How to Wash a Dog Bed: Cover, Foam and Liner Guide

By INVIROX Training Team · Published 2026-10-31 · 12 min read

What goes in the washing machine and what never does

Most dog beds are three or four separate things zipped together: an outer cover, sometimes an inner liner, the foam or fiber fill, and any loose blankets on top. Each part needs different handling. The most common way people ruin a good bed is to treat it as one item and put the whole thing in the machine.

The rule under the table is simple. Fabric goes in the washer. Foam does not. Foam soaks up water like a sponge, a full insert becomes very heavy when wet, and the tumbling of the drum can tear it apart. Owners who have tried it describe pulling crumbled foam out of the drum and the filter afterwards. Even when the foam survives, the center can stay damp for days, which is how a bed that smelled of dog ends up smelling of mildew as well.

How to wash a dog bed cover, step by step

The cover is the part that touches your dog, collects the hair and holds most of the smell. Washing it properly takes about ten minutes of hands-on time plus the machine cycle.

1. Take the bed apart. Unzip the cover, slide out the foam, and set the liner aside if your bed has one.
2. Get the hair off before the water does. Vacuum the cover, or run a damp rubber glove or a lint roller over it. Hair that goes into the washer clings to everything else in the load and can clog the filter.
3. Shake out the grit. Take the cover outside, shake it hard, and check the corners and the zipper track for sand, dirt and food crumbs.
4. Pre-treat marks. Dab an enzyme cleaner or a little mild detergent onto stains and leave it for the time the product directions give.
5. Close the zipper and turn the cover inside out. A closed zipper is less likely to snag other fabric, and inside out protects the outer face.
6. Wash on a gentle cycle with a mild, low-fragrance detergent at the temperature on the label. Skip fabric softener, which can leave a coating on the fabric.
7. Add a second rinse if your dog has sensitive skin or the cover still smells of detergent.
8. Dry on low heat or air dry. High heat can shrink a cover so it no longer fits over the foam, and it can damage a coated backing.

Very large covers wash better in a big front-loading machine than in a small top loader with a central agitator. A cover that is crammed into the drum comes out half washed, with dry patches of hair still stuck in the folds. A laundromat machine is worth the trip for an extra large bed if your own washer is small.

How to clean the foam insert without ruining it

Foam is the part that gives the bed its support, and it is the part that cannot be replaced cheaply. Cleaning it is about removing what sits on the surface and dealing with spills quickly, never about soaking it.

1. Vacuum both sides with an upholstery attachment to lift hair, dander and dust that worked through the cover.
2. For a spot, stir a small amount of mild detergent into warm water. Dampen a cloth, not the foam, and dab the area. Do not scrub, which can tear the surface of soft foam.
3. Blot with a second cloth dampened in plain water to lift the soap back out.
4. Press out the moisture by laying a dry towel over the spot and pressing down with your hands. Repeat with fresh towels until very little comes out.
5. Air dry completely somewhere with good airflow, turning the foam over part way through. Do not put the cover back on until the foam is dry all the way through.

To check for dryness, press your palm firmly into the cleaned area and hold it there. If your hand comes away cool or damp, give it longer. Moisture trapped inside foam is what turns a small spill into a lasting smell.

→ Related reading: how orthopedic and memory foam differ

How to clean a waterproof liner

A waterproof inner liner sits between the cover and the foam. Its job is to stop liquid that gets through the cover from reaching the foam. It is the reason a foam bed can come through an accident intact, so it is worth looking after.

• Wipe it down with warm water and a little mild soap each time you wash the cover.
• Check the care label before putting it in a washer. Some liners can go on a gentle cycle, many are meant for hand cleaning only.
• Keep high dryer heat away from it. Heat can weaken the waterproof layer.
• Let it dry fully before zipping it back over the foam.
• Inspect the seams and the zipper area while it is off. A small split lets liquid straight through to the foam.

It helps to know which layer on your bed is actually waterproof. On many beds the cover is washable but not waterproof, and only the liner underneath keeps liquid out. A wet patch on the cover after an accident is normal. A wet patch on the foam means the liner has a gap or was never there.

