Expert reveals how often you should be cleaning your pet's bed – are you doing it enough?
Top tips to keep your pets bedding smelling sweet

If your furry best friends bedding has been missing from your cleaning to-do list, you're not alone. However, our guide for how to clean your pet's bedding shows how often you should be washing it.
Related: Pet owner creates under stairs dog bedroom of dreams for beloved whippets
Pet bedding is part of the home that many of us forget to clean. However, the bed can become a sea of ticks, mites, fleas, even e.coli and salmonella if not cleaned properly. Not to mention a bit smelly.
To make sure your pet's bed is kept as clean as your bed, laundry expert and CEO of Laundryheap, Deyan Dimitrov has shared his top tips for how to clean your pet's bedding.
How to clean your pet's bedding
1.Vacuum up the pet hair
'Firstly you'll want to remove all the pet hair from your pet's bed or blanket,' explains Deyan.
You can do this either with a lint roller. If there is a lot of hair on the bed try using a vacuum.
2.Pre-treat any stains
If the bed has any stains on it, treat them with your usual stain remover before putting the bedding into wash.
'The stain remover will be washed off during the cleaning process, so don't worry about it harming your pet,' says Deyan. 'For a more natural alternative, opt for some white vinegar and let that sink into the stain for five to ten minutes before washing it.'
3. Put all the bedding and blankets in the washing machine
'Put all your pets bedding and blankets in the washing machine and wash separately from any other laundry on a cold wash,' advises Deyan.
However, be sure to use pet-safe laundry detergent and add in some pet hair dissolver to get rid of any leftover hairs.
4. Leave it to try naturally
'Drying the bedding in the sun is not only more eco-friendly, but the ultra-violet rays are superb at getting rid of any leftover odours,' explains Deyan.
However, in the UK a sunny day is not always on hand. In that case, you can dry the pet bedding in a tumble dryer too.
4.Clean your pet bedding once a week
That's right, you should be cleaning your pets bedding as frequently as you clean your own.
Give the bed a good vacuum in between cleans to keep hair from building up. 'You can also wipe down your pets beds with a few sprays of pet bed cleaner in between washes to keep things fresh and clean.'
Related: Attention pet owners! Aldi has a new range for beloved pets – including an automatic feeder
Follow these tips to keep that wet pet smell at bay, and your home smelling clean.
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Rebecca Knight has been the Deputy Editor on the Ideal Home Website since 2022. She graduated with a Masters degree in magazine journalism from City, University of London in 2018, before starting her journalism career as a staff writer on women's weekly magazines. She fell into the world of homes and interiors after joining the Ideal Home website team in 2019 as a Digital Writer. In 2020 she moved into position of Homes News Editor working across Homes & Gardens, LivingEtc, Real Homes, Gardeningetc and Ideal Home covering everything from the latest viral cleaning hack to the next big interior trend.
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