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jessicaml

White bedding with pets?

jessicaml
11 years ago

I've been working on overhauling my master bedroom, with the vision of dark furniture, green walls and white bedding. Suddenly today, I was struck by how well our brown winter comforter and busy summer quilts hide cat hair. Not only do the fur-babies sleep with us at night, it's also their favorite spot to lounge in afternoon sunbeams.

I love the look of white bedding, but DH will go nuts if it's obviously covered in cat hair. White bedding seems so common...surely someone has white with pets? Has anyone found a way around this? Will it not show as bad as I fear (tabby & tuxedo cats)? Or is it a catalog/magazine dream that I should give up in favor of patterned bedding, or a different color - sage, ecru, taupe?

Here is a link that might be useful: My other bedroom thread

Comments (19)

  • pammyfay
    11 years ago

    White fitted sheets are what I use on my bed; my little dog is a blend of shades of blond mixed with gray. And she sleeps on the bed (she has a crate near the bed, and sometimes when I'm petting her too much she'll go there instead). But her hair color doesn't show very much on the white sheet. (When I put my navy pants or knit tops on the bed for folding or whatever, THAT'S when it picks up all her hair, regardless of whether I use pet-hair-repelling fabric softener)

    I also have a gray fleece-type blanket. She loves that blanket -- it's very soft! So she'll always gravitate to either her own pillow on the bed or that blanket.

    Could your decorating plan include a blanket like that or a throw at the foot of the bed for the cats? Would they all stay in the same area, tho, or do they each scout out their own spots on the bed?

    What about a bench at the foot of the bed -- would they take up residency there?

  • cindyandmocha
    11 years ago

    I have 2 big dogs and they are reddish color and some white bedding. So I can't really speak to cats (weigh less). But unless the cats are white too, I'm thinking you'll need to invest in a good lint roller.

  • EG3d
    11 years ago

    Get white furred pets for the white bedding. My dark colored cats like the light furniture while the white colored cats like the dark furniture. LOL. Like they know contrast looks great.

  • namarie
    11 years ago

    I have two cats, a red tabby and a brown tabby, and white bedding. On top of that, they are Persians so they have runny eyes from time to time (sorry, that's gross, I know). Anyway, I got white bedding specifically so I could wash and bleach it frequently as washing colored bedding seemed to wash out the color in spots. You can see the cat hair but it isn't too bad since I wash it about once a week. It's annoying both to see the cat hair and to have to wash it all the time, but I still think it works better for us than the colored bedding did. And the bonus is that I can easily change my room color any time I want.

  • graywings123
    11 years ago

    I throw a white sheet over my white cotton bedspread. It's easier to wash.

  • artydecor
    11 years ago

    I find white bedding practical, because you can use bleach on it to keep it white. Be sure that anything you buy is machine washable. And consider shutting the fur babies out of your bedroom.
    My white cotton quilt is in the washer right now, thanks to one of our cats, who apparently had a hairball.

  • natal
    11 years ago

    Whether you see it or not the hair is there. I don't make the bed without a lint roller.

  • natal
    11 years ago

    Something that helps, at least when the bed is made ... their own little beds on top of the bed.

    Here is a link that might be useful: cat beds at wag.com

  • User
    11 years ago

    We have a white duvet cover in the MBR and white sheets. We have two dogs. The Jack Russell/Rat Terrier terror likes to go out in the morning and then get up in the bed tunneling under the covers. She is a wire coat so she doesn't shed year round, but when she does it looks like a wild boar was groomed in the bed... or someone pulled out the bristles of a paintbrush. It's always at the extreme foot of the bed, though, and I sort of sweep it out when I make it. Plus, DH and I both wear glasses so the pet hair wouldn't necessarily bother us. The duvet cover is washed weekly and the sheets twice a week, luckily by someone else who loves our dogs and doesn't mind them shedding.

    Our Lhasa, Mr. Fluffy, does not like to sleep on the bed although he will occasionally get up for a few minutes to snuggle. He's white and doesn't shed... the perfect dog :)

  • Silverlilly
    11 years ago

    I have white bedding with a single cat - never had a single problem! I think you're fine - it washes well like the others have said. Also, I use a "Zoom Groom" on my cat and he loooves it...it skeep his shedding to a minimum, so maybe this is why I have no problems.

