Nuances of washing pillows with other natural fillings
Pillows are often stuffed with other fillings of natural origin. Wool, bamboo and other types of fibers are popular. Such stuffing can be washed together with a duvet cover or separately, as down. Usually small pillows are washed without taking out the filling. Products of large size are difficult to wash as a whole, so the stuffing is taken out for washing.
Washing instructions: Wash and dry DOWN PILLOWS properly.
For natural wool and bamboo fiber an automatic program of delicate washing and an extra rinse is used. It is especially important to rinse thoroughly and liberally when the filling has not been removed from the duvet cover. Detergent residues may cause the fibres to stick together. This leaves the soft pillow stiff and uncomfortable.
Machine spinning is not recommended. It is better to leave the pillow for some time to let the water run off freely. Moisture residue can be removed by hand wringing. Wrapping with a towel, as in the case of feather, is also allowed. During drying bamboo or woolen pillow should be fluffed. If the filling has been removed, it needs to be straightened out before being placed in the duvet cover.
How you can wash a feather and down pillow at home?
Fresh bedding, clean pillow contents are one of the conditions for a restful, deep sleep. Who knows how to wash a feather pillow, can get rid of microscopic dust mites, which live in the contaminated stuffing and cause allergies.
How to Wash Feather Pillows. Without Ruining Them
Some people prefer to turn this troublesome task over to dry cleaners. But washing at home has its own advantages: saving the family budget, confidence in the use of safe tools.
The best time for this operation is spring or summer, when hot, sunny weather will be your ally.
How to wash a feather pillow?
A feather pillow is in every home. It is even passed down from generation to generation. Often we inherit such a dowry from our grandmothers. When used daily, pillows accumulate sweat, dust, and can develop microbes and even mites. This leads to ill health, disturbed sleep, may be allergic reactions.
Over time, the appearance of such products deteriorates greatly, the filling is knocked down, and the pillow becomes almost flat. To prevent this from happening, we need to change feather pillows every 3 years. And wash at least once every six months.
In this article we will try to help deal with the question of how exactly to wash a feather pillow at home.
How to wash feather pillows at home
The feather pillow is a real treasure, often handed down from generation to generation. And the longer it is used, the more it needs cleaning. A pillow that is used for sleeping accumulates dirt, dust, sweat, and mites; it loses not only its attractive appearance but also gets an unpleasant smell and becomes dangerous to health. Otherwise your sleep will not be as pleasant and your rest will not be full at night.
Steam Cleaning
One method of cleaning is steam cleaning. You will need a steam cleaner or an ordinary steam iron.
Little known method of care for feather pillows.
- A pillow should be fixed in an upright position.
- Steam the surface of the product on both sides.
- Repeat the process three more times at 10-15 minute intervals.
- Dry it by hanging it in the sun.
- After drying, spread the filler by hand.
Steam cleaning, while not similar to washing, will still protect and refresh your bedding.
Steam cleaning is not a full-fledged laundry. It only secures and refreshes products. Steam kills dust mites, germs, and bacteria. The pillow becomes clean and takes on a fresh and pleasant fragrance.
The hot steamer air is harmful to microorganisms, bacteria, and dust mites.
Preparing to wash
Before you wash a pillow, inspect it, prepare a container, pouches, tie-downs, and laundry detergent, and read these instructions.
Whip out the pillow and place feathers in the pouches
- Remove Dust from a Pillow. The better you knock or vacuum it out, the less dirt will leak into the filler and the better the results.
- Open the seam a little, spread the down and feathers into small bags, tie each one tightly. The bags should not be too tightly packed so that the detergent solution can easily penetrate the thickness of the filler. Wash by hand or in a washing machine.
IMPORTANT: during dry cleaning (sifting, disinfecting) up to 40% of down is lost because the most of it in an old pillow is broken or stained.
- Volume loss 20. 30%.
- Remember washing pillows does not get rid of broken feathers which pierce stuffing and disturb sleeping.
- The technology does not disinfect the stuffing. What is good about dry cleaning is that the down, feather is sorted, cleaned from debris and scrap, undergoes disinfection by UV rays.
Choosing your laundry detergents
Buy a liquid detergent for textiles. You will make rinsing easier, which is very important in bed care. Otherwise, detergent left in the filler will become a constant source of harmful fumes.
Properly washing pillows in the washing machine
The first thing to answer the question is whether you can wash pillows in a washing machine, if there is an organic filler inside them. Here it all depends on your preferences. it is considered that the organic content has a very limited lifespan, so it is advisable not to bother with washing, and buy new pillows or filler separately. Therefore determine for yourself whether you can wash feather pillows in the washing machine. it is not forbidden, it all comes down to the expediency of the action.
