How to wash pet beds without ruining the washing machine
Getting pet beds truly clean requires removing enough fur beforehand so the sheer volume of hair doesn't damage your washing machine. Owners also hesitate to deep clean the bedding because they aren't sure if additives like borax are safe for their cats.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
How to wash pet beds without ruining the washing machine
- 1using a gentle detergent and laundry sanitizerDid this help you?
- 2running a long laundry cycleDid this help you?
- 3Vacuuming the bed thoroughly before washingDid this help you?
- 4Taking the bed to a commercial laundromat with oversized public machinesDid this help you?
- 5Using a carpet cleaner or spot cleaning machine instead of a washerDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Any tips on how to get enough fur out of it before putting some parts in the washer?”source ↗
“I was wondering if there's anything else I could do to REALLY get them clean.”source ↗
“Is using borax on cat beds safe?”source ↗
“are you sure it won’t damage my washer with how much hair is in it?”source ↗
“We have a front loader but I also really don’t feel like ruining ours (if it were to happen)😂”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 16How to get stubborn pet hair and smell out of blankets
- 2How to sanitize a house for Giardia without bleach
- 10How to get deep embedded dirt out of plush carpet
- 15How to clean up old rat droppings safely
- 16How to get chalk paint out of a cat's fur
- 13How to get cat pee smell out of plush toys without ruining them