Until recently, the carpets and rugs in my home were 70% carpet fibres, 30% hair. And as my husband has a grade zero all over, I can only blame the two other people who live in our house for that. There’s me, whose long hair seems to shed like a dog. And then there’s my actual dog, whose glorious ginger locks get everywhere.
And while, as Ideal Home’s vacuum expert, it's literally my job to test the best vacuum cleaners, I’ve learned over the years that many vacuums still struggle with hairs of varying length - despite all of their anti-tangle and pet hair technology. This is especially true on my wool carpets, where the natural texture (full of nooks and crannies) becomes a breeding ground for embedded hair.
That’s why I decided it was time to try something new and swap my regular vacuum cleaner for a carpet scraper for the week. Initially, I didn’t hold out much hope for the tiny £4 tool. But it quickly proved me wrong.
You might not be surprised to learn that this isn’t my first foray into getting hair out of carpet. I’ve tested quite a few products over the years - from many of the best vacuum cleaners for pet hair to pumice stones and the surprisingly effective Scrub Daddy Original Dish Sponge, £6.99 at Amazon for a 2-pack.
A carpet scraper is very different, though. Looking like a slightly strange squeegee, a carpet scraper has the bonus of a comb-like edge, with little teeth that drag along carpets, rugs, sofas, car seats and even your clothing to scrape away imperfections like hair and loose fibres.
The one I bought from Amazon cost me just under £4 (although annoyingly it’s now on sale for much less), so I was a little sceptical about how it would compare to my much-loved collection of vacuum cleaners at home. I was also conscious that it would ruin my carpets, so I tried it on my ugliest rug first.
Using a carpet scraper to remove hair from my carpets
As soon as I started scraping away at the rug in my bedroom, I knew this £4 tool would become a necessary addition to my cleaning caddy.
At first glance, the rug didn’t look as though it was covered in hair. But a few scrapes proved that the strands were simply invisible to the eye and hidden amongst the pattern and colour of the rug. In fact, the whole thing was pretty mortifying.
I then repeated the process on the three other large area rugs in my home, and the results were the same. I was able to scrape masses of hair from the fibres, and I’m pretty sure I removed more hair than is actually on my head.
I will say that it didn’t work as well on my wool carpet, as I had to be a bit gentler to avoid ruining the fibres, which meant that the results weren’t quite as impressive. But cleaning wool carpets is always more difficult anyway, so I simply tailored my scraping process and opted for a carpet scraper with rubber bristles instead.
Clare Bolland, cleaning expert for Vileda, actually says that these rubber bristles can make the scraper more versatile, too. ‘The clever rubber bristles attract and collect pet hair using electrostatic action – and after using it, you can simply rinse it under the tap and use it again and again,' she explains.
'It's also ideal for removing dirt and particles from stair carpets and car seats, getting into hard-to-reach places and tight spots that your vacuum cleaning would struggle to tackle, making it a great all-round cleaning tool.’
I’m not the only member of the Ideal Home team to be impressed by the humble carpet scraper, either. Our Editor-in-Chief, Heather, also swears by this cleaning tool to keep her home hair-free and to ensure she doesn’t have to unclog a vacuum hose.
She told me, ‘I use my scraper to give my carpet on my stairs a quick clean when I can't be bothered to get the vacuum out. It's also the best thing I've found to gather up all loose strands on the carpet around where my teen daughter blow-dries her hair. I find my vacuum quickly gets clogged, so I use the scraper to clear as much of the hair before I give the carpet a vacuum.’
However, it is worth noting that a carpet scraper can’t act as a complete substitute for a vacuum cleaner. That’s because it’s only able to catch hairs and debris that are big enough to be caught by the teeth, but they’re not equipped to deal with tiny, microscopic debris like dust and pet dander that’ll simply slide between the teeth.
Since using my carpet scraper, though, I can definitely say that I’m vacuuming less. Due to the high build-up of hair on my carpets and rugs, I was typically vacuuming around 4-5 days of the week. Now I’m using my carpet scraper once a week and only vacuuming twice a week. So, I really can’t complain!
Carpet hair removal essentials
This is the other carpet scraper I use in my home, and it's perfect for my wool carpets. It's not as effective as the wood and metal carpet scraper, but it gets the job done without ruining the fibres of the wool in the process.
Although I test a lot of vacuums, this is the model I've been reaching for the most recently. It offers powerful hair extraction, and it easily converts into a handheld for smaller cleaning jobs. The hair screw tool is also a nice touch.
I also have this to remove hair from my carpets and rugs, and I have to say that it's pretty effective. The flat blade is particularly handy for removing hair from the gap between carpets and skirting boards.
For less than £4, a carpet scraper really is a game-changer!
