No matter how many times I washed my dog blankets, they always came out of the dryer smelling like—well—dog. One time, I used the two-hour long “Sanitize” wash, followed by a second “Normal” wash, followed by a “rinse and spin” and they still smelled like dog.
I’d come to the conclusion that there was no possible way to get that dog smell out of my dog bedding, when someone on Reddit gave me a tip that actually worked.
Borax
Someone on the forum suggested putting a pinch of borax (ad) in the wash load with the dog blankets and your ordinary soap. I happened to have borax for making slime with, but never used it because I have an HE machine and a septic system to boot.
A bit of research revealed that borax is fine to use in high efficiency machines and with septic systems as well. A pinch of borax (about a teaspoon?) with a normal wash cycle removed the smell of dog from my blankets on the very first go.
Vinegar
Other people in the past have recommended vinegar. (ad) This is also safe for high efficiency machines and septic systems, but it didn’t help the way borax did. After further research, it seems that vinegar excels at removing dog urine.
Since my dogs don’t pee in the house, this smell isn’t part of the “Dog Fog” coming up off of my blankets, so probably why it didn’t help so much with my blankets.
If you do try this, most people recommended a 1:1 ratio of vinegar diluted in water added to your wash. Apple cider vinegar seems to be the favorite, but white vinegar works too.
Baking Soda
The Humane Society has yet another trick up their sleeve for getting rid of pet odors, and stains too. They recommend mixing a 1lb box of baking soda (ad) into your regular laundry soap, and washing the soiled laundry in that.
We haven’t tried that since Borax was so effective for us, in such a small amount. If you’ve had no luck with vinegar and Borax though, you might give this one a try.
Sunlight
The last trick up our sleeves for getting stink out of dog blankets is to air them out on a sunny day. Time spent outside lets some of that stinky dog smell escape, replaced with a fresh air smell. Light from the sun kills bacteria, dries out any moisture, and helps get rid of dog stink pretty quickly.
Do you have any tips for getting dog smell out of your laundry? Let us know in the comments below!
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Ah, great and timely post, especially this time of year when the dogs come in muddy, wet, and snowy! All three are great suggestions. For me, with my five Huskies, baking soda did work great! Sharing this with my readers!
We’ve been lucky in that we haven’t had a huge issue with dog smells not coming out of our blankets yet with our current detergent. Though, occasionally we do have to run them through twice and I have used baking soda in the past. Our biggest issue is the damp smell if we aren’t on top of making sure they dry fully right away!
This is great advice – I love all these! I have used baking soda for odors, especially tough dog odors for while now. Recently, my elderly dog had some pretty bad diarrhea that seemed impossible to remove, but a few rounds of the baking soda did the trick. Thanks for sharing these!
[…] If the dog blanket is super smelly and the smell doesn’t come out with a wash, check out our article on how to deal with stinky dog laundry. […]
[…] To remove dog smell fast, wash blankets with baking soda and vinegar. Use hot water and a strong detergent for best results. Dry blankets thoroughly in the sun to eliminate odors completely. […]