Get Long Hair Out Of Carpet Before Vacuuming

As someone who owns a small army of pets, I can understand that getting long hair out of the carpet can be a headache. Depending on how far you stretch the definition of “pet,” I also have a roommate with long hair. In either case, removing long hairs from your vacuum can be a real pain to deal with.

To address this concern, I’ve created this guide to help you remove hair from the carpet without a vacuum. By the end of this article, you won’t be wasting any time pulling tangled hair out of your vacuum roller.

7 Best Ways To Get Hair Out of Carpet Without A Vacuum!

We’ve got seven different ways that can get human or pet hair from your carpet. All these techniques can pull hair from a variety of surfaces. It will also help you avoid breaking your vacuum cleaner from too much hair, which means you spend less time trying to pull long strands out of your vacuum brush.

1. Use A Bristle Brush To Get Long Human Hair Out Of Carpet

Have you ever heard the phrase “a little bit of elbow grease never hurt anyone?” Well, this old-fashioned phrase leads to almost all these solutions. Our first suggestion? Use the friction of a stiff bristle brush to get long human hair out of your carpet. 

A good bristle brush can pull hair strands out of any carpet fiber. With small, deliberate strokes, you will be able to pick up any hair with ease. The friction of this activity creates a natural attraction to the coarse brush. This method is particularly handy if you have hair that resembles a lion’s mane. This hack works well to collect long human hair.

If you have bad knees and want to avoid getting on the ground, you can buy a brush with a long handle. Our suggestion is the MEIBEI Floor Scrub Brush; it has a long handle with stiff bristles that can dig deep into your carpets, which means less time with a short brush on your knees.

2. Use a Rubber Broom to Remove Pet Hair From Carpet

Another specialty of pet hair removal comes from using a rubber broom. The rubber bristles work well to gather up a combination of cat or dog hair. If you have ever hung out long enough at a classic barbershop, you’ve likely seen the owner sweep using one.

If you do plan on using a rubber broom, follow these quick instructions:

1. Much like the bristle brush, you can remove pet hair through small, deliberate strokes. 
2. You will want to pull the broom towards you to have more control of where the hair goes.
3. Run the broom along a straight line (like a vacuum) until you finish each area in different sections
4. Knock your broom against the wall when you reach a non-carpeted floor – kitchen or bathroom. Finally, collect the debris with a dustbuster.
5. The buildup of static electricity easily pulls stubborn dog hair from the carpet.
6. Do so until you have cleared a floor of hair.

If you need help picking the right broom, you can use the FURemover. It provides a rubber brush combined with a squeegee edge to remove hair from all kinds of floors. The rubber squeegee is especially helpful with cat hair, as it is a brush with a wide variance.

You can also use a rubber broom to pick up hair from the bathroom floor.

3. Use a Specialized Carpet Rake to Loosen Stubborn Hair

A carpet rake can be a helpful tool for removing human or pet hair from your carpet. If you don’t have one, pick up the LeBRUSH carpet rake on Amazon to help you through that cleaning process. 

Carpet rakes do work. To make sure they do their best, follow these directions:

1. Extend the handle to be comfortable to your height and lock it.
2. Press the rake against the carpet and pull it towards yourself with short strokes.
3. To make things easy, work by sections and pull up the hair starting on one end and finishing at the other.
4. If you don’t feel like you are pulling up the hair, check your brush to see if it is full. 
5. If it is crammed, tear off the hair and put it inside the trash.

A rake is reliable at removing hair from carpet, but that’s all it can do. If you want a more versatile tool, you should stick with a rubber broom, as it works on more things, including fiber carpets and linoleum floors. Also, most carpet rakes are a bit too expensive, given that they can only be used as a specialized hair removal tool. 

4. Use a Damp Sponge to Pick Up Hair From High Traffic Spots – DIY Hack

I won’t blame you if you don’t feel like buying a specialized pet hair removal tool. Instead, you want to find another technique that can help you remove pet hair from your carpet. In this case, any old damp kitchen sponge will do the trick and help you remove hair from high-traffic areas.

In this case, you do not need any extra tools. It would be best to wear latex gloves so you can keep the dampness of the sponge from your hands. Follow these instructions:

1. Soak the sponge in hot water.
2. Press it down on the carpet.
3. Run the sponge along the carpet in a circular motion 

This technique is beneficial on stairs. You don’t have to worry about lugging any large pole to fit in a small space. While being a proud owner of carpeted stairs can feel pretty nice, they aren’t fun to clean. So to make things easier on you, keep your pets off the stairs whenever possible.

5. Use Soft Rubber Sole Shoes or Crocs – DIY Hack

Many people doubt the fashion superiority of crocs. Still, there is no doubt that they combine all the comforts of a slipper with the breathability of a sandal. But did you know they also can clean your room?

The rubber soles of your crocs act much like the rubber bristles of the broom we mentioned earlier. Static electricity can help you pick up clumps of hair, especially with shag carpets.

