Lucy is way more welcome on our bed these days.
I have to be honest: I’m still emotionally recuperating from The Great Flea Poop Incident. (You know, the one that went on for TWO MONTHS.) I have washed every single piece of fabric in our house more times than fabric should probably be washed in a lifetime. I have vacuumed every inch of our house using every weird little specialty attachment-thing ever created, and have spent oh, so much money at Petco. I have awoken each morning nevertheless certain that the fleas have returned and are presently eating my neck, at which point I immediately flip over to scour the sheets for any sign of flea poop, no matter how miniscule.
It appears that the crisis has passed. And so in celebration of the fact that I once again love my dogs (kidding, sort of) – and because I’m in the midst of spring cleaning – I decided to give their eating and sleeping areas an extra-special cleaning with Clorox® Regular-Bleach. It cleans, sanitizes and disinfects. And! Did you know it kills parvovirus? (If you’ve never heard of parvovirus, it’s a highly contagious doggy disease that I really don’t want to risk.)
How-To: Disinfect Hard, Non-Porous Surfaces From Parvovirus
- Prepare a disinfecting solution of ½ cup Clorox® Regular-Bleach1* and one gallon of water.
- Pre-wash the areas then mop or wipe with disinfecting solution.
- Let the solution stand for 10 minutes, then rinse thoroughly and allow to air-dry.
*Make sure to use a new bottle of bleach to make sure its active ingredients are at optimal strength.
I also used a solution of Clorox® Regular-Bleach to sanitize their (seeeeriously slimy) dog dishes and toys. To do this yourself, just mix 2 teaspoons of Clorox® Regular-Bleach to one gallon of water. Add bowls and hard, non-porous dog toys that you’ve washed with soapy water to the solution and soak for 2 minutes, then drain and air dry.
The final step in the Whee, No More Fleas! Celebration: I picked up brand-new bowls and dog beds for Lucy and Virgil because…well, because their old ones were extremely un-cute, but also because those spots were the primary locus of the flea issue and if I could never see those specific items again that’d be super cool, thanks.
The eating area got a makeover with a little “placemat” made of leftover cement tiles from our entryway redo and the cutest bowls ever…
…and Lucy got a pink shark bed. (Virgil got a new bed too, and it’s very cute, but the shark is just next-level and I needed to show it to you.) The pink shark bed is so adorable, in fact, that it apparently now resides on top of our actual bed. Not my decision – credit for that one goes to my daughter – but whatever; my feeling is pink sharks are a solid décor choice anywhere and everywhere you can find a spot for them.
For more spring cleaning tips, tricks and life hacks (and fun little videos of my spring cleaning adventures), visit SeasonOfClean.com
This post was created in collaboration with Clorox. Photos by Sue Hudelson.