  • jessicaml
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Silverlilly - I agree on the ZoomGroom! It's like a shedding massage for the kitties. I hate the hair that floats around immediately afterwards,though...perhaps I should start doing it in the bathroom rather than the kitchen (which is where it always occurs to me, for some reason).

    kswl - Too bad they can't breed a cat that doesn't shed the way they do dogs. Cat-oodle? Lhasa-kitty?

    EG3d - With my cats being multi-colored, there's no winning. The hair shows on light or dark! Maybe not as bad on taupe, though, I hope, since that's my back up plan...
    natal, cindyandmocha, and pammyfay - Yes,the hair is there, and I need to use a lint roller more often, frankly...but I don't want to *need* to do it every day just to maintain a bare minimum of neatness. I like idea of a bed or blanket on the bed to attract the kitty hair to specified areas.

    sonicmom & Namarie - The ability to bleach would be nice. Shutting kitties out of the bedroom isn't an option, though. One is super clingy and would drive me nuts with noise, plus they're good company while DH is away at school. I noticed our green sheets are fading already, so you have a good point that bleach-able white may be easier considering the need for frequent washings.

    Bumblebeez- I completely agree with your priority check! My goofy fur-balls are much more important than a pretty bed. If only I could get the fluffy white Hampton Inn beds out of my mind...so inviting!

    graywings - you inspired me! I have a white flat sheet I was thinking making into a duvet cover, but it would be perfect to give me a test-run on whether this whole white idea is right for me. Then I can decide if I'll go budget and make a duvet cover with it, or splurge on the pretty Hampton Inn comforter.

  • lara9143
    11 years ago

    I hear you - we have 3 dogs and 1 cat and, yes, white bedding. I love it because I can bleach the heck out of it all! As far as hair goes, I keep a lint roller in my nightstand and I do a quick once-over when I make the bed. I also keep a blanket on top of the rest of the bedding that's "their" blanket. My MIL freaked OUT when she found out we let them sleep with us and lectured us on allergies, etc... but they're our family and we wouldn't have it any other way. Plus I have to take extra steps elsewhere in the house to clear out the hair anyway, why not the bed too?

  • StellaMarie
    11 years ago

    I have a dog who likes to get on the bed (and a golden puppy who will some day follow suit, god help me!), and the lighter bedding can make me crazy. And, while you can wash it, I have to be honest and say that it's such a PITA to put the duvet cover on that I don't do it more than once every week or two. Plus sometimes the humans snack in bed, so, really, I like bedding that doesn't show much. ;)

    You may want to consider "visiting" whatever bedding you like in person before deciding on it. I'm sure you've noticed this too, but I've found that the hair "sticks" more to some fabrics than others.

    I have a RH linen duvet cover (in the Dune color) that works well, so maybe your taupe idea would work better. (I switch it up with Italian Cypress one in Silver Sage, and I swear as soon as I put the clean duvet on the bed, someone jumps up with a treat or a muddy paw!)

    It makes me think of the white slipcover debate! Some people love them and don't have a problem washing them every week or so. I know myself well enough to know that it would drive me crazy. :)

  • luckygal
    11 years ago

    Velvet brush and sticky roller are the answers to cat hair. I no longer let the cats in the bedrooms - had to have some fur-free zones! I use the velvet brush on my carpeted stairs daily because one of my cats sheds his long dark hair there. Easier than dragging the vacuum hose out every day.

    Even if you can't see the hair it's still there. I lived with white carpets and 3 dogs for several years and came to realize it was better to know when the carpets needed cleaning than to think they were clean because it wasn't obvious.

    Enjoy your white bedding!

  • cindyandmocha
    11 years ago

    I hear ya Jessica. I keep the lint roller around mostly for my clothes. I wouldn't give up the giant "herd of dogs" for anything. I refuse to give up that nightly 100 lb snuggle. Heck, I even painted my walls brown suede in the den just to accomodate them.

    But I also just recently acquired the greatest thing for removing the dog hair from bedding and the rugs. Her name is "Tonya" and she comes twice a week. LOL

  • nhb22
    11 years ago

    For my sons bedroom, we matched his bedding to the dog. :)

  • Diana Treese
    6 years ago

    My white bedding that I love is going because of stains, no cat hair. Looking at blue or red...but thinking now those will show hair.

  • randi altman
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    I have a white long haired cat and a gray cat so I bought a white comforter with big gray flowers! I am so excited. Waiting for them.