How to Wash a Dog or Cat Bed: Temperature, Detergent and Fleas

A pet bed collects three things worth getting out of it: allergen-laden dander and dust, flea eggs and larvae if the animal has fleas, and ordinary dirt, hair and odour. Each one responds to a different part of the wash. Detergent does most of the work on allergen, water temperature decides whether dust mites survive, and no amount of laundering will clear fleas from a house while the animal still carries them. Dogs and cats are the same problem here, so this guide covers both.

The short answer

Take the cover off and wash it with an ordinary detergent. In a 2001 laboratory study, detergent removed more cat and dust mite allergen from bedding dust than soap or plain water, and most of it came out within five minutes at 25°C (77°F). A 60°C (140°F) wash is the setting that kills house dust mites outright, so use it whenever the care label allows. During a flea problem, wash the bedding weekly and treat the animal at the same time. Keep detergent pods, fabric softener and dryer sheets well away from dogs and cats, all three of which the ASPCA lists as hazards.

What is in a pet bed

Allergen. Cat allergen (Fel d 1), dog allergen (Can f 1) and house dust mite allergen are the three the laundry studies below measured in bedding and bedding dust. For a person allergic to the animal or to mites, the pet's bed is fabric that can be washed, which is more than can be said for a sofa.

Flea eggs, larvae and cocoons. The Merck Veterinary Manual explains that cat flea eggs are laid in the animal's coat, fall off readily, and land on bedding, carpet or soil, where they hatch in about one to six days. The larvae avoid light and work their way deep into fibres. They die with prolonged exposure to relative humidity below 50 percent, so few places indoors suit them, and the manual names pet beds, couches and the spots where pets eat or sleep as the main ones. Flea cocoons turn up in carpet, under furniture and on animal bedding. The manual describes this same cat flea life cycle playing out around an infested dog or an infested cat, which is why a dog bed and a cat bed carry the same risk.

Dirt, hair and odour. These are the reason most beds get washed. They respond to the same routine as everything above, so a bed washed properly for allergen and fleas is clean in the ordinary sense too.

Temperature: what the studies measured

Two laboratory studies give the clearest numbers on pet allergen and laundry.

Detergent matters more than heat for allergen. An Australian team at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in 2001. They compared water alone, soap, and detergent with and without enzymes at 15, 25, 45 and 60°C, measuring how much cat allergen and dust mite allergen came out of bedding dust. Detergent extracted more of both allergens than soap or water. Almost all of the allergen came out within five minutes at 25°C. Washing at 60°C pulled out slightly more cat allergen and broke down the mite allergen, which left the lowest residue of the four temperatures. Eleven commercial detergents performed similarly, and enzymes made no significant difference. The authors concluded that a detergent wash at 25°C for at least five minutes removed most of the mite and cat allergen.

Heat matters for the mites themselves. A Korean study in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in 2008 washed contaminated sheets at 30°C (86°F), 40°C (104°F), 60°C (140°F) and with steam. At 30°C only 6.5 percent of the house dust mites were killed, and at 40°C only 9.6 percent. At 60°C and with steam, all of them died. The remaining mite allergen fell from 26.8 percent of the starting amount at 30°C to 2.4 percent at 40°C and 1.3 percent at 60°C. Dog allergen was easier: 0.3 to 1.3 percent remained after every wash setting, and the extracts from the washed sheets no longer inhibited allergy antibodies binding to dog allergen. The authors named water temperature and the number of rinses as the critical factors.

Read together, the two studies say something practical. For dog and cat dander alone, a warm wash with detergent does most of the job. For anyone allergic to dust mites, 60°C is the setting that matters, and an extra rinse helps at lower temperatures. Both studies worked with sheets and bedding dust in a laboratory rather than a bolstered dog bed in a domestic machine, so treat the numbers as a guide to the direction rather than a promise for a specific bed.

Fleas: what washing does and does not do

Washing the bedding is part of flea control, and only part of it. The Merck manual lists the mechanical removal of immature stages by washing bedding and vacuuming frequently as one of the environmental measures, and states plainly that it decreases the burden in the house without fully eliminating it. The same section pairs it with treating the animal and, where needed, treating the house.

Mississippi State University Extension puts the household side simply: only adult fleas bite, but the immature stages live in carpet and furniture, so weekly cleaning is essential. Wash the pet bedding, vacuum the carpets and rugs, and pay particular attention to the places the animals rest.

Two details from the Merck manual explain why a single wash rarely ends it. Under typical household conditions the cat flea completes its life cycle in three to eight weeks. A fully formed adult can also sit inside its cocoon for weeks, waiting for pressure, carbon dioxide, movement or heat to signal that a host is near. Fleas that were cocooned in the carpet when the bed was washed will keep emerging afterwards, which is why the weekly routine has to run for several weeks rather than once.

