When I first adopted my three cats Frankie, Joy and Olive, I was prepared for playtime, cuddles and upgrading my phone storage to have room for all of the photos I’d take of them. I was not as prepared for the sheer amount of fur three cats produced simply by existing. Since my cats have both light and dark hair, it’s not easy to hide their fur.
At times, it would be easier to leave my condo coated in a layer of cat fur at all times – but with the right tools, tidying up becomes much easier. It turns out, depending on the fabric makeup of your furniture and clothing, you’ll need a variety of tools to keep your home spotless. To find the very best hair removal tools, I looked into what was on the market and tried a variety of methods to see which ones worked the most efficiently. I also consulted a cleaning expert and cat behavioralist to find out just what works most purrfectly for our homes with furry friends.
Why you should trust me
I’m a reviewer with experience evaluating everything from handbags and nail polish systems to reality TV shows. I share very close quarters (850 sq ft to be exact) with the three kittens I adopted in August 2024. Frankie and Joy are domestic shorthairs, and Olive is a domestic medium hair. They all shed an average amount, but since there are three of them, even that can feel overwhelming. Despite this, I am often told by visitors that my home does not look or smell like three cats live within its walls. In addition to trying these products out myself, I solicited the advice of a fellow cat owner and interviewed a cleaning expert and a cat expert.
How we tested 18 cat hair removal tools
After looking into the most popular cat hair removal tools on the market, I chose 18 of the most highly rated and commonly used methods currently available. In order to determine which were worth it, I used a variety of methods to compare these tools.
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I tried each tool on a variety of fabrics (velvet, cotton, polyester, carpet and linen) to determine how it performed on different textures.
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I used each device over a large surface area and considered how long it took me to remove cat hair from the selected item.
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I considered how much work it was to use each tool and weighed the level of effort exerted against the amount of cat hair removed.
Best Overall:
Black & Decker Pet Hair Remover
Why we love it
Of all of the cat hair removal items I tested, the Black & Decker pet hair remover is the fastest and most efficient at cleaning cat hair from linens and furniture. This product bears a strong resemblance to the Chom Chom and at a fraction of the cost, it works just as well. It uses static electricity to pick up pet hair, making it easy to use on larger furniture items such as a couch or blanket. Once you’re done, press the button on top of the handle and lift up the lid – the pet hair collects in the roller’s chamber for easy cleanup. This remover is able to pick up the stray hairs that can get stuck between the woven fabric of my chenille arm chairs.
It’s a shame that … it requires substantial effort and motion to use, and it doesn’t work as well on smaller surfaces such as cat trees or cat beds. It does work on clothes well enough, but the large surface area it covers makes it more awkward to use than something like a lint roller.
Best for blankets and velvet:
Salhap Pet Hair Removal Glove
Why we love it
The pet hair removal glove is a mitt that slides over your hand. To use it, just rub your hand back and forth on your fabric of choice and watch as all the hair on your bed disappears into strips that you then remove from the mitt itself. Much like the Black and Decker Pet Hair Remover, this product uses static electricity to gather together fur. It’s particularly helpful when removing cat hair from large surface areas like my velvet coach and blankets. Since my cats have light and dark fur, it’s hard to hide their hair anywhere in my home, but especially on my black dining room chairs, where Olive likes to nap. This glove allows me to quickly remove hair from that surface whenever I notice it.
It’s a shame that … it really can’t be used on my cotton shirts or woven fabrics. When I tried it on a cotton T-shirt, I found far too many stray hairs left behind. The mitt also seems to leave a few more stray hairs behind than the Black and Decker Pet Hair Remover. Some reviews say that using the glove is harder if you have small hands, but my hands are pretty average in size and I have had no issues using it.
Best eco-friendly option for clothing:
PetLovers EzRoll Reusable Lint Roller
Why we love it
Traditional lint rollers are excellent for removing pet hair from clothes, furniture and linens, but they’re not exactly environmentally friendly. When I found a reusable version, I was skeptical about how it’d perform. I’m pleased to report that I was happily mistaken! This product is insanely sticky and quickly removes all of the loose fur found on my clothing. I use this roller most right before heading out the door to make sure I’m as fur free as possible before going into work. It even worked well removing fur from my sheets and sofa, maybe even better than any lint roller I’ve ever tried before.
It’s a shame that … you have to wash it with detergent and water every single time you use it to revive its stickiness once it’s covered in fur. There have been times I plan to use it, only to remember I need to wash and dry it before I can use it again. And after years of hearing my mother’s warnings to never clog the drain, I was a little nervous about how to clean this thing. I consulted third-generation janitor and cleaning expert, Brandon Pleshek, about the best way to go about it.
“A small amount of hair may not immediately clog a drain, but repeatedly rinsing concentrated clumps of cat hair down the sink is not something I would recommend,” Pleshek said. “Before washing the lint roller, I would remove as much hair as possible by hand and place it in the trash.”
