How to Remove Dog Hair from a Dog Bed Before Washing

August 29, 2026

Removing dog hair from a bed before washing isn't just about tidiness — it's one of the most important steps for getting a genuinely clean result and protecting your washing machine. Dog hair that goes through a wash cycle doesn't disappear: it clumps together in wet masses that can clog the machine's drain filter, redeposit onto the fabric during rinsing, and leave the bed covered in matted hair clumps that are harder to remove after washing than before.

The good news is that removing dog hair before washing takes 5–10 minutes and dramatically improves both the wash result and the life of your machine. This guide covers the 7 most effective methods, ranked by how well they work on different fabric types, plus a quick routine that combines the best of them.

Why Removing Hair Before Washing Matters

Before getting into the methods, it's worth understanding what happens when dog hair goes into the washing machine:

Hair clogs drain filters — most washing machines have a lint/drain filter that collects debris. A heavy dog hair load can clog this filter, reduce drainage, and in severe cases cause machine errors or damage
Wet hair mats and redeposits — loose hair becomes sticky when wet and can clump together and transfer back onto fabric during the rinse cycle, leaving patches of matted hair that weren't there when you started
Hair reduces washing effectiveness — a drum partially clogged with hair circulates water less effectively, meaning the bed gets a less thorough wash
Laundromat etiquette — if you're using a commercial machine, excessive pet hair is inconsiderate to other users and may violate laundromat policies; removing hair at home is essential

The goal is to remove as much hair as possible before the bed ever enters the machine.

Method 1: Shake Outdoors (Always First)

Effectiveness: ★★★☆☆ | Time: 1 minute

Before any other method, take the bed outside and shake it vigorously. Hold it by two corners and flap it firmly several times, then flip and repeat. This dislodges a significant amount of loose surface hair and debris that would otherwise need to be vacuumed or picked up by hand.

Do this outdoors — not over your floor. The cloud of hair, dander, and dust that comes off a well-used dog bed is substantial. Follow up with one of the methods below to address the embedded hair that shaking doesn't reach.

Method 2: Vacuum with Upholstery Attachment (Most Effective Overall)

Effectiveness: ★★★★★ | Time: 3–5 minutes

Vacuuming with the right attachment is the single most effective method for removing dog hair from a dog bed. The upholstery attachment — the wide, flat head often included with standard vacuum cleaners — is designed specifically for fabric surfaces and creates the suction needed to pull embedded hair from fabric fibers.

How to do it effectively:

Work in overlapping passes, going slowly — quick passes miss embedded hair
Vacuum in multiple directions: with the pile, against the pile, and diagonally — hair embeds in different orientations
Pay extra attention to seams, crevices, and the bolster edges where hair accumulates in high concentrations
Vacuum both sides of the bed
Empty the vacuum's dustbin or replace the bag before starting if it's near full — reduced suction significantly reduces effectiveness

For faux fur beds specifically, the upholstery attachment's wide surface area works particularly well at lifting hair from the long pile without damaging the fabric texture.

Method 3: Rubber Glove (Best for Embedded Hair in Plush Fabric)

Effectiveness: ★★★★★ | Time: 2–4 minutes

A damp rubber glove is arguably the most effective tool specifically for removing embedded hair from plush and faux fur fabrics. The friction of rubber against fabric creates a static-like effect that attracts hair, pulling it out of the pile and collecting it into easy-to-grab clumps.

How to use it:

Put on a standard rubber household glove (the kind used for washing dishes)
Dampen slightly with water — damp rubber is more effective than dry
Run your hand over the fabric surface in firm circular motions
Hair will clump together in rolls that you can easily pick up and discard
Rinse the glove periodically to remove the collected hair and continue

This method works best on plush, faux fur, and velvet-style fabrics where hair embeds deeply. It's less effective on canvas or nylon outer fabrics, where a stiffer brush works better.

Method 4: Rubber Pet Hair Brush or Broom

Effectiveness: ★★★★☆ | Time: 2–3 minutes

Rubber pet hair brushes and rubber-bristle brooms work on the same principle as the rubber glove — friction between rubber and fabric attracts and collects hair. Brushes are more ergonomic than gloves for covering large areas and work well on both plush and flat fabric surfaces.

