Cat hair and litter *Update*

[lizbud]

Lizbud - My house gets dusty so quickly. I can dust one day and there will be a fine white powder I can see on the darker furniture in just a couple of days. Does this mean I should have my heat/air ducts cleaned? How do they do it?

It depends on which company you use. Some use a steam hose to spray
though the duct work & then a giant suction hose to get out all the dust
dirt, hair, etc. I believe they charge by the number of duct vents in the
house. The last time I had mine done was about 2 years ago & it really
should be done every spring.

You might be amazed how much junk they can get out of the ductwork.

[Medusa]

it really should be done every spring.

I'm going to look into that. I just have never thought of that before and I do know that it should be done. Thanx for the heads up.

[Catty1]

I worked for a company that did that...what they did was to to every vent with a slim hi-pressure air hose and blasted the stuff in the vent and duct; there was a 'skip line' like tough, thick fishing line to help move the gunk. (Not sure they used steam...)

It all goes down to the heat exchanger in the furnace, where it is vacuumed out. The cleaning of the furnace itself it pretty simple - usually includes a visual inspection to make sure there is no crack in the heat exchanger (you don't want that...it is like getting a crack in your engine block ). I forget what the part is called - the ignitor? - that is usually checked too. If it needs replacing, the part is not too expensive.

Call around and ask for prices. Often a package includes a certain number of vents, with a few $ extra for each additional vent.

Ask what method they use. Watch for fancy gadgets like little robots that trundle down the vents and get them 'cleaner'. Not worth the extra $$, IMO.

[catmandu]

I HAVE THAT ALL THE TIME TOO AS SOME OF THE CATS ARE NOT HAPY JUST DOING THIER BUSINESS, LIKE MIQUELITO, SCRAPPY 2 AND JOSEPH. THE HAVE TO GET INTO THE BOX AND DIG, DIG AND DIG UNTIL ITS ALL ON THE FLOOR. I HAVE TO CLEAN THE 7 BOXES AND FLOOR AT LEAST 3 TIMES A DAY, AND PUT THE CLEAN LITTER BACK.

THAT THE LEAST FAVORITE PART OF MY FOUND CAT BASEBALL TEAM PLUS.

[Medusa]

Ok, I used my new Swivel Sweeper for the first time this morning and it worked fairly well, no complaints there. Cleaning it, however, is another story. Cat hair gets tangled in the brushes. It comes w/a little tool to untangle the hair but it took me longer to clean the thing than it did to sweep the entire house, except for the basement, of course, which is where all the litter boxes are. I know it couldn't keep up w/all that litter; I need to use the regular vacuum cleaner for that. Guess there are drawbacks to everything, eh?