Best for cat beds and trees:
Analon Pet Hair Remover
Why we love it
The Analon Pet Hair Remover is a triangular comb that essentially serves as a mini-rake to remove hair from cars, homes and cat beds. A smaller tool like this works well to get into the small corners and awkward angles where hair tends to gather. This product has three different sides with fine, medium and large teeth and it works well on the coarser fabrics typically found on cat trees and scratching posts. The side with the biggest teeth easily removed clumps of hair from my cat tree and a pass or two with each of the smaller sides got rid of the remaining hairs I missed. The combination of different comb densities makes cleaning a breeze, but most times I find that I don’t need to use all three sides of the comb to remove hair from my cat tree. And because the product is small, it did take a while to clean the entire surface area of something like a cat tree or bed. When I tried the Analon Pet Hair Remover on a cat bed that I can’t easily wash, it was much easier to get into the smaller grooves of the bed.
It’s a shame that … despite working extremely well on textured items such as the sisal fabric and the plush furs commonly found on cat trees, it didn’t work as well as some of its competitors on smoother surfaces like velvet or cotton. It was also a little annoying to have to move the comb to use the different teeth and the triangular design was not the most comfortable to use.
Best for travel:
LintZapper Portable Disposable Sheets
Why we love it
Any cat owner knows that even if you think you got all the cat hair off your black top, there’s always a stray hair or three that you missed. For those instances and many more, these disposable sticky sheets are just the thing. They come in a 4in x 3in packet that opens like a trifold wallet. To use, tear a sheet off the stack like you would a Post-It, and de-fur your item of choice. Because it’s so thin and compact, it can fit in my smallest (and cutest) purse and be whipped out in case of emergency.
It’s a shame that … this isn’t the most eco-friendly option and they’re basically meant for one-time use. While it works well to tackle a few stray hairs, you would need to use multiple sheets if you were somehow covered in cat hair.
Best for carpeted areas:
Uproot Cleaner Xtra Hair Removal Tool for Cats and Dogs
Why we love it
I own a robot vacuum that cleans the perimeter of my condo twice a day and I also vacuum regularly – so imagine my surprise when I saw how much hair this tool pulled out of my carpet the first time I used it. The manufacturer’s instructions are rather specific – you have to adjust the angle of your approach, depending on the fabric you are trying to clean. For tougher fabrics, such as low pile carpets or car mats, angle the rake at 45 degrees; for more delicate fabrics like plusher rugs or sofas, angle it at 90 degrees, pulling it over the surface in an up and down or left and right motion.
My cats love taking naps in my stairwell, so I put this through its paces on my carpeted stairs by raking it across each step. The tool is large, which made it easy for me to quickly clean my entire stairwell, but a little awkward to hold and angling it perfectly when using it was difficult. However, I still collected a large amount of hair from my carpet that I didn’t even know was there.
It’s a shame that … this doesn’t seem to do much on carpeted areas that aren’t heavily embedded with fur. A friend who has only one cat said this tool really only picks up fur in one area of her home where her cat likes laying down. It can also be hard to see how much fur is actually being picked up if your carpet is a darker color like mine.
Best for laundry:
FurZapper Hair Removal Tool
Why we love it
While most of my clothing comes out of the dryer free of cat hair, one of my favorite pajama sets is a magnet for fur. The FurZapper was made to remedy this exact issue – it’s a flexible and tacky silicone disk that loosens hair from fabric during the wash and dry cycle and whisks it away, seemingly by magic. To clarify where all that hair was going, I reached out to Scott Grillo, the national sales manager of the company. He explained that once the fur is free from your stuff, “in the washer, that loosened fur can be carried away with the wash water; in the dryer, it gets moved into the airflow and ultimately winds up in the dryer’s lint trap”.
When I tried the FurZapper out myself, I was pleased to find all of the fur removed from my pajama top and bottom. Normally, there would be dozens of hairs embedded into the modal and spandex blend my pajama set is made of, but I had a hard time finding any fur on my pajamas after using the FurZapper.
It’s a shame that … you need to wash it if it loses its tackiness. If you notice the product becomes less sticky, handwash it with warm water and soap or detergent. This really works best if you have clothing items that tend to latch onto fur and your washer and dryer doesn’t do a great job of removing it. And if you find satisfaction in cleaning out all the fur your tool of choice collects, this might not be the one for you. If the FurZapper is working right, your favorite clothing item and the zapper itself will emerge from a wash cycle free of fur.