→ Related reading: the difference between waterproof and water-resistant dog beds

How to get dog smell out of a dog bed

Dog smell comes from skin oils, saliva, dander and whatever your dog rolled in on the last walk. Most of it builds up in the fabric that touches the dog: the cover, the blankets and the top of the liner. That is good news, because those are the parts you can wash.

1. Wash the cover and every blanket first. This alone fixes most smelly beds.
2. Smell the foam on its own once the cover is off. If it smells only faintly, air it outdoors on a dry day or by an open window for several hours, then do the baking soda refresh.
3. If one area smells strongly, that is usually an old accident. Treat it with an enzyme cleaner made for pet urine, following the product directions, then press it out and air dry.
4. Wash or brush the dog as well as the bed. A dog that goes back onto a clean bed with oily, dirty fur will make it smell again within days.
5. Clean the floor or crate tray under the bed. Odor trapped underneath comes straight back.

Avoid covering the smell with strong sprays and perfumed products. Your dog's nose is far more sensitive than yours, and a bed that smells strongly of fragrance can become a bed your dog avoids. The goal is a bed that smells of very little at all.

If the foam still smells strongly after a proper enzyme treatment and a full dry, the smell has gone deep into the material. Surface cleaning will not reach it, and the honest answer at that point is a new insert or a new bed.

How to clean up accidents, vomit and mud

Speed matters more than the product you use. The longer a mess sits, the further it travels, and the first thing it reaches after the cover is either the liner or the foam.

Many owners avoid ammonia-based household cleaners for urine, because their smell is close to the smell of urine and some dogs return to mark the same spot. An enzyme cleaner breaks down the residue rather than covering it.

How often should you wash a dog bed?

The American Kennel Club suggests choosing a bed with a removable cover you can easily wash weekly, and weekly is a sensible baseline for the cover and blankets. The other parts need far less frequent attention.

If you only manage one thing, make it the weekly cover wash. It removes the bulk of the hair, dander and smell, and it takes the load off every other step on the list.

Drying and putting the bed back together

Most beds that go wrong after cleaning go wrong at this step. Damp parts zipped together trap moisture, and the bed starts to smell within a day or two.

• Dry the cover on low heat or flat on a rack. If you air dry it, wait until it is dry all the way through, not just on the surface.
• Give the foam as long as it needs. A small spot-cleaned area can take most of a day, and a large wet patch longer. Warm, dry, moving air helps far more than direct heat.
• Never put foam in a tumble dryer. The heat and tumbling can break it down.
• Fit the liner first, then the cover, and line up the corners of the foam with the corners of the cover so the foam lies flat.
• Close the zipper fully. A half-open zipper invites a dog to pull the insert out.

Plan the wash so the bed is out of use for as short a time as possible. Washing the cover in the morning and putting the bed back together in the afternoon works for most households. In the meantime, lay an old blanket where the bed usually sits so your dog still has a soft place to lie.

What makes a dog bed easy to wash

Searching for a washable dog bed usually means one of two things: a bed you can put in the machine whole, or a bed where the parts that get dirty come off and go in the machine. For a foam bed only the second is realistic, and it is the better design anyway, because the foam stays intact.

CertiPUR-US, the foam certification program, advises in its pet bed buying tips that a dog bed should be machine-washable or have a removable, machine-washable cover. When you compare beds, look for these points:

• A cover that unzips fully, so the foam comes out without a struggle.
• A sturdy zipper. On a cover washed every week, a weak zipper is usually the first thing to fail.
• A waterproof liner under the cover, so spills stop before they reach the foam.
• A care label that tells you exactly what can go in the washer and the dryer.
• Foam that holds its shape, because a bed you clean every week should still support your dog a year from now.

The INVIROX Luxury XL Dog Bed is built along those lines: a machine-washable cover over a waterproof inner liner, with CertiPUR-US certified high-density foam inside. The cover is the part that goes in the washer, and the liner protects the foam from whatever gets through.

→ Related reading: choosing a supportive bed for a large dog