Dog Community

YOUR DIRTY DOG BLANKETS- WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THEM!

Posted : 7/27/2006 4:43:52 AM

Hi There,

this is my first post and would appreciate any feedback from all you fellow dog owners regarding what you guys do with your dirty dog blankets.

i have a black labrdor called chester who is now 10yrs old, luv him to bits but as he's getting older he seems to be shedding more hairs and in the winter brings in more muck.

over a couple of weeks his blanket can smell and get caked in hairs and dirt, not somthing you would put in your washing mashine hence another new blanket purchase. $$$£££

what i would like to know for my research is :-

HOW OFTEN DO YOU REPLACE YOUR DOGS BLANKET

HOW MUCH DO YOU SPEND ON NEW BLANKETS EACH TIME

HOW OFTEN DO YOU WASH YOUR BLANKET.

the reason for asking is i may have come up with a brilliant idea to save dog lovers a load of cash and keep your dog in comfort longer plus the added bonus of never having to pick out dog hairs from the washing machine ever again.

PLEASE NOTE THIS ONLY APPLIES TO THE STANDARD OVAL PLASTIC DOG BASKETS "small-medium-large" BUT MY IDEA SHOULD BE OK FOR NON USERS OF THIS ITEM, JUST NOT AS EFFECTIVE................

many thanx pete!!!!!!!

hayley018

Posted : 7/27/2006 4:54:54 AM

I don't let my dogs get that dirty in the first place [

] and their beds and blankets are as clean as mine. I wouldn't have a yucky dog bed or blanket in my house. The blakets cost me about $5 a time. So far they have 1 each and the blanket is washed with their beds when I change the bedding in my house.The beds cost $75 each.
My dogs are brushed daily and so their isnt hair everywhere. You should probably brush and wash your dog then you wouldn't have this problem and need to come up with a money saving idea .

pete coates

Posted : 7/27/2006 5:23:18 AM

point taken but i do work shifts and washing and brushing my dog may not be as regular as youself.

spiritdogs

Posted : 7/27/2006 6:03:51 AM

You could take your dog to a professional groomer on a Saturday morning, go home - sleep in - and pick him up later nice and tidy. [

]

Or, you could call a service that cleans horse blankets - they don't care about hair, believe me! They usually pick up and deliver here, but I don't know about your area.

Brushing your dog daily as part of the morning routine will stop a lot of the shedding (get a hound glove, or a horse curry glove), and then you will only have to wash a non-hairy blanket filled with Lab oil. Use Petastic, Nature's Miracle, Simple Solution, or whatever enzymatic cleaner is available where you live, in the wash water. Then, if you don't like the result and want to buy him a new one, at least you can safely donate the old ones to your local pound or animal shelter.

Vivian

Posted : 7/27/2006 7:08:06 AM

Also, my dog does not get that dirty, and if the blankets were that dirty I'd just throw them away. I do that with my cats hairy cat blankets, I buy them at the dollar store and when they get hairy, I throw them away. You can find blankets or baby blankets at yard sales too.

marynh

Posted : 7/27/2006 7:28:36 AM

I wash Molly's blankets and crate pad on a regular basis and often the covering from her bed along with the sheets covering the back seat of my car.
If her bedding got that nasty I'd take them to a laundromat (which I hate going to) for the wash and bring it home to dry it rather than spend $$ on new ones.
I am a cheap Yank I firmly believe in reduce, reuse, recycle although if something were torn to shreds I would replace. And when my Sadie dog was leaking all over the place I did have to buy new throw rugs (her chosen area to sleep)

dasher

Posted : 7/27/2006 7:32:39 AM

I also wash the dogs' beds on a regualr basis so they don't get yucky. Lille, our lab gets her beds washed frequently as she sheds a lot more than Dasher and she has become incontinent in her old age. I agree that brushing regularly helps a ton in reducing shedding. If I did not brush Lille on a regular basis our house would look like a giant dust bunny [

]

tina robinson

Posted : 7/27/2006 8:17:59 AM

I would get a bed that is made out of a fabric that doesn't allow the mud to soak in, I have seen them made by rogz. They are kinda pricey, but they have covers that can easily go in the washer after you shake most stuff off outside.

Or if you want you could take the blanket to a landrymat that has the big washers and wash it there.
[linkhttp://www.rogz.com/catalogue.asp]http://www.rogz.com/catalogue.asp[/link]
the catalog for rogz

huskymom

Posted : 7/27/2006 9:15:05 AM

I have huskies, so although they shed alot, they do not retain much as far as odour goes. I throw their bedding in the dryer before I wash them. It takes off most of the hair so the washer doesn't get clogged with it.

cyclefiend2000

Posted : 7/27/2006 9:18:19 AM

if ours are too hairy, we take them to the laundry-mat. maybe even run a couple of cycles if necessary. but usually we wash their bedding pretty regularly, so it isnt that big of a deal.

amstaffy

Posted : 7/27/2006 9:32:47 AM

I have a dirt magnant-MARKIE!!
For a show dog this boy gets dirtier then any of my other dogs. He leaves more then a ring around the drain WEEKLY when he gets his bath for the weekends showing.
I was my bedding in our washer, I use fleece pads in the crates and for the dog beds I use the local laundamat as those are too big for our washer.

I have learned because my dogs are mostly light in color to wash the dog bedding, wash whites then wash color clothes. I also pre wash the dog bedding and use Oxy clean with my detergent.

John Doe

Posted : 7/27/2006 10:46:16 AM

Chester: I worked shift for 14yrs so I feel your pain, and the idea of getting out of bed, dropping a dog off, going back to bed never really works and is extremely hard to do. What I use to do was set aside one day a week that I had off to deal with all demestic chorse. ie, the dogs, the washing, the house clean ect ect. Then once I finsihed it all....head for the pub to start the wind down before it all started again. May be an idea that will help.

As far as the cost of a new blanket, and how often its changed....I have a Mal, he wears his 24/7[

]

Terri

Posted : 7/27/2006 11:14:04 AM

I get clearance blankets from Walmart for $3 to put in their crates. I just buy a stack of them at a time, so I've got back ups. Loki chews holes in his, so they get replaced every couple of months. I wash them every couple of weeks. They're hairy and dirty, but I've never had a problem putting them in the washer.

As far as grooming, I brush both dogs 3-4 times a week as they shed all year long. They roll in the dirt outside and get pretty dirty, so brushing helps with that too. I try to bathe them about once a month.

tashakota

Posted : 7/27/2006 11:45:39 AM

We vacuum our dog beds/blankets/crate pads every week when we vacuum the house. The dogs get minimum of a bath a month, sometimes more and not very regular brushing. When the beds need washed, in the washer they go.

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Posted : 7/27/2006 12:11:27 PM

Max's blankets are, unfortunately, MY blankets too. [8D] He sheds like a hair demon, but I just toss the top blanket into the washing machine (NOT with the other laundry) and any hairs left behind wind up on the dryer filter. He doesn't really get terribly *dirty* - he just sheds a lot. I guess it's a good thing none of us are squeamish about dog hairs.[]

Joyce