To wash correctly a pillow is a simple science, which can be learned in a few minutes, which should be spent reading and remembering the following simple rules, which must be followed:
- Set the water temperature to no more than 30 degrees. You should be especially attentive to the temperature mode when washing pillows with organic fillings. hot water is very harmful for them.
- What mode should I use when washing a pillow?? If there are no special modes in the machine, choose the most delicate one. If you have a hand wash or swan down mode, make the right choice.
- Set the spin speed to the minimum (no more than 400) or turn it off completely.
- Choose a good detergent. Can you wash a down feather pillow in regular laundry detergent? It is not recommended, it is better to choose detergents for delicate garments. Also on sale you can find laundry detergents designed for washing feather and down fillings.
Now you understand how to wash feather pillows in the washing machine. There is another option. hand washing, which has one major advantage. the down in the process of washing by hand is not knocked down. You can learn more about this later, but now we need to understand how often to wash a pillow. The answer will depend not only on the conditions of use of the product, but also on the material used for filling. The correlation is this:
- Anti-stress pillows. These products are great to handle loads, you can wash them from 5 times a year.
- Down and feather pillows. It is recommended to clean such pillows from 2 to 4 times in one year, not more often.
- Bamboo products. Very durable pillows that are not loved by mites. Can be washed at least 6 times a year.
- Synthetic pillows. It is recommended to wash as infrequently as possible, or change regularly for new ones.
How to wash pillows you already know, but how to properly approach the process of drying? It’s time to figure it out.
Many people think that you can not wash down pillows in the machine. this is most likely due to the fact that we are used to seeing our grandmother in the village, just dry them on the fence. But we hasten to please you, if you do not have time and space to dry the product, you can wash it in a washing machine. But it must be done correctly, so prepare carefully for this process:
- Buy special covers for washing feather products. Can be sewn yourself;
- If you have a small pillow, it can be washed as a whole, without the use of covers;
- Unwrap the pillow and remove the filler;
- Place the filling in the pouches/covers and sew them up.
By the way, the less fluff and feathers will be in a single cover, the better will be the result of washing. If you don’t have covers or pouches, use old pillowcases. In addition, we recommend that you purchase PVC balls with spikes. They should be added to the drum of the machine so that feathers and fluff are not knocked down.
Choosing a Detergent
We would like to say right away that do not choose detergents with strong fragrance. Very intrusive smell can cause a headache. If you will be washing the pillow in an automatic machine, choose a detergent for delicate items or a detergent for washing things made of down and feather. Be sure to use an extra rinse to remove detergent residue from the filler.
Of course you could also use a modern liquid laundry gel. But they have too concentrated an odor, which can interfere with a comfortable sleep.
Ways to wash your pillows at home
There are three basic ways to clean feather and down pillows at home:
How to Wash a Down Feather Pillow at Home
Let’s consider each method of washing in detail.
By hand
Handwashing is similar to classic feather cleaning. Follow the scheme below and you will not encounter any problems:
- Never add more than 40 degrees centigrade water to the basin.
- Dissolve detergent in water (above we wrote what is better to choose for hand washing).
- Put filler in soapy water. If you have a large pillow, it’s best to divide the feather and down into several parts. The filler must float in the solution, and not lie in a layer.
- Leave the filler in the solution for 2 hours.
- Pick up the fluff and rinse it under running water.
- Prepare another soap solution and repeat this procedure.
- Rub the filler with your hands. Do it carefully.
- Rinse the feather under running water until the detergent has washed out.
- Squeeze out the clean filler and spread it out on a towel to dry.
In an automatic machine
An alternative method and faster. washing a pillow in the machine. To do this, simply follow the following procedure:
- As in the first option. divide the filler into several fills.
- Put the product in a drum with a tennis ball.
- Pour or pour detergent. If you are using loose powders, 50 g is enough.
- Set the mode “delicate wash”, “down comforter” or “hand wash”.
- Water temperature should not exceed 40 degrees.
- Choose a spin on low speed, up to 400 rpm. If your machine doesn’t have this feature, drain the water and squeeze the down and feather by hand.
How to dry a feather down pillow?
Surely you are familiar with the rules of drying down jackets. So, with a pillow filler we do the same. Pre-ravel the clumps of clumping, spread out in a warm place, shaking constantly. Approximate drying time of 2 days.
Clean, dry fluff put in a washed or new cover and sew the seam firmly.
That’s all! A little patience and you can forget about the washing for 4-6 months. It is with this interval that doctors recommend caring for the product, so that it does not breed mites.