Use firm, short strokes in one direction to gather hair into rows, then collect and discard. Work in sections across the entire surface. The FURemover brush and similar rubber pet hair removal tools are widely available and highly effective for this purpose.

For heavy duty canvas or Oxford fabric beds where a rubber glove is less effective, a stiff rubber bristle brush provides the surface contact needed to pull hair from the woven texture.

Method 5: Lint Roller (Best for Light Surface Hair)

Effectiveness: ★★★☆☆ | Time: 2–3 minutes

A lint roller is the right tool for removing the final layer of light surface hair after vacuuming — the short, fine hairs that remain after the bulk has been removed. It's not the right tool for a heavily hair-covered bed as a standalone method because it fills up quickly and doesn't penetrate to embedded hair.

Use it as a finishing step: after vacuuming and/or using a rubber glove, do a lint roller pass over both sides to pick up the short fine hairs that remain. This is particularly useful for short-haired breed owners — breeds like Labradors, Beagles, and Boxers shed fine, stiff hairs that work their way into fabric and are hard to remove by other methods.

Keep extra lint roller sheets on hand — you'll go through several sheets on a well-used dog bed.

Method 6: Clothes Dryer Pre-Dry (Surprisingly Effective)

Effectiveness: ★★★★☆ | Time: 10 minutes

This method surprises many people: run the dog bed through a 10-minute tumble dry cycle on low heat or no heat (air fluff) before washing. The tumbling action loosens embedded hair, the heat (even on low) causes hair to release from fabric fibers, and the dryer's lint trap collects a significant amount of it.

How to do it:

Shake the bed outside first to remove loose debris
Place in the dryer on air fluff or low heat for 10 minutes
Remove, shake outside again, and collect the loosened hair
Clean the lint trap (it will be full)
Proceed with your normal vacuum/glove method for remaining hair
Then wash as normal

This method is especially effective for thick faux fur beds where hair embeds deeply in the pile. The combination of tumbling and airflow loosens hair that mechanical methods struggle to reach. Clean the lint trap thoroughly — a full lint trap is a fire hazard in the dryer.

Method 7: Damp Sponge or Squeegee

Effectiveness: ★★★☆☆ | Time: 2–3 minutes

A slightly damp sponge or a window squeegee dragged across fabric surfaces creates friction that collects hair in clumps, similar to the rubber glove method but covering larger areas more quickly. This works particularly well on flat fabric surfaces like cushion tops and rectangular mats.

Use the flat edge of the squeegee in firm, short strokes across the fabric. Hair gathers in rows at the squeegee edge that can be easily picked up. A damp sponge works the same way with circular motions. Both methods are budget-friendly and effective — especially useful if you don't have a rubber pet hair brush.

The Best Pre-Wash Hair Removal Routine

For the most thorough hair removal before washing, combine methods in this sequence:

Shake outside — remove loose surface debris (1 min)
10-minute dryer pre-dry on air fluff — loosen embedded hair (10 min); clean lint trap after
Shake outside again — remove loosened hair (1 min)
Vacuum with upholstery attachment, both sides — remove the bulk of embedded hair (3–5 min)
Rubber glove pass — collect remaining embedded hair, especially in plush areas (2–3 min)
Lint roller finish — pick up short fine surface hairs (1–2 min)

Total time: approximately 20 minutes. This level of prep is worth it for heavily hair-covered beds or before a laundromat visit. For regular home washing of a moderately hair-covered bed, steps 1, 4, and 5 are usually sufficient.