You can buy your family a set of rubber-soled sandals and tell them to race each other about the house. This provides you with an excellent opportunity to give your kids something to do. While having fun, they also remove pet or human hair from your carpet.  

Also, having your family wear rubber-soled shoes inside can save your carpet a lot of cleaning time. And this will prevent you from having to clean dirt on the carpet from the outside. Be sure you have a dedicated shoe station located nearby your front door for this occasion.

6. Use a Floor Lint Roller To Pickup Loose Hair

You can use a small lint roller to remove ample amounts of pet hair and lint from the surface of your clothes. In that case, it is logical to think that a giant lint roller can remove loose hair from your carpet.

Hair messes can be dug deep into your carpet’s fibers or located on the surface of area rugs. Either way, a giant lint roller works great for spot cleaning activities. If you would like some help selecting a good one, we recommend the FoxTrot Lint Roller on Amazon. It comes with a 40-inch extendable handle and has 60 sheets for you to cover with pet fur.

Much like the rakes and brooms, you should follow these instructions:

1. Pull the floor lint roller to yourself as you are cleaning so you can focus on deliberate strokes.
2. Make sure that you do not travel too fast, as you may end up missing some hairs.
3. The surface of your lint roller is sticky, so it will not work when it is completely covered in fur. 
4. Remove the external strip when finished, disposing of it in your trash can.

The significant drawbacks of lint rollers come from how expensive they can be, and they are a constant investment requiring you to buy more sheets. This is something you don’t run into with rakes or brooms. Also, the strips end up in the trash, making them not good for the environment.

7. Repurpose Your Pet Grooming Gloves

If you are a pet groomer or like to have your pet’s coat look beautiful, you might already own a set of pet grooming gloves. They are great for making Fido feel loved while also removing pet hair that would land on the carpet.

So if they work so well on your pets, these rubber gloves should also work well on the surface of your carpet. Slip them on as though you are grooming your pet and begin to spot clean with them along the floor. While it requires a bit of effort, it can be pretty satisfying. If you are the kind of person who enjoys detail-cleaning your carpets, this might be the solution for you.

Extra Bonus Tips If You Still Have Problems

Below are two more bonus tips that you can use if you still have problems removing your carpet hair. 

1. Sprinkle Baking Soda on the Carpet

You can use baking soda before vacuuming a carpet to deodorize the surface. Doing this will also help clump up some of the human or animal hair, making it easier to pick up using one of the earlier mentioned methods, such as a rake or a rubber broom. You can also find specialized baking soda for carpeted areas, and this helps you provide a pleasant scent to your carpet.

I let the baking soda sit for a little bit of time to get some of that good smell in your carpet. You tend to go through a bit more baking soda than you think in this case. Always have an extra box laying around if you like this method.

2. Spray Fabric Softener on the Carpet to Loosen Stubborn Pet Hair Before Vacuuming

A fabric softener is a great solution that does much the same as your baking soda. Many people cut the fabric softener into one part and three parts water. Regardless, it still causes wet hairballs to collect on each other, making them much easier to scoop up. 

While cutting your fabric softener does reduce the pleasant smell of it. As long as your primary goal is to collect hair, that won’t matter. Please don’t run any weak vacuum cleaner over it after the act, as hair collection can still gunk up your machine.

Are There Any Better Options?

While all the options above are pretty admirable, you might think that some of these take too much time. Adding an extra layer to your home cleaning tasks isn’t appealing. Still, you want to do the best job you can to make your room look beautiful. Also, we only have so much left to give since we have jobs, kids, and fluffy pets who like to romp all over the place.

To simplify this issue, you need to look for a self-cleaning brushroll vacuum. A regular vacuum cleaner won’t cut it when it comes to long hair. Instead, it would be best if you had something that uses modern technology to save you time. These vacuums are necessary when removing long hair from the carpet, and they often pay for themselves after you realize how much time you are saving.

When looking for these brush heads, stick to proven brands like Shark and Bissell. If you see a vacuum cleaner that doesn’t have this feature, it won’t be efficient at cleaning your hairy floors. As the proud owner of a high-quality vacuum, you won’t have to worry about wasting an excessive amount of time. Many of the vacuums made by these well-known brands are powerful vacuums, and they also have suction abilities that appeal to pet owners. Don’t get a vacuum that isn’t going to provide you with that strong suction.

Please read our guide on the best vacuum cleaners for removing human hair on the carpet.  

Conclusion

When cleaning up your room of human and pet hair, there are a variety of different options you can choose from. With the guidance above, you now have many hacks at your disposal. We hope these methods can help you conquer the menace of the living room floors. Any of the options listed above can help you through the process of cleaning your rooms.

The ultimate method of getting hair out of the carpet comes back to owning a self-cleaning vacuum cleaner. This style of vacuum will result in saved time and effort. With enough time saved, you can start tackling the other rooms in your house. Or, if you are lucky, you might have time to sit down and have a cup of tea.