We use a transient-grating (TG) process in a Kerr bulk medium to clean a femtosecond laser pulse. Using the technique, the temporal contrast of the generated TG signal is improved by more than two orders of magnitude in comparison with the incident pulse in a 0.5-mm-thick fused silica plate. The laser spectrum is smoothed and broadened, and the pulse duration is shortened simultaneously. We expect to extend this technique to a clean pulse with broadband spectral bandwidth at a wide spectral range because it is a phase-matched process.