How Do I Clean Pet Bedding to Kill Fleas and Ticks?

Fleas and ticks at every life stage — egg, larva, pupa, and adult — die reliably when exposed to water at or above 130°F (54°C). The catch is that most residential water heaters are factory-set closer to 120°F, which isn't hot enough on its own. Use your washer's 'hot' or 'sanitize' setting, and check the bedding's care label first — some pet beds are cold-water-only, in which case the dryer is doing most of the real killing (see below), or it may be worth replacing an old bed with a washable, heat-tolerant one.

A tumble dryer's drum runs well above the roughly 104°F (40°C) lethal threshold for fleas and ticks, and a sustained 30-plus-minute high-heat cycle desiccates and kills every stage — including cocooned pupae that may have survived the wash. Think of the washer as the cleaner and the dryer as the executioner: if you only have time or capacity for one hot step, make it the dryer.

Shaking loose hair, flea dirt, and debris off the bedding outdoors before washing cuts down the egg and larva load your machine has to deal with. Ordinary liquid detergent helps break down oils and rinse away flea dirt; an extra rinse cycle is worth adding for pets with sensitive skin. Because new eggs keep landing on the bedding every day a flea-carrying pet uses it, launder at least weekly during an active infestation and every one to two weeks afterward for prevention — one wash is a good start, not a finish line.

For beds, cushions, or toys that can't be laundered, a high-heat steam cleaner (steam runs roughly 160–200°F) kills on contact, or you can run the item through a hot dryer alone for the same heat effect without water. For heavily infested, low-value bedding, replacing it outright is often the fastest, cheapest fix.