Washable & Waterproof Dog Beds

A washable waterproof dog bed keeps liquid on the surface and comes clean in the machine. The beds, pads and blankets here start at $4.04.
Two jobs that sound like one. Washable means the cover unzips and goes in the machine. Waterproof means a coated or tightly woven layer keeps liquid out of the padding underneath. A bed can do either without the other, and each listing says which one applies.

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19 products

Twenty-two beds, and only four do both jobs

The exact split, because the page title hides it

Twenty-two items sit behind this page. Nine are washable and not waterproof. Nine are waterproof and not washable. Four are both. That last number is the one people arrive looking for, and it is small enough that it deserves saying up front rather than at the bottom of a filter.

This page shows all three groups together on purpose. If you know which single job you need, the separate pages are shorter and clearer.

Which one you need depends on what goes wrong

Hair, mud off a walk and the smell that builds over a season are a washing problem. An accident overnight, a wet dog straight through the door, or a bed that lives on a porch are a waterproofing problem. A puppy still learning tends to produce both at once, which is why the four that overlap exist.

The combination that lasts is a washable cover over a waterproof liner

The liner keeps the filling dry, the cover takes the dirt, and only the cover goes in the machine. Without a liner, filling that gets soaked takes days to dry all the way through and degrades where you cannot see it. The liner is the part you cannot add later. The cover is the part you can.

An exploded cross-section of cover, waterproof liner and filling, with a drop stopping at the liner and a single arrow taking only the cover to the machine.

Heat is what kills a coated layer, not the dog

Wash cool and air dry. A hot wash and a tumble dryer take a coating out faster than months of use will, and the failure is quiet: the fabric looks the same and simply stops beading. If a cover has started darkening where it used to bead, the coating has already gone at that spot.

The same coated fabric twice with identical texture: a drop beading after a cool wash and air dry, and soaking in after a hot wash and tumble dry.

If the bed is already there, a throw does most of this

A coated quilted throw over an existing bed gives you the waterproof layer and the washable layer in one piece, for a fraction of the price of replacing the bed. It is the right answer more often than the product pages admit, particularly for an older dog on a bed they already like.

The two problems, and which one you have

Hair, mud off a walk and the smell that builds over a season are a washing problem. An accident overnight, a wet dog straight through the door, or a bed on a porch are a waterproofing problem. They feel like one problem because both end with you looking at a dirty bed, and they have different answers.

A puppy still learning produces both at once, which is the only case where the four beds carrying both properties are clearly the right answer rather than the more expensive one.

Two problems that look the same on the surface reach different depths, and the depth is what decides which property you need.

Why four and not more

Because the two properties pull against each other in construction. A cover that comes off easily is cut loose enough to remove; a coated layer works best sealed and undisturbed. Building both into one bed means a liner under a cover, which is an extra layer, an extra seam and an extra cost.

Most suppliers pick one. Of the forty-five beds here, thirteen wash, thirteen are coated, four do both, and that last number being small is a fact about how these things are made rather than about what we chose to stock.

The overlap is small and the drawing makes it a size rather than a claim.

If the bed is already there

A coated quilted throw over a bed you already own gives you both layers in one piece for a fraction of the price of replacing the bed, and it goes in the machine on its own.

It is the right answer more often than product pages admit, and it is particularly right for an older dog who has already decided which bed is theirs and will not be persuaded by a new one.

One added layer does both jobs on a bed the dog has already accepted, and only that layer is drawn twice.

Questions people ask about washable & waterproof dog beds

Should I get a waterproof dog bed or use washable pads on top of the bed?

If the bed is less than a year old and your dog likes it, put a layer on top. A pad or fitted cover costs less than a new bed, and you wash a thin layer instead of a whole bed. The Fitted Quilted Dog Bed Cover ($29.67 to $65.81) pulls on like a fitted sheet, and the Non-Slip Incontinence Dog Blanket ($20.39 to $113.86) sits on top and goes in the wash. If the fill has already soaked through once, or your dog leaks most nights, start with a bed that is waterproof all the way in. The Waterproof Dog Sofa Bed with Inner Pad ($41.88 to $103.36) has a pad you lift out, and the Waterproof Covered Dog Bed ($69.21 to $73.29) has a coated shell that zips shut.

Which beds on this page can go in the washing machine?

Six products say so in their name or on their page: the Washable Memory Foam Dog Bed, the Washable Square Dog Sofa Bed, the Foam Dog Bed with Washable Cover, the Thick Flannel Paw Print Dog Mat, the Non-Slip Incontinence Dog Blanket and the Zippered Waterproof Bed Cover. For anything else here, check the care label before it goes in the machine.

What is the difference between washable and waterproof?

Washable is about cleaning: the cover comes off, or the whole thing fits in a machine. Waterproof is about protection: liquid stays on the surface and never reaches the fill. A washable bed with no waterproof layer still soaks up an accident. A waterproof bed with a cover that does not come off still has to be wiped down by hand. For a dog that has accidents, you want both, and that is what this page is for.

How do I keep a dog bed from smelling?

Smell comes from liquid that reached the fill. Once that happens, washing the cover alone does not fix it. A waterproof layer stops it before it starts, and a layer you can wash every few days keeps the surface fresh. The Thick Flannel Paw Print Dog Mat ($8.71 to $12.63) is quilted in a wide grid, so the filling stays in place through the wash.