Can You Wash a Sheepskin Rug in the Washing Machine?
Only some genuine sheepskin rugs can be machine washed, and even then it is risky. A washing machine can harden the leather backing, strip the wool's natural lanolin and cause shrinking or matting. If you do machine wash, use a wool or delicate cycle, cold water and mild wool detergent — never hot water, fabric softener or a tumble dryer. For valuable pieces, professional cleaning is far safer.
Can You Actually Put a Sheepskin Rug in the Machine?
It depends on the backing and the manufacturer’s label. A genuine sheepskin rug is a single animal hide — wool on one side, a leather pelt on the other — so it behaves nothing like a synthetic rug. Some smaller hides with a treated leather backing are labelled machine washable, but many (especially suede-backed pieces) are strictly dry clean only. The golden rule: check the care label first. If there is no label, or the rug is a large multi-pelt piece, an antique, or sentimental, treat it as not machine washable. Submerging a real pelt in a tumbling drum is the single most common way people accidentally ruin their sheepskin, so it should be a last resort rather than a first option.
What a Washing Machine Can Do to the Wool and Leather
The biggest risk is to the leather backing. Once a pelt is fully soaked it can dry stiff, curl and lose its shape — a hardening sometimes called ‘boarding’ — because water strips the natural oils from the hide. The wool suffers too: hot water and agitation shrink and felt the fibres, and every wash removes lanolin, the natural oil that keeps a sheepskin soft and lustrous. Wash it too often and the pile goes dull, coarse and matted. Heat is the enemy at every stage — hot water, a hot cycle and especially a tumble dryer can shrink the hide and make it brittle. Fabric softener also damages the wool’s natural softness, so it should never be used.
The Safer Way to Wash a Sheepskin at Home
If your rug is genuinely washable and you want to do it yourself, hand washing is gentler than the machine. Use cold water and a small amount of wool-specific detergent in a tub, gently squeezing the suds through the pile rather than scrubbing, which prevents matting. If you must use the machine, choose a wool or delicate cycle, cold water (no warmer than 30°C), no fabric softener, and wash the rug on its own. Never wring it — press out excess water and flat or line dry in the shade, away from heaters and direct sun. While the leather is still slightly damp, shake and gently flex it to keep the backing supple. Skip the dryer entirely.
When to Leave It to the Professionals
Honestly, for any sheepskin you care about, machine washing is a gamble that often ends with a stiff, shrunken hide. Professional cleaning removes that risk. At Premier Rug Cleaning we have spent 29 years caring for delicate natural-fibre rugs, and our IICRC-certified technicians clean sheepskin off-site at our dedicated Yatala immersion-wash facility, using fibre-appropriate methods that protect the lanolin, the pile and the leather backing, then drying it under controlled conditions so it comes back soft — not boarded. We offer free pickup and delivery across South East QLD and the Northern Rivers NSW, so you never have to risk it in your own machine. Request a free quote to have your sheepskin cleaned safely.
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