How to Keep Hair Off the Bed Between Washes

While no approach eliminates dog hair entirely (especially with heavy shedders), a few habits reduce accumulation between washes:

Brush your dog regularly — the most effective long-term solution; less loose hair on your dog means less hair on the bed. During heavy shedding seasons, daily brushing makes a noticeable difference
Vacuum the bed every 2–3 days — regular vacuuming prevents hair from embedding deeply into the fabric, making each pre-wash prep faster and easier
Use a washable cover — if your bed has a removable cover, washing the cover more frequently keeps hair levels lower and reduces how much reaches the inner cushion
Choose faux fur fabric — counterintuitively, faux fur releases hair more easily than many woven fabrics because the pile doesn't grip individual hairs as tightly. Rubber glove and vacuum methods both work extremely well on faux fur

What Happens If You Don't Remove Hair Before Washing

If you skip the pre-wash hair removal, here's what typically happens:

Hair clumps together in the wash water and forms matted balls on the fabric surface
Some hair gets pushed deeper into the fill by the wash water pressure
Hair that escapes the fabric collects in the drain filter; a heavy enough load can partially or fully clog it, triggering a machine error
After drying, the bed may have patches of matted hair that weren't visible before washing — and these are significantly harder to remove than the original loose hair
At a laundromat, other users find the machine filled with hair — a significant etiquette violation that makes laundromats less welcoming to pet owners generally

Taking 10–20 minutes to remove hair before washing avoids all of these problems and produces a genuinely cleaner result.

Choosing a Bed That's Easier to De-Hair

Fabric type significantly affects how easy or difficult it is to remove dog hair. The easiest fabrics to de-hair before washing:

Faux fur — rubber glove and vacuum methods both work extremely well; hair tends to sit on top of the pile rather than embedding in woven fibers
Smooth polyester — lint rollers and rubber brushes work very effectively on smooth surfaces
Short-pile plush — vacuums well; rubber glove collects remaining hair easily

The most difficult fabrics to de-hair:

Tightly woven canvas or Oxford fabric — short hairs embed in the weave and require a stiff rubber brush and thorough vacuuming
Corduroy or ribbed fabrics — hair lodges in the ridges and is very difficult to fully remove
Thick terry or toweling — loops grip hair firmly; requires the dryer pre-dry method combined with vigorous brushing

The Winter Warm Pet Bed's premium faux fur exterior is one of the easiest fabrics to de-hair before washing — a quick rubber glove pass and vacuum removes the vast majority of hair in minutes. The entire bed is then machine washable on a cold gentle cycle, making the full cleaning routine as quick and low-friction as possible.

👉 Shop the Winter Warm Pet Bed →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the fastest way to remove dog hair from a dog bed?
A 10-minute dryer pre-dry on air fluff followed by a rubber glove pass is the fastest effective method. The dryer loosens embedded hair and the rubber glove collects it quickly. For light hair coverage, just a rubber glove pass takes 2–3 minutes.

Does dog hair dissolve in the washing machine?
No. Dog hair does not dissolve or break down in a washing machine. It clumps together when wet and can clog drain filters. Always remove as much hair as possible before washing.

Can a washing machine handle dog hair?
A standard washing machine can handle small amounts of dog hair, but large amounts can clog the drain filter and cause machine issues. Pre-removing hair before washing protects the machine and produces a better clean.

Why is there more dog hair on the bed after washing?
Hair that wasn't removed before washing clumps together during the wash cycle and redeposits on the fabric surface as the water drains. What looks like more hair is actually the same hair rearranged into more visible clumps. Remove hair before washing to prevent this.

Is a rubber glove better than a lint roller for dog hair?
For embedded hair in plush and faux fur fabrics, yes — the rubber glove creates friction that pulls hair from deep in the pile. A lint roller is better for short, fine surface hairs on flat or smooth fabrics. Use both for the most complete result.

The Bottom Line

Removing dog hair from a dog bed before washing takes 10–20 minutes and makes a significant difference in both the wash result and the health of your machine. The most effective combination: shake outside, run a 10-minute dryer pre-dry, vacuum with an upholstery attachment, follow with a rubber glove pass, and finish with a lint roller. For regular maintenance between washes, vacuuming the bed every few days prevents hair from embedding deeply and makes each pre-wash prep faster.

For a bed that's easy to de-hair and machine wash, the Winter Warm Pet Bed's faux fur exterior and PP cotton fill are designed for practical, low-friction cleaning.