Looking after it
Bed Care
A dog bed lives a hard life. These beds are built to be cleaned rather than protected, which is the only way a bed survives an actual dog.
PawLunova · Bed Care
How to wash a dog bed
without wrecking it.
A dog bed that cannot be cleaned properly is a bed with a shelf life. Ours are built the other way round — so here is exactly how to keep one going for years, including the memory foam.
The 30-second version
- Vacuum the hair off before anything goes near a machine.
- Cover unzips, washes at 30°C, non-bio detergent, no fabric softener.
- Air dry only. Never tumble dry, never radiator, never direct sun.
- The waterproof liner gets wiped, not washed. The foam core never gets wet. Ever.
- Refit only when it is bone dry — damp foam is how beds start to smell.
Why the cover is the only bit you wash
Most dog beds fail at the wash. Someone shoves the whole thing in a machine, the foam soaks up four litres of water, it never fully dries in the middle, and three weeks later there is a smell that no amount of washing will now shift — because it is living inside the core.
A PawLunova bed is built in three layers precisely so this cannot happen to you. The cover zips off and takes the mud, hair and drool. Under it, a waterproof liner stops anything reaching the 50kg/m³ foam core underneath. The part that gets dirty is the part that comes off, which means you can wash it as often as it needs washing without ever wearing the bed out. The full construction is explained here.
Washing the cover, step by step
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De-hair it first
Vacuum both sides, or go over it with a rubber glove or lint roller. This is not optional fussiness — loose hair clogs machine filters and re-deposits onto the wet fabric, so a cover that skipped this step comes out looking worse than it went in.
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Unzip and check the pockets of the seam
Slide the cover off the foam and liner. Turn it inside out — this protects the outer face and puts the dirtiest surface against the water.
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Treat any stains before the wash, not after
See the stain table below. A wash sets whatever it does not remove, so five minutes here saves the cover.
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Wash at 30°C on a gentle or synthetics cycle
On its own, or with towels only. Use a non-biological detergent — enzymes in bio powders can irritate a dog's skin, and dogs press their faces into this fabric for twelve hours a day. Half the detergent you would use for clothes is plenty.
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Skip the fabric softener and the bleach
Softener coats the fibres, kills water-repellency and leaves a fragrance most dogs actively dislike. Bleach degrades the fabric and any waterproof finish. Neither belongs anywhere near a dog bed.
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Air dry flat, out of direct sunlight
No tumble dryer, no radiator, no airing cupboard. Heat shrinks the cover — and a shrunken cover will not go back over the foam, which is the single most common way people ruin an otherwise perfect bed. Direct sun fades the fabric. Flat, indoors, good airflow, patience.
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Refit only when completely dry
Not "nearly dry". Damp fabric sealed against a foam core is how mildew starts. If in doubt, give it another few hours.
The one that gets people
Never tumble dry the cover. It is the fastest way to turn a bed you love into a bed that no longer fits. If it has shrunk, it has shrunk — there is no undoing it. Air drying takes longer and costs nothing.
The liner and the core
The waterproof liner
Wipe, don't wash. Damp cloth, mild soapy water, wipe over, then dry it completely with a towel and leave it to air before the cover goes back on.
Washing machines and tumble dryers degrade waterproof membranes. One machine cycle can cost you the layer that protects the foam.
The foam core
Never gets wet. At all. Not in a machine, not in a bath, not with a carpet cleaner, not "just a quick rinse".
Soaking damages the cell structure, and a foam block that size cannot dry through the middle at room temperature. If it ever does get soaked, air it flat somewhere warm and ventilated for several days and turn it daily.
Getting the dog smell out — and keeping it out
Dog smell is not really on the fabric. It is skin oils and bacteria, and it comes back until you deal with the source rather than masking it. Fragranced sprays make the situation worse and most dogs hate them.
- Bicarbonate of soda, dry. Sprinkle generously over the cover, leave 20–30 minutes, then vacuum thoroughly. It absorbs odour rather than covering it, costs about 60p, and works better than anything in a spray bottle.
- White vinegar in the wash. Half a cup in the drum with the cover neutralises lingering odour and rinses out completely. Your machine will not smell of it afterwards.
- Air it properly. Once a month, take the cover off and let both the liner and the core breathe for a few hours in a well-ventilated room. Trapped moisture is what turns "dog" into "damp dog".
- Deal with the dog too. Persistent, sharp odour that returns within days of every wash is worth a vet conversation — it can be skin, ears or teeth rather than the bed.
Never use ammonia-based cleaners on a dog bed. Ammonia is a component of urine, so to a dog the bed now smells like a marked spot — and you get a re-marking problem you did not have before.
