How can I clean a feather pillow? Can I wash it in the washing machine?
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Answers:
Go to a dry cleaner and ask them to run it through a "green clean". There's no Perc in it and it's totally non-toxic. It also doesn't cause the little feathers to pop out of the ticking like machine washing would.
Your alternative is to put the pillow in a large garbage bag and add 2 boxes of baking soda and 1 large container of salt. I add a few drops of lavender when it's for me. Shake it up and let it sit for a week, reshaking once or twice a day.
It removes all the smells from the pillow, cleans the ticking pretty decently, and all you do when you're done is shake out the pillow and slip it in a satin cover before putting the pillow case back on.
Get it drycleaned. The regular washing machine can tear the pillow.
Perchloroethylene does not dry out of feather pillows or the "ticking" (white cotton) cover well. However, it is the most gentle on the fabric. Washing the pillows is possible. I washed mine a number of time, but the ticking did finally tear and i had to clean out the washing machine. Washing removes oil (sebum) like dry cleaning does, and blood and sweat too that dry cleaning does not.
The ultimate way to clean a feather pillow is expensive and sometimes it's better to just buy a new one. It's called Pillow Rejuvenation. They take the feathers out of the pillow, put them in a special machine, wash them, and then put them in a new ticking. 10 years ago it ran $15-$24 in Denver, I don't know the price now because I just wash mine.
If you do wash them use as little soap as possible because you don't want to rinse hard. Do a gentle cycles, soaking a lot to allow the soap to work. Dry low in the dryer, shaking every 10 minutes to work out the lumps. It's great.
I will put my pillows in the dryer for 20 min on high heat as this will kill dust mites etc. In the summer I hang them on the line and let the sun disinfect them. I don't like dry cleaning as they use chemicals. Some feather pillows can be washed and dried with a couple of tennis balls that beat them up and keep them fluffy. Maybe Marthe Stewart has something on her web site.
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