Best for hair stuck in furniture:
Lilly Brush Pet Hair Clean-Up Brush and Cap and Blade
Why we love it
I would never deny my cats the joy of sitting on my velvet couch, but when they do, the hair left behind really embeds into the fabric, and it is quite difficult to remove the smaller stray hairs left behind. In these cases, Pleshek turns to cat hair removal brushes. “I really like the Lilly brush,” said Pleshek, and he also relies on the brand’s mini blade. “I usually start with the blade version and shift to the brush as needed.”
The Lilly blade glides easily across smooth surfaces such as velvet and neatly picks up fur. It can also remove more embedded fur from bouclé, linen and velvet. Using the blade with the brush to gather up fur on my bouclé ottoman was easy – I went in first with the blade and then grabbed any hairs left behind with the brush. The blade is marketed specifically for pet owners with short haired cats while the brush and cap is meant for medium to long haired cats, but I think most pet owners would benefit from being able to use both items together since the brush is able to pick up finer hairs, and the blade is great to use for a wide initial sweep.
It’s a shame that … the blade alone doesn’t work as well as some of its competitors on coarse fabrics, but when the products are used together, it’s very efficient. However, each tool covers a small area, so be prepared to spend some time removing cat hair from larger surfaces.
What else to know about cat hair removal tools
How many cat hair removal tools do I need?
There’s not a one size fits all option for cat hair removal needs and every owner (and cat) is different. In my experience, using a combination of items works best. Pleshek says that for the absolute best results, stick to a specific routine with the tools that work for you.
“For pet owners, consistency is much more effective than waiting until the hair, dirt, and odors become overwhelming,” he said. He recommends getting ahead of cleaning by “creating a simple routine that includes vacuuming high-traffic areas several times a week, washing pet bedding regularly, and keeping microfiber towels near entryways to wipe off paws before pets walk through the house”.
Beyond removing pet hair, Pleshek recommends all pet owners use an enzyme cleaner for messes of the liquid variety: “War on Pee is my favorite and it will be a life saver for any pet owner.”
Are there any other ways to reduce the amount of cat hair in my home?
Other than just not having cats or opting for hairless breeds, I’ve noticed my cats shed less when I take the time to regularly brush them.
“Regularly brushing your pet can also capture loose hair before it ends up throughout your home,” said Pleshek.
Not all cats like being brushed, so it helps if you get your cats used to the sensation early on. Dr Mikel Delgado, a cat expert at Rover, explains that brushing your cats may require some trial and error. “Most cat caregivers will need to experiment with a few types of combs or brushes to find what their cat likes best,” she said.
Certain fabrics are also more likely to trap hair. Most of my furniture is velvet now, which is so much easier to remove cat hair from. I initially owned a lot of items upholstered in bouclé. It’s often touted as an especially cat resistant fabric, but I learned the hard way that it traps cat hairs and will eventually fray when a cat repeatedly scratches it.
Should I shave my cat?
Though it may be tempting to shave your cats so that you no longer have to deal with their fur, Delgado advises against this. “Most cats will never need a bath or a shave down – and I typically recommend that people seek the guidance of a low-stress, fear-free, cat-friendly groomer to get the job done,” she said.
Cat hair removal tools that I tested but don’t recommend
Cooper Pet Hair Remover
The handle on this rake is short and to use it for the carpets, I had to kneel on the ground. And while it does get a lot of embedded fur from my carpets, it also removed some carpet fibers – not ideal.
Chom Chom Pet Hair Remover
This is a great option and, unlike its Black & Decker competitor, it comes in a lot of adorable colors and designs. But the experience of using it was indistinguishable from Black & Decker’s roller and it is much more expensive.
OXO Good Grips Reusable Lint Roller
Because of its small surface area, it just takes too long to really remove hair with this product. There are just better options available on the market.
Uproot Mini Hair Removal Tool for Cats and Dogs, Small
This tool worked pretty well, but the comb can damage fabrics such as cotton, bouclé and chenille.
Gonzo Pet Hair Lifter Sponge
Though this product did work, it was uncomfortable to use and frankly smelled bad.
FurDozer Pet Hair Remover & Auto Detailing Tools
My cat somehow took a bite of this tool. I found it uncomfortable to use and felt as though there were other, more efficient tools available on the market.
Furdozer X3Pro
Since this product has six small grooves on the top and four large ones the bottom, it does work better than something like the Lilly Brush on surfaces that are not completely smooth because of the rivets on its sides. However, I still found the Analon brush easier to use overall in those instances.
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Nina Thomas is a writer and accidental cat lady who cannot stand cluttered spaces. She has a deep love of home decor and refuses to live in a space that isn’t cozy and tidy – of course, she also needs her cats right by her side.
Other pieces you might enjoy from the Filter, the Guardian’s guide to buying fewer, better things:
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‘It saved my couch’: 10 items cat owners swear by to pet-proof their home
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Your indoor cat is bored. Here are the best toys and tools in the US to fix that
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‘The leash is his best friend’: how (and why) I walk my cat outside like a dog
