Oh NOOOOO! I feel for you. I always fear when I'm cooking for others that a hair will get in the food.

If I find a hair (any hair - pet or human) in my food, it grosses me out so much I can't finish eating it. My hubs and son? They don't care a bit.

I wish I had an answer for you but I dont. So I'll pay close attention to this thread and see what others recommend.

I am with you, Shaun..it totally grosses me out!! I could never eat in a place again if I found a hair..restaurant or other..
Stir fryi,can you keep the cat of the kitchen?

Does it bother you to have hair in food??

Maybe it's just Shaun, me and your bil who are picky! lol

Don't get me wrong, I am just as grossed out as you. When I was a kid and I'd take a bath, if a hair got on me (mind you it was my own hair) I'd freak and make my mother remove it.

I guess I was just pointing out how difficult it is with pets to keep that darn hair from going everywhere.

Keep the cat out of the kitchen? You must not have a cat -- they think it is their supreme right to go where ever they please!

I am less grossed out by cat hair than dog hair, and dog hair less than human (and humans I know less than humans I don't). Might not make sense, but there it is.

I guess you might turn off the heater/AC before you start work. Sometimes that'll kick up extra fur.

Well I also gross out if there is an eggshell in my egg salad. And I know eggs have shells but it does me in. Also a bone in my filet of fish - I can't eat it.

What a weirdo I am. I wish I wasnt so fussy about stuff like that.

Nope - Shaun I am with you.

I was at the Mother's Day breakfast at church last year when the dads and kids made food for us. I had some scrambled eggs and the first bite had a piece of shell in it. I had to go outside to get air I was so nauseated by it.

Hair? EEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWW! I couldn't finish eating either, and I don't care WHAT it came from.

And I think finding bones is what turned me off from eating finned fish years ago. If I ever encountered a whole cooked fish, bones and all I would be sticking to the salad and bread just in case.

Also, I am not a cat person, so I have no suggestions (that you woud want to hear LOL) about the cat hair problem.

Good Luck!

Alexa

Get yourself a couple of those ION type air cleaners.

I am the same way - I start gagging when I see a hair and can't finish - what IS the big deal? I have no idea. This has become a bit of a joke with my friends, as I have longer hair and tend to lose strays so I've started wearing a HAIR NET when I cook or bake for others -- my family just loves my new look. (not)

Hair never bothered me. I guess after working in a restaurant for so many years, I am really more concerned about clean hands than hair. I get far more grossed out when an employee at a restaurant comes out of the bathroom ahead of my going in and I see that the sink is dry or I have to wait several minutes for hot water.

But, the eggshell in my egg thing...now THAT gives me the willies. Can't eat the rest of the egg...no way.

Hair is bad but the thought of a cat walking on the kitchen countertops or the dining table just gags me. Nope, not a cat person. I second the idea of a heavy-duty air filtration system.

/tricia

Doesn't bother me much at home (I'm the only cook and there are NO PETS INSIDE)! So, I know it's mine. Seeing it doesn't bug me. Feeling it in my mouth is another story....

A hair or other things that don't belong when I'm eating anywhere else. No can do. In a restaurant, I would ask for a replacement meal. At a friend's house.......probably just keep my mouth shut and eat something else.
It wouldn't make me gag, just not want to eat the dish.

Deanna

You are right, no cats or dogs here..but I can't help it, I would gag...The egg shell, not so much...sand in the spinach salad (I guess most use the bags of spinach now..)was a teeth grinder, literally!

The restaurant thing too, re the hand washing. I also look at the servers nails... and I check the Board of Health violations list before I go somewhere!!

I went to a cocktail party in a neighbor's home. No one would eat the food...when you got off the chair you were covered with cat or dog hair. It was gross..

I would gag. The egg shell wouldn't bother me, but a cat hair in my food would. I can hardly eat in a home that has an inside cat, a dog doesn't bother me so much because they don't walk on the countertops and kitchen table.

It just about makes me sick!