The same extension page carries a warning that applies directly to bedding sprays and powders: some products labelled safe for dogs can be deadly to cats. In a house with both, nothing meant for the dog goes on the cat's bed, and the choice of flea product for either animal is one to ask your vet about.

How to wash it, step by step

1. Shake it out outside. Hair, grit and loose debris come off far more easily dry than wet, and less of it ends up in the machine filter.

2. Vacuum the bed and the floor under it. The extension guidance treats vacuuming as the partner to washing. It reaches the bolsters, seams and floor around the bed that the machine never sees. Empty or seal the vacuum contents promptly.

3. Take the cover off and read the care label. The label sets the maximum temperature. A cover rated for a hot wash gets one, because 60°C is the temperature the Korean study tied to killing dust mites. A cover limited to a cool wash still gets detergent and a full cycle, because the Australian study found detergent did most of the allergen removal at 25°C.

4. Treat the insert by what it is. Some polyfill inserts and flat mats are machine washable, and their label says so. When the insert is foam and its label says spot clean only, the cover is the part that goes in the machine, which is why the waterproof inner liner matters so much on an orthopaedic bed: a liner keeps urine and water out of foam that cannot be laundered. If the foam has already soaked up urine and smells after cleaning, the signs that a dog bed's foam has broken down are worth checking before trying again.

5. Use an ordinary detergent and an extra rinse. Eleven commercial detergents performed alike in the Australian study, and enzymes made no measurable difference, so a special pet detergent is not required. The Korean study found rinsing mattered most at lower temperatures, so an extra rinse is worth adding to a cool wash.

6. Dry it completely before it goes back. Follow the care label for tumble drying. A bed returned damp is an odour problem, and the Merck manual notes that flea larvae need humidity to survive.

7. Wash anything else the animal sleeps on. A blanket on the sofa, the cover of a crate pad, and the platform covers on a cat tree belong in the same load. The guide to cat tree stability and height covers why washable or replaceable platform covers are worth having in the first place.

Laundry products that are dangerous to dogs and cats

The ASPCA's list of poisonous household products covers the laundry room directly.

Detergent pods and liquid detergent can cause stomach upset and irritation to the mouth and throat, and in some cases serious, life-threatening signs. An ASPCA Animal Poison Control alert adds that an animal that vomits after eating a pod may inhale detergent into its lungs and develop severe pneumonia.
Dryer sheets, especially unused ones, mostly contain cationic detergents that can cause severe chemical burns and ulcers in the mouth, oesophagus and stomach. A sheet can also cause a blockage in the stomach or intestines, which the ASPCA says can be a medical emergency.
Fabric softeners mostly contain the same cationic detergents and carry the same burn risk.

Store all three in a closed cupboard. Pods in an open tub on top of the machine sit at exactly the height of a curious dog or a cat that jumps.

How often

During a flea problem, wash the bedding weekly, as Mississippi State's extension guidance sets out, and keep going for several weeks while the animal is treated. For a household with a dust mite or pet allergy, regular hot washes are the step the Korean data support most directly. Otherwise, wash the cover when it looks or smells dirty, which for a dog that comes in from wet walks will be far more often than for an indoor cat.

A second cover makes any schedule easier, because the bed never sits empty while one cover dries. The same goes for a dog or cat that also sleeps on a human bed: the advice in the guide on whether a pet should sleep in your bed is to wash that bedding on the same cycle, since it has become a pet bed too.

What to look for when buying

The wash routine is only as good as the bed allows. A fully removable cover with a zip that runs most of the way round, a cover rated for a hot wash, a waterproof liner around any foam, and an insert that is either machine washable or protected well enough not to need it. Those are the same features the beds picked for dogs and cats are judged on, and a bed missing them is one that will be thrown away rather than cleaned.

Questions people actually ask

What temperature should I wash a dog bed at?

As hot as the care label allows, up to 60°C (140°F). A 2008 laboratory study found 60°C killed all house dust mites while 30°C and 40°C killed fewer than one in ten. For dog dander alone, every temperature in the study removed most of the allergen.

Does washing a pet bed get rid of fleas?

It reduces them but does not finish the job alone. The Merck Veterinary Manual describes washing bedding and vacuuming as decreasing the flea burden in the house without fully eliminating it, alongside treating the animal and, where needed, the home.

Do I need a special pet detergent?

No. A 2001 study found eleven commercial detergents removed cat and dust mite allergen similarly, and detergents with enzymes performed no better than those without.

Can a memory foam dog bed go in the washing machine?

Only if the label on the foam insert says it can go in. When it says spot clean only, wash the removable cover and rely on a waterproof inner liner to keep the foam itself dry.

Are dryer sheets safe to use on pet bedding?

Keep them away from the animals. The ASPCA says most dryer sheets contain cationic detergents that can cause chemical burns in the mouth and stomach, and a swallowed sheet can cause a blockage.

Sources

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