My advice is that unless you actually see the long haired one throwing up the hairball, don't assume it's his. Tubby is short hair, Peanut is medium/long hair. Tubby has gotten hair balls his entire life, Peanut gets them maybe once a year. My mom has a ragdoll with long hair, and in the 10 years she has had him, she has never seen a hairball from him - oh, and she rarely brushes him because he doesn't like it, and he's not the most pleasant cat to begin with, I call him Cranker.

I think it's more a matter of how tolerant the kitty's stomach is, not the length of hair. So I just wanted to point that out.

Another idea is to get one of those small, hand held carpet cleaner thingies - Bissell Green Machine or something? I don't know how I survived before I had mine. Now puke spots are no problem, and we have white carpeting throughout the house.

Good luck!