I find when I wash my hands I use a paper towel instead of the dish towels which all has hair collected to it. With two cats and a dog I wash all the counters and floors before baking for company and holidays. For just the family it's a sweep and wipedown but I do find paper towels help a lot.

"The cook is not responsilbe for dog hair in the food" is written on a large pasta bowl I have. And any pet hair is the extra protein.

I have pets and for all of us, hair sheds.

I am having trouble figuring why you all are so grossed out. It's not like finding a hair in your Mc Donalds burger....this at home...your dog or your cat...or your own hair.
Pull it out and carry on....if that's all we had to worry about, things would be a snap.
Linda C

I try my best to keep it out of food I cook bit I'm sure I'm not always successful. Everyone knows we have six dogs, so it's eater beware. Pet hair doesn't bother me, people hair does.

Finding a hair in food grosses us all out. I have a dog and she knows that she's not allowed in the kitchen so I have no problem with pet hair. My own hair is another story. I always tie it up when I cook cuz I lose my hair a lot. I had a lot of cats growing up, and they would always go lurking on the countertops and table during the night. Yuk!!! Luckily I have a well-trained dog that just sits right at the entrance of my kitchen to watch us. In the winter, when she comes back into the house after being outside and her paws are full of snow, she will wait in the entrance until it all melts before heading into the house. This all started when we would stop her as soon as she entered the house to dry off her paws with a towel (her own towel) so as to not step in water all over the house. After about 5-6 times of doing this, she just stops in the entrance on her own and waits till her paws are dry! Smart dog!

Isn't it funny how weirded out we get about the things we can see? And yet we all know there are all sorts of oogie boogies in everything we consume.
I bet if any of us were starving...we dang well eat it, hair or whatever.
I have a cat, she never ever tried to get up on the counters. My son's cat tries all of the time, I don't allow it.
I'm a hairdresser and often wonder how much hair I've consumed thru-out the years. I just try not to think about it. LOL

My only extra bit of advice to get a hand vac with an extension hose and to include the bottom cupboards and the lower stove drawer if you have one in the vacuuming routine. Amazing how pet hair can get in there. Generally it just seems to fly around more in rooms with smooth floors. Use a damp swiffer often. Rinse baking dishes not routinely used before use. Pet hair doesn't bother me, human hair does though I just tamp those feelings down and carry on.

A pet hair wouldn't bother me but a human hair in a restaurant would for some odd reason. Why would BIL even bother mentioning it in the first place, was there a hair in every cookie, I smell family issues LOL

Pet hair in food bugs me, and I have a dog. I'm very careful to make sure things are clean before I begin cooking. I have long hair, and both wash it and tie it up before cooking. I wash it just in case my hair does end up in the food, at least I know it's clean, LOL! I used to have cockatiels, lots of them (they reproduce like dust bunnies). The dander from them was a problem. My mom has two amazon parrots, and I have to say, I'm not usually thrilled to eat at her house, as much as I love her and her cooking. If there was hair in my food at a restaurant, I would send it back and refuse anything else. My husband, though, will just pick it out and carry on. To each his own, I guess. I try to be understanding.

One time, a woman brought in the most beautiful homemade sugar cookies to work during the holidays. We were all drooling over them with anticipation. They were in a basket, and as soon as I got close enough to look at them, all I could smell was wet dog. Then I noticed dog fur on the linens that the cookies were wrapped in. I picked up a cookie, and could only smell dog. I quickly put it back and warned my friends quietly not to eat the cookies. I did my best not to hurt the woman's feelings though...never mentioned it to her. I suspect her dogs, yorkies if I remember correctly, probably were laying on top of the linens.

That was one of the most revolting food situations I can remember. And, I never ate anything else she brought in.

I'm with pkguy. Why bring up the one hair in a cookie? You were doing a nice thing for your brother-in-law. Why say anything to lessen the joy of giving?

As far as pet hair goes,I've got a cat and as mentioned before, it's hard to keep cat movements limited. But I'm tidy, so pet hair isn't a real problem in cooking. However, I've known people who are really messy when it comes to their houses. Adding pets, makes the mess even worse. Those are the people whose food I might hesitate eating. But I'd try to be delicate and discreet about it. Why risk offending or hurting someone just because their standards aren't yours?

