In this article, we will discuss how to wash pillows? Sweating is one of the most common reasons that your pillow turns yellow or get dirty. Our body tends to sweat continuously even when we are sleeping. Our body tries to keep a comfortable temperature by sweating. Sweat can seep through the fabric of your pillows, though it depends on the type of fabric your pillowcase is made from. As the sweat dries on the pillows, it usually leaves a yellow or dark stain on the pillows. Even if you are using pillow covers underneath your pillow cases, the yellow stains can still occur.
When the yellowing on your pillow gets really bad, you can either dispose the pillows and can buy a new one or you can read below to learn how to wash pillows. As buying pillows frequently can be an unnecessary expense and can be frustrating too. It is suggested to wash pillows at least twice a year. After you go through this article you will know how to systematically wash pillows in the house.
Things You Need to Wash Pillows at Home:
- Hot water
- One cup powdered dishwasher detergent.
- One cup of laundry detergent.
- One cup of bleach (you can go for some natural bleach as an alternative if you don’t. want to use chlorine bleach).
- Half cup of borax
Steps to Wash Pillows at Home
1.) Washing Your Pillows at Home
Directions to Wash Pillows:
- Before you wash your pillows, look for the care label to make sure that your pillow (down or synthetic) is suitable for the machine washed. Though most of the pillows are suitable for machine wash.
- Now to wash pillow, firstly remove the casing of pillow and other pillow protector it has.
- Then, fill your washing machine with up to one-third level with hot water. You can even add a couple of pans full of boiling water.
- Now, add all the ingredients (listed above) in the machine (or, if you are looking to wash your pillows, you can add detergent only).
- Now, run the machine and let it toss the mixture for a couple of minutes. This will make sure that all the ingredients dissolve properly before you start adding the pillows.
- Once the detergent is dissolved completely in the machine, you can start adding the pillows.
- Now, fill the washer with hot water to rest of the level. It is suggested to wash two pillows at one time. This will help in balancing the load when the machine will start a spin cycle.
- Leave the pillows in machine for a couple of minutes. And, then turn the pillows over to let the top side get the full effect of tossing in the hot water. Let them toss for several minute more.
- Run your machine again for the second rinse cycle. You can even run it twice manually.
2.) Drying Your Pillows at Home
In case you have down and feathers type of pillows, you can go for an air cycle. In case you have the synthetic type of pillows, dry them on the low heat setting. Here is the method to do it.
Directions to Dry Pillows at Home:
- After you are done with washing, keep your pillows in the dryer. Put a couple of tennis balls wrapped in clean socks.
- Instead of tennis balls you can use a few homemade dryer balls to help maintain the fluffiness of the pillows as they tumble dry.
- Apart from machine dry, you can also keep washed pillows outside in the sun to dry naturally.
Additional Tips to Maintain the Condition of your Pillows:
- You can check your pillows to see if you need to replace them. To check this, just fold the pillows in half. Is they stays in place, they have become too old and needs to be replaced. But, if your pillows get back to their original shape, then they are fine and just need a quick washing. It is suggested that you should change your pillows once every two years.
- It is recommended that you should wash your pillows two or three times in a year to get rid of bodily oils, sweat, dander, and dust accumulation.
- You can also wash your throw pillows on couches in the same manner like the pillows on your bed.
