I frequently come across this. When I first started it was alarming, but I soon realized that it was indeed mostly pet hair. When I fill out my customer contact sheets one of the first questions I ask is if they have pets. If they do, I explain that even though they have vacuumed, our machine will bring this stuff up to the surface and that they can vacuum it up when it dries.Try to put a positive spin on it.

I have tried using one of those large electric lint removers to clean up the pads, but like Mark said, scissors or the way to go.