I don't mind finding straight hair...I guess its the curly ones that might get me grossed out, especially in a house with no pets.

LOL Jessy. I don't know why it gags me, Linda, it just does. However, I would NEVER bring up finding one in my food - I would toss the cookie or whatever but I wouldn't say anything to the baker.

We have 2 dogs and a cat...none of which are allowed in the kitchen. The cat has never gotten on a counter or table. He's lucky! If he did, that would be the end of him in the house period.

I would be totally grossed out by any type of hair. MIL who lives with us, allows her dog to sleep on the bed with her...along with the cat. She always has fur/hair on her clothing. She wonders why I won't let her cook for us...and I don't touch anything she has touched previously. (Found a container in the fridge TOTALLY covered in fur/hair and that was all it took.) Call me weird, but I don't want anything in my food that isn't supposed to be there, at home or at a restaurant.

I'm getting a Brazillian cat next time. Then I can be sure there will be no stray hairs.

{{gwi:1507039}}

Shaun...Brazillian! Are you talking about what I think you're talking about? Too Funny!
THE WAX?

yes

I've never had or met a cat who didn't try to get on the table or counters at least once. Every time I've adopted a cat, I've bought a big squirt bottle with good range and a strong stream, filled it with water and kept it close at hand. Rapid response with a good aim nips counter attraction right in the bud PDQ. My cat makes a WIDE berth around the kitchen.

You're doing about all you can do short of an industrial air filter or shaving the cat.

I don't freak over hair. I don't like it, of course. Depending on the circumstances and where the food came from, I react differently to it. You want to see me grossed out? Let me find a BandAid, fingernail or bug in something. Compared to those, one cat hair does't faze me a bit.

I try to keep the kitchen pretty sterile and hair free but I swear, that gossamer fine undercoat must float through the air. Actually I think that's pretty likely since we have forced air heating. And our cat likes to doze on top of the floor vents.

I have never seen our cat up on the counters. Never! But I have found pawprints along the stainless edge of the stove. So even though I don't see her, she's obviously up there doing the lambada when I'm not around.

I rinse everything before it gets used & dry it with paper towels, just in case.

I have to laugh, though, because aside from the hair (which doesn't bother me...as long as it's a known hair) I'm the same as Shaun. Let me find an egg shell or fish bone and I'm gagging...dinner is over. And those are things that pretty much belong to the item that I'm eating so there's no earlthy reason why I should be grossed out by them!

Next time I'd bake your BIL grey, fuzzy cookies. Good luck finding that cat hair.

Nina

I have to admit, pets in the kitchen is one of my biggest pet peeves (pun intended). When my ex DH were together, his 2 cats KNEW better than to come into the kichen, as I'd chase them out like a crazy person.

I knew they skulked in there when we weren't home, as I also would fine paw prints on the stove, stainless steel etc. This would drive me nuts because I knew where those little paws had been!!! YUCK!!!

Now, with DH #2, we don't have any animals and I have to admit that it is very nice. I don't miss the pet hair one bit.

I absolutely hate hair of any kind in my food...I've trained my cat so he doesn't get on any counter tops or tables...the dog he doesn't shed..Shih Tzu..he doesn't get on the counters either...Tee Hee....
If I find hair in food I Do Not Eat IT!!!

Linda

The Cat From Hell mostly stays in the basement because she doesn't like me, so I don't find cat hair in the food, I just find it on Ashley's pillow and since it isn't my pillow, I don't care.

WonderWeiner always slept with me, but I was never covered with dog hair. he got brushed every day and I vacumned regularly, so I'm assuming that kept it to a minimum. Plus doxies don't really shed much.

