Pets and the Energy Crisis

eliza2811

Sorry, if this is a strange question but i am serious.    I have 1 x domestic short haired cat, she's all black and rather large.  She sleeps at night, in her own pet igloo, which has a little cushion in it and i put an old towel (of ours which we no longer use) on that cushion.   Naturally the towels get rather hairy especially as its shedding season and previously I have changed them weekly, dehaired the hairy towels by hoovering them (this is actually not easy lol) or cool tumble dry which clogs up the tumble dryer. Then chuck a bagful in a washing bag at 60 degrees.  All this naturally uses a fair bit of electricity. 

As I am trying to use tumble dryer less and wash at a lesser temperature, does any fellow pet owners have any suggestions for pet bedding ideally for cat or small dog, that doesn't pick up hairs so easily and trap them please ?  I know there's a product called Vamoosh that's said to dissolve cat hair but tried it, and it didn't work at all.    I do brush my cat when she's willing.  

Thank you x

FreeBear

I have both a long hair & short hair cats. A lint roller gets much of the fluff out where they sleep on my bed. As for tumble dry - Never. They eat electricity, so better to have two covers & rotate them whilst one is being washed/dried.

facade

I don't think you can wash at less than 60 though, if you want to kill off bacteria & fungi*.

I tried washing The Dog's blankets cool, and adding some of that expensive dettol washing disinfectant.

Nothing, not even food, would induce The Dog to go near her bed until I swapped the blankets for ones washed properly.

I water the pavement outside my house with the remaining dettol to keep other dogs from stopping now, I'm certainly not letting it near my washing!

*apparently in Japan, all washing is done cold, as washing machines don't have heaters. I can't find any evidence of more fungal  infections like athletes foot in Japan, maybe they use dettol

PennyForThem_2

Animals as pets help humans' boost their immune systems by introducing different bacteria.  Wash your cat's blankets along with your normal wash - I would do it at 30 but unfortunately my washing machine washes at 40 for a 60 min wash and I don't have a choice of tempature. 

Unless your cat is the equivalent of a farm cat what bacteria/fungi is it introducing that you are worried about?

elsien

I use vetbed which dries quickly outside. I certainly wouldn’t put the dog’s bedding in with my own washing though. Too many dog hairs ending up on my clothes. I do use the machine for his bedding but it’s a 30 minute wash at 30 unless there’s something festering being going on. Neither of us have caught the lurgy from lower temperatures yet. 

OP - you could always soak at a high temperature in a bowl, hand wash, and sling the water outside afterward. And line dry. That would save a lot of energy. I don’t have a tumble dryer and I manage fine. 

PennyForThem_2

Also surprised your cat stays in one place to sleep - mine wanders.  Sometimes with me, sometimes on the cat tree platform.

Ultrasonic

PennyForThem_2 said:

Animals as pets help humans' boost their immune systems by introducing different bacteria.  Wash your cat's blankets along with your normal wash - I would do it at 30 but unfortunately my washing machine washes at 40 for a 60 min wash and I don't have a choice of tempature. 

Unless your cat is the equivalent of a farm cat what bacteria/fungi is it introducing that you are worried about?

Could you not use a longer cycle? Even at the same temperature this may lose less energy and more likely so at lower temperature. Longer cycles clean better too.

MovingForwards

I've got a few fleece blankets for mine. Swipe it when she moves away and put a new one in its place. Quick wash, followed by another spin and hung up to dry. We don't even run the machine through before our stuff goes in.

Have you tried shaking the cat stuff before washing? 

Easiest way to vac is stand on the edge of it, do half, then stand on the other edge and do that half.

Alnat1

Is the cushion in the igloo removable? If so, I'd take it outside and use your pets brush to get off most of the hair off, then bung it in the washer with your next load.