The fix in 6 steps
You’ll need:
Rocco & Roxie Professional Strength Enzyme Cleaner
The catch: Old stain? Soak it at bedtime and let it work overnight.
In this guide
Hair off, spots treated, dry it bone dry
Dog bed smells, or sheds into your washer? Read the care tag first, then get the hair off, treat the pee spots and dry it bone dry. Six steps:
- Shake the bed hard outside. Then go over the cover with a rubber glove, a squeegee or a reusable lint roller (see reusable lint roller at Amazon) until the hair stops coming up in sheets.
- Soak each pee spot with an enzyme cleaner like Rocco & Roxie (see Rocco & Roxie at Amazon) and give it 10 minutes or longer on a fresh spot. Then wash.
- Wash the cover on its own: the hottest water the tag allows, your regular detergent and an enzyme laundry booster such as Good Natured, with 1 cup of white vinegar in the rinse only.
- Wash the insert only if the tag says machine washable.
- Dry it longer than you think, on the heat the tag allows, with 2 or 3 clean tennis balls to break up clumped filling.
- Squeeze the thickest part of the insert. Any cool, damp feeling means another cycle.
The one rule: read the care tag before anything else. It decides the water temperature, the dryer setting and whether the insert goes in at all.
Get the hair off (or your washer gets it)
Take the bed outside and shake it hard. Then go over the cover with a rubber glove, a squeegee or a reusable lint roller until the hair stops coming up in sheets.
Skip this and the hair ends up in the drum, on the next load of towels and in the drain filter.
Treat pee spots before the wash
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A normal wash cycle isn't built to break down pee. Soak each spot with an enzyme cleaner like Rocco & Roxie and give it 10 minutes or longer on a fresh spot. Then wash.
Rocco & Roxie is one of the enzyme cleaners we rank by mess, if you want to compare before you buy.
Old or repeat spots on the insert? That's a soak-and-wait job, not a laundry job. More on that below.
Wash the cover and the insert separately
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- Cover: the hottest water the tag allows, your regular detergent plus an enzyme laundry booster such as Good Natured, and a heavy-duty or normal cycle.
- Rinse: add 1 cup of white vinegar to the rinse to help pull out leftover detergent and smell.
- Insert: only if the tag says machine washable, and only in a machine big enough that it can move. A crammed drum just rinses the outside.
Why separate: a wet foam insert and a cover twisted together trap water in the middle, and the middle is where the smell lives.
Dry it longer than you think
Use the heat the tag allows. Toss 2 or 3 clean tennis balls in the dryer to break up clumped filling. Then squeeze the thickest part of the insert. Any cool, damp feeling means another cycle.
Air drying is fine on a warm, breezy day. Flip the insert so both sides get air.
Beds you can't put in the machine
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Orthopedic foam, giant beds and anything marked spot clean only get a different routine:
- Unzip and wash the cover on its own.
- Vacuum the foam with the upholstery tool.
- Spot treat pee with an enzyme cleaner, soak it as deep as it went, and let it air dry fully before the cover goes back on.
- Sprinkle baking soda on the dry foam, wait an hour, vacuum it off.
If the foam still smells after a couple of full enzyme rounds, replace the insert. Replacement inserts exist for a reason, and the reason is your dog.
Common mistakes: what not to do
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Skip these
- Don't mix vinegar and enzyme cleaner. Vinegar in the rinse is fine. Vinegar on a spot you just treated with enzymes can work against them.
- Don't use fabric softener. It coats fibers and can hold smell in.
- Don't wash dog bedding with your bath towels. Give it its own load, then run an empty hot cycle with vinegar if the washer starts smelling like dog.
How often: weekly for the cover, sooner after accidents
Weekly is a sensible default for the cover. Wash sooner after any accident, a muddy day or a dog who rolled in something with confidence. If you can smell the bed from the doorway, you already know.
