You vacuumed the dog bed, spritzed it with fabric freshener, and flipped it over. Two days later the room smells like wet dog again. The freshener is not the problem. The problem is that surface cleaning never reaches what actually causes the odor: the oils, dander, and bacteria soaked deep into the padding.
Knowing how to wash a dog bed properly, all the way through, is the difference between a bed that smells clean and one that only looks it. This guide covers how often to wash, what your machine can and cannot handle, and the method that matches your dog's specific bed.
How do you wash a dog bed?
Remove and machine-wash the cover on a cold, gentle cycle with unscented detergent. For beds with stuffing or foam that cannot be submerged, spot-clean the surface, wash the inner fill or foam by hand, and air-dry it completely before reassembling. Most dog beds should be washed every one to two weeks.
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Why Washing Your Dog's Bed Matters More Than You Think
A dog bed collects everything your dog carries in: shed hair, skin oils, saliva, outdoor dirt, and dander. Left alone, that mix becomes a warm, humid home for bacteria and dust mites, sitting against your dog's skin every single night.
A single medium-size dog can shed enough dander in a month to keep an allergy-prone person sniffling in the same room. Washing the bed is not about appearances; it is basic hygiene for the whole house, and it protects your dog's skin from the irritants collecting in the fibers.
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How Often Should You Wash a Dog Bed?
Wash the cover every one to two weeks, and deep-clean the whole bed about once a month. Move that up if your dog sheds heavily, has allergies or skin issues, spends a lot of time outdoors, or shares the bed with a second pet. A quick test: if you can smell the bed while standing over it, it is already overdue.
Real-world example: a household with a shedding Labrador and a child with allergies is a weekly-wash home. A small indoor dog that rarely goes out can usually stretch to every two weeks.
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Can You Put a Dog Bed in the Washing Machine?
Sometimes, and the care label makes the call. Beds with a removable, zippered cover are the easy case: unzip it, shake off the loose hair outside, and machine-wash the cover on cold with a gentle cycle and unscented detergent. Skip fabric softener, which coats the fibers and actually traps odor.
For a one-piece bed, check the tag. Many are machine-safe if they fit your drum with room to tumble, because a cramped load never gets clean. If the bed is oversized, filled with memory foam, or the tag says otherwise, do not force it into the machine.
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How to Wash a Dog Bed With Stuffing or Foam
This is where most beds get ruined, because stuffing and foam behave completely differently.
Polyester stuffing
Fiber-filled beds usually handle a gentle machine wash. Wash on cold, then dry on low heat with a couple of clean towels or dryer balls to keep the fill from clumping into hard lumps.
Memory foam
Foam should never go in the washer. The agitation breaks it down, and it holds water like a sponge. Instead, vacuum it, spot-clean stains with water and a little enzyme cleaner, press (do not wring) out the moisture, and let it air-dry fully. A golden retriever's orthopedic foam bed that still smelled after vacuuming came clean with an enzyme spot-treatment and two days of air-drying, because enzymes break down the odor compounds that plain detergent leaves behind. Reassembling foam even slightly damp invites mildew, so give it real drying time.
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How to Wash a Large Dog Bed
Big beds rarely fit a home washer, so you have two good options. Take it to a laundromat with commercial-size machines, or clean it in place. To clean it in place, vacuum thoroughly, scrub the surface with warm water and a pet-safe cleaner, blot with towels, and set it in the sun to dry and deodorize naturally. Even when the core stays home, remove the cover if you can and machine-wash just that.
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Tips to Keep a Dog Bed Clean Longer
The easiest bed to wash is the one that barely gets dirty. A few habits stretch the time between deep cleans:
• Layer a washable blanket on top and wash that weekly instead of wrestling the whole bed.
• Wipe your dog's paws after walks to keep dirt out of the fibers.
• Vacuum the bed between washes to pull hair before it works in deep.
• Keep a spare cover on hand so the bed is never out of service on laundry day.
A soft, machine-washable Minky pet blanket on top of the bed is the simplest version of this. Your dog gets an even cozier surface, and you toss one blanket in the wash instead of hauling the entire bed to the laundry.
The Takeaway
Learning how to wash a dog bed comes down to one rule: match the method to what is inside. Covers and polyester stuffing can usually go in the machine; memory foam gets spot-cleaned and air-dried; large beds get cleaned in place or at a laundromat. Do it every week or two, layer a washable blanket on top, and the wet-dog smell stops coming back.
Ready to make cleanup easier and give your dog a softer place to rest? Explore Minky Couture's washable pet blankets and add the coziest, most washable layer to any bed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you put a dog bed in the dryer?
Removable covers and polyester-stuffed beds usually can, on low heat with dryer balls to prevent clumping. Never machine-dry memory foam; always air-dry it completely instead.
How do you get the dog smell out of a bed?
Reach for an enzyme-based cleaner rather than a perfumed spray. Enzymes break down the odor-causing compounds at the source instead of just masking them for a day or two.
