This task is the bane of my existence. My Dyson upright has great suction and handles the fur on my carpets and rugs, but the stretchy wand doesn’t reach very far up the curved staircase, so I end up having to balance the heavy unit precariously on the steps, dragging it from one to the next as I go along vacuuming the risers, edges, and horizontal surfaces. My lightweight Dyson cordless, which I love for many uses, just doesn’t have the rotating brush mechanism or power that’s really needed for carpets and gets defeated by fur clogs. I can’t be the only one who feels like my steps are never really clean. Any brilliant solutions?
I just bought a Shark Rocket…stick vacuum…and it’s great on stairs…and really sucks up the cat hairs. I love it. Much easier than the central vac hose. And really works well. It’s not heavy either.
I have always taken a damp sponge and colected the pet hair off of the stairs
I was going to suggest the damp sponge also - works great
You guys use a damp sponge on the carpet?
Why not? Wring the water out of it really well. There is some sponge-like pond filter material that makes a great pet hair removal tool. Let me look it up…
It is sold as pre-made PetWedge.
https://www.amazon.com/Pet-Wedge-Hair-Remover-Pack/dp/B06WD5MCGF
I don’t have any animals but my daughter shed like crazy - the damp sponge trick is great for steps and also those edges that the vacuum can’t reach.
Your daughter sheds?
Her very long hair is all over the place - so I always say she sheds! According to the internet - women naturally lose between 50-100 strands of hair per day - and when that hair is a couple of feet long you see it everywhere!
@thumper1 , yup…I use it on my braided rugs and upholstery too…just damp enough to collect hair. I have three dogs and a cat so this is the only thing that really gets the fur entirely off. I spritz the sponge with a little bit of Mrs Meyers all purpose cleaner to freshen up and eliminate dog smell
I got sick of it and had hardwood put on the stairs. I’m not one to spend money frivolously, but I just couldn’t deal with trying to keep carpeted stairs clean. Plus my daughter has allergies, so it helped her also.
I’m going to try the wet sponge on my couch.
But really…the Shark Rocket is amazing on my stairs…which have a carpeted runner.
I wish I could get rid of the carpet on my stairs , but it would mean upgrading the wood…I had custom made oak stairs in my former house and and sto sweep them daily…the price for having fur babies
I just bought the Dyson V7 Animal cordless, and so far, so good. And as I’ve posted before, I absolutely hate any vacuum I’ve ever owned. So maybe this one is OK. TBD.
I have a white Persian cat with voluminous fine hairs that get everywhere. The wedge mentioned looks good, but I have been using lint removal mitts. Very easy to use and work well on all surfaces. The sponge method is too time consuming since I have to keep wiping away the fur on a paper towel to go at it again, while the mitt collects a large amount that you can slide off in a clump. You can search Amazon for them:
CleanAide Pet Hair Removal & Easy Cleanup Pick It Up Mitt (2-Pack)
I have the Dyson stick, V6, with motorhead & it works fantastically on stairs, that’s why we go it it!
I have a Dyson animal, and while the motorized attachment does a great job of picking up the dog hair on the stairs, I have the same problem with the hose length - I have to go halfway up from the bottom and then down from the top, and I’m always afraid the vacuum is going to come flying at me! I’ll try the sponge trick. I really want to replace the carpeted stairs with wood but have a few other floors to replace first (having pulled up a lot of wall to wall carpet, I know just how disgusting the carpet - and pad get over the years. Plus hard floors are better for those with allergies).
I totally get the daughter thing. Mine has nearly waist-length hair, and quite a lot of it - like mine, her hair is fine but present in mass quantity. She likes to say her super power is shedding…
Be thankful you have carpet on the stairs. Carpets trap fur and make clean up easier. Loose furballs just keep flying all over our new place that has wood stairs and floors, and I have to clean them up several times a day. Can’t let my Miele Roomba out yet because we still have boxes all over the place. Sigh.
@BunsenBurner, that is my concern with all wood floors. When we had just wood in the kitchen and foyer, there would be dust bunnies everywhere. I would pick up a wad, and then turn around and there would be more! While I am looking forward to wood stairs as I hated vacuuming them step by step like others have mentioned, I have to wonder where that hair is going to travel too before I get to it; my kitchen is at the base of the stair 
I am guessing I will be picking more hair out of our food :((
I prefer dust bunnies over crud that’s embedded in the carpet because I’ve had the same experience as InigoMontoya - removing carpet and being grossed out by all the filth along the edges and underneath that collects over the years no matter how often you vacuum/clean. If I could afford to replace it every 3-4 years, I could probably deal with it.
I find it much easier to use a dust mop, starting at the top of the stairs and then just mopping all the bunnies to the bottom in a big ball and then sucking them up with the vacuum. Same with the regular hardwood floors. I just zoom around the house with my dust mop. Much faster and easier than vacuuming IMO. We have a border collie that is the best dog in the world hand’s down, except he sheds like crazy. I also have two long haired daughters - so fur/hair is a big problem.
What’s worked for me on the dog bed is one of those long handled adhesive lint rollers with the wide (about 10"??) roller. I have to use that on his bed every other day using about 6 roller sheets each time. But it works very well. I’ve used it on small area rugs also, when I don’t feel like dragging the heavy Dyson upstairs.