Pets and Indoor Air: How to Keep a Pet-Friendly Home Smelling Fresh

Quick answer: Steady habits do most of the work: scoop the litter box daily, wash pet beds every week or two, brush pets outdoors, check the HVAC filter monthly and keep indoor humidity at 50 percent or below. A whole-home treatment can help with the buildup you can't reach.

How do you keep a pet-friendly home smelling fresh?

Steady habits do most of the work. Austin is a pet town, with dogs on the patio, cats in the window and maybe a rabbit in the back room. Pets make a house feel like home, but they also add to what's in your indoor air.

The good news: a pet-friendly home doesn't have to smell like one. A well-kept HVAC system goes a long way, and a whole-home treatment can give everything a fresh start.

What do pets add to your indoor air?

Mostly dander, hair, odors and whatever they carry in from outside. Much of it is small and easy to miss:

• Dander: tiny flakes of skin that float, settle, and get stirred up again every time someone walks by. Dander is light and sticky, so it clings to fabric and ends up in your ductwork.
• Hair: the part you can see, on the couch, the rug and every black pair of pants you own.
• Odors: from skin oils, breath, wet fur after a rainy walk, and the occasional accident.
• Outdoor tag-alongs: pollen, dust and dirt carried in on paws and coats, especially during cedar and oak season.
• Microbes and allergens: these build up over time in bedding, carpet and soft furniture.

All of this adds to the bio-load of your home: the microscopic particles and microbes that build up in the air, on surfaces and in the HVAC system over time.

How do you keep a litter box from smelling?

Scoop daily and keep the box where air moves. For cat owners, it's usually the biggest odor source in the house.

• Scoop at least once a day, twice if you have more than one cat.
• Change all the litter and wash the box with mild soap and water every week or two.
• Put the box in a spot with some airflow, not a closed closet.
• Use a mat outside the box to catch litter before it spreads.
• Replace plastic boxes every year or so. Scratches in the plastic hold on to odors.

How often should you wash pet beds?

Every week or two. Pets love soft places, and soft places hold on to smells.

• Wash pet beds and the blankets they sleep on in hot water, if the label allows.
• Pick beds with removable, washable covers.
• Put a washable throw over the spot on the couch your dog has claimed.
• Vacuum rugs, upholstery and curtains often. A vacuum with a HEPA filter keeps dander from blowing right back out.

Does grooming help the whole house?

Yes. Every bit of hair and dander you brush out outside is one less bit in your air.

• Brush dogs and cats outdoors when you can, a few times a week during shedding season.
• Wipe paws and coats after walks, especially on high-pollen days.
• Bathe dogs on a schedule that works for their coat. Your vet can tell you what's right.

What does your HVAC system need with pets?

More frequent filter checks and a clean coil. Your air conditioner moves the air in your whole house many times a day, so with pets it also moves dander and hair, and some of it collects in the filter, on the coil and inside the ducts.

• Check your filter every month. With pets, you may need to change it more often than the package says, especially in cedar season or the long summer cooling season.
• Consider a better filter. A higher-efficiency filter catches more fine particles, but not every system is built for one. Ask an HVAC pro before you upgrade.
• Keep vents and returns clear. Vacuum return grilles, where pet hair likes to pile up.
• Keep indoor humidity at 50 percent or below. Damp air makes pet odors stronger, which is why a muggy Austin afternoon brings them out. Our humidity guide explains how.
• Have the system serviced. A clean coil and drain line help your AC run better and smell better.

Our sister company, Gold Eagle Services, can help you pick the right filter, clean your coil, check your ducts, and look at air cleaners that fit your system.

When does a whole-home treatment help?

When odors and allergens build up where good habits can't reach: closets, behind furniture, hard surfaces and the ductwork. That's where a whole-home dry fog treatment from Pure Maintenance Austin comes in.

We use the patented Pure Maintenance VaPURE dry fog system in two steps:

1. A fine dry fog of a hydrogen peroxide and peracetic acid solution that breaks down into water, oxygen and vinegar.
2. A surface protectant.

The fog is fine enough to reach every room, closet, crack and crevice, plus the HVAC ductwork, without getting your furniture or fabrics wet. On treated hard, non-porous surfaces it helps control odor-causing microbes and neutralizes odors. That makes it a good way to freshen the whole home at once and reduce the bio-load that pets add over time. The dry fog treatment is done in one day.

Stubborn pet odors? If odors hang on, our Odor Treatment follows the dry fog with an ozone shock treatment while the home sits empty. It helps neutralize persistent odors. People and pets stay out for up to 48 hours, and the source, like an old litter box spot or a soaked carpet pad, should be dealt with first.

Where do pets go during a treatment?

Out of the house, along with the people, while the treatment is going on. Plan for a day at a friend's house, a doggy day care or a boarding stay. Cats can go to a quiet spot away from the home, and fish tanks, birds and other small pets should be moved out too. Our team will walk you through exactly when everyone can come back in.

What if pets seem to bother someone at home?

Talk to your doctor. We don't make medical promises. Our goal is simple: a fresher, cleaner-feeling home for everyone who lives there, on two legs or four.

Get a free phone consultation

Ready for a fresher pet-friendly home? Book a free phone consultation. A Comfort Advisor will call you, learn what's going on in your home and send a written quote based on square footage. We serve all of Central Texas, out to College Station (about 2.5 hours), including Round Rock, Georgetown, San Marcos, Bastrop and Marble Falls.

Call 512-904-4646 or email IAQ@goldeagleservices.com. We're open Monday through Saturday, 7am to 7pm.