Stains, by type
| What happened | Do this | Never do this |
|---|---|---|
| Mud | Let it dry completely, then brush and vacuum the loose dirt off before washing. | Attack it while wet — you push it into the weave and triple the stain. |
| Urine | Blot, don't rub. Then an enzymatic pet cleaner, which breaks down the uric acid that ordinary detergent leaves behind. | Ammonia-based cleaners, or hot water, which sets the odour compounds. |
| Sick | Remove the solids, rinse the area with cold water, then enzymatic cleaner and a 30°C wash. | Hot water. It cooks the proteins into the fibres. |
| Blood | Cold water only, blotting from the outside of the mark inwards. | Warm or hot water — it permanently sets blood into fabric. |
| Drool and skin oil | Bicarbonate of soda before the wash, then a normal 30°C cycle. | Fabric softener, which seals the oils in rather than lifting them. |
A rhythm that keeps a bed for years
| How often | What you do | Takes |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly | Vacuum or lint-roll the cover in place. Shake it out. | 2 minutes |
| Every 2–4 weeks | Full cover wash at 30°C. More often for a mucky dog, a puppy or an older dog having accidents. | 10 min + drying |
| Monthly | Wipe the liner. Air the core for a few hours. Rotate the bed 180° so the same end is not always taking the weight. | 5 minutes |
| Twice a year | Check the zip, the seams and the liner for wear. Flip the core if the model allows it. | 2 minutes |
That rotation habit in particular is worth doing. Dogs are creatures of ritual and will lie in the same spot, facing the same way, every night for years. Turning the bed spreads the load across the whole core instead of one patch of it.
What actually kills a dog bed early
- Tumble drying the cover — shrinks it beyond refitting
- Machine-washing the waterproof liner — destroys the membrane
- Getting the foam core wet and refitting it before it is dry
- Fabric softener and bleach, in every scenario
- Storing the bed somewhere damp, like a garage or shed, over summer
- Letting a determined chewer treat it as a chew toy — our beds are not chew-proof and the guarantee does not cover it
Care questions
Can you machine wash a PawLunova dog bed?
The cover, yes — it unzips and washes at 30°C on a gentle cycle. The waterproof liner is wiped clean by hand, and the memory foam core is never washed or soaked.
How often should I wash my dog's bed?
Every two to four weeks for most dogs, weekly if your dog is outdoors a lot, elderly, unwell or a puppy. Vacuum the cover in between — most of what makes a bed unpleasant is hair and dander, and that comes off without a wash.
What temperature should I wash a dog bed cover at?
30°C. Hotter risks shrinking the cover and damaging any waterproof finish, and it is not necessary — a 30°C wash with a decent non-bio detergent handles ordinary dog dirt perfectly well.
Can I tumble dry the cover?
No. Tumble drying shrinks the cover and it will no longer fit back over the foam. Air dry flat, away from radiators and direct sunlight, and refit only when it is completely dry.
How do I get the dog smell out of a dog bed?
Dry bicarbonate of soda sprinkled over the cover for 20–30 minutes then vacuumed off, followed by a 30°C wash with half a cup of white vinegar in the drum. Avoid fragranced sprays, which mask rather than remove, and never use ammonia-based cleaners.
My cover has shrunk. Can I buy a replacement?
Email Abbas@pawlunova.co.uk with your order number and we will tell you what is available for your model. It happens, usually to a tumble dryer, and it is not the end of the bed.
A bed built to be washed is a bed that lasts.
Zip-off cover, waterproof liner, 50kg/m³ core, and a 5-year no-flatten guarantee behind all three. Take 100 nights to decide whether it earns its place.
Next: Our Foam · Size & firmness guide · Questions, answered
Care
How to keep it going.
Yes – properly, not just spot-clean. Every cover zips off and goes straight in the machine at 30°C. Underneath it, the foam core is protected by a waterproof inner liner, so wet coats, muddy paws and accidents never reach the structure of the bed.
No. The cover is the washable part. The core stays out of the machine and out of the tumble dryer, which is what the zip and the liner are there to make possible. Follow the care label sewn into the cover for anything more specific to your bed.
Whenever it stops smelling like a clean bed. For most households that lands somewhere around once a month, sooner after a wet winter walk or an accident. Washing it more often does not wear the foam out, because the foam is not what you are washing.
Probably not. Covers are cut close so the surface stays flat under a dog rather than rucking up. Put the corners of the foam into the corners of the cover first and work the zip round last. It gets easier after the first wash.
Elevated and outdoor beds are built for it. Memory foam beds are indoor beds: the liner keeps liquid out of the core, but it is not a substitute for a roof. If a bed is meant to live outside, the product page says so.
Built to be washed, not babied.
That is the difference between a bed you keep and a bed you replace.
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