How to Clean a Pet's Bed

Pets offer devoted and loving companionship and bring joy to the home. However, they also bring messes and dirt. A pet's bedding and beloved toys tend to receive the worst damage. Keeping them clean does not have to be a monumental chore. For a happy pet and a tidy home, follow these simple steps once a month to clean your pet's bed.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Static Guard
• Vacuum
• Lint roller
• Laundry detergent
• Dryer sheets

1. Spray the bed surface with Static Guard to help loosen pet hairs. Try a small section of the pet bed first to test for a negative reaction to the spray.

2. Vacuum the pet bed thoroughly to remove excess pet hairs, dirt, litter or other debris. Roll a lint roller over the bed to pull away hairs that the vacuum did not remove.

3. Remove the outer fabric layer from the foam bedding insert.

4. Put the fabric wrapping (or the entire bed if it consists entirely of fleece or another machine washable substance) into the washing machine. Use a large load setting, warm water and plenty of laundry detergent to aid in dislodging as many pet hairs as possible. Repeat the wash cycle for especially dirty beds.

5. Dry the washed bedding in the clothes dryer with at least one dryer sheet. The dryer sheet will reduce static electricity and remove more pet hairs. Use a low temperature setting to avoid shrinking the pet bed.

Tips & Warnings

• If the pet bed has a label with care instructions, follow the instructions to avoid damaging the bed.
• Bathe your pet while her bed is getting washed. A dirty pet will ruin the hard work you put into cleaning the bed.

Resources

• Browse a variety of pet beds at Petco.
• Purchase professional pet grooming products from PetEdge.

[Jay73Eagle]

on 12/26/2008 Another similar article! http://www.ehow.com/how_4693017_clean-foam-dog-beds.html

[ashiflett]

on 9/29/2007 Excellent information!