Elery's chihuahua sheds more than any other dog I've ever seen, so i'm always vacumning up after he goes but I guess that doesn't really bother me either. I always clean my counters before and after food prep, because that's how I've always done it, it has nothing to do with pet hair.

i don't mind finding egg shells or bones, I do dislike finding a bug in something but it doesn't weird me out, I mostly just pick it out. Since I know about the allowable percentage of particulate matter in commercially packaged food, I know that everything we buy at the grocery has bugs or rodent hair or droppings or fingernail clippings or dirt or leaves and twigs or SOMETHING in it. Add the fact that I'm a farm girl and it just doesn't bother me. Of course, the parasites in the fish don't bother me either, as long as they are cooked. Oh, and I also know that lobster IS a bug, but I eat them anyway.

Annie

Well, hopefully without starting an all-out war, here's my 2 cents. I HATE when going to someone's house and seeing their cat/s walking all over the counters!! WHY do people allow this? WHY???? Are they one of those that thinks "their" poop and their pet's doesn't stink? Yes, I'm not a cat-lover but that has nothing to do with it. I don't want birds or dogs or anything else on there, either. Would you lick your pet's feet, backside and tail? You know they walk over feces and dirt sometimes, either outside or in litter boxes, they eat rodents that "could" be diseased or certainly filthy and then roam over your kitchen depositing their little "goodies" stuck to their bodies, backside, feet or tongue. Yecch - don't want that on my food!!! Shall we talk about mites and fleas (yes, I know already about our own mites!!)? Whenever this conversation has come up for conversation, the ones with the roaming cats become VERY incensed and insulted - you know, THEIR cat is spotless and doesn't lose hair, etc. Egad people, think about it. There's enough contamination already in most of our prepared foods in one way or another - why add to it? I just wish I could truly understand the cat-lover's thinking - perhaps that would help my attitude.

Neah don't worry Arline you aren't starting a war.

You're starting a cat fight! Meow! Hiss! Spit!

Where is Lou, we need a song.

Oh my cat just used the cat box...
And jumped up on my counter...
My MIL she took offense to that
And .....(someone finish the rhyme)

........ said we ought to mount her.
My husband got excited
started jumping up and down
........

Sort of a sidebar, but over on the Kitchens Forum, a poster asked for opinions on open shelving vs. closed cabinets in a kitchen. I, and a couple other posters, warned that open shelving means that bowls/glasses/dishes will be open to any pet hair floating around. I myself have cats and a dog, and I would never have open shelving in a kitchen cause the hair does get everywhere, no matter how much I wipe. It looks like the OP from that thread is going for the open shelving anyway. In case anyone is interested, I'll link the thread below.

I think pet hair can float aloft for days without anyone seeing it, until it touches down, likely 5 minutes after you've wiped down everything. So, it may be one of those things you just have to shrug your shoulders about, while still doing whatever is reasonable (like wiping down counters) to keep the pet hair to a minimum. Furthermore, I've also seen my pets over the years barf, have loose stools, hair balls, abscesses, all sorts of gross stuff. After a while, you feel like you've seen it all, and it doesn't gross you out anymore.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchens Forum Thread about Open Cabinetry

A hair at home doesnt' bother me, hair happens. Eating out it has grossed me out the very few times that it happened.

I have a dog and two cats in the house. Like Renee, I trained my cats to stay of the counters and tables with the water bottle and foil. Not sure if they are surfing the counters while I'm at work or sleeping. I've not found hair or paw prints. The only drawer or cabinet in my kitchens that has ever collected much of anything is the one on the range..yes there would be a hair here or there but more so crumbs or whatnot from the oven.

I keep a decent home and clean like my DM did and her DM did. The counters are wiped down with hot soapy water and I vacuum several times a week now that I've moved. Let's not talk about dusting...LOL! Then there is the three second rule....

David

from jessyf: Oh my cat just used the cat box...
And jumped up on my counter...
My MIL she took offense to that
And .....

from Shaun:

........ said we ought to mount her.
My husband got excited
started jumping up and down

from Arline:

..... but we pulled him off the cat's behind,
before the cat could make a sound.

He limped off into the sunset (the cat),
we were all sad to see him go ....