Can you put pillows in the washing machine?

[Trekker4747]

I have pillows from my bed. They're... dirty.

How do you wash pillows? Can you put them in a washing machine or is this bad for them, the machine and further nearly impossible to dry them in the dryer?

Please tell me I don't have to buy new pillows. I don't want to have to break in pillows, these pillows are perfectly worn and comfortable.

 

[Lindley]

You can stick them in the wash. They usually, but not always, survive. Drying them is also not much of a problem.

 

[TheSeeker]

I've washed my pillows before and have been quite pleased with the reults. They are foam pillows though. I'm not sure I would try it with feather pillows.

 

[SicOne]

You can dry feather pillows, but be sure to check your lint trap afterwards as it will be chock-full of lint and feathers.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Just check the tags, but yeah, I throw my pillows in the washer. A front-loader is probably best so you don't have a spindle rubbing against it, but I've never had a pillow fall apart from that.

 

[Trekker4747]

Yeah, the tags are my pillows are long gone, which probably mean I'll go to prison or something. But they feel like they're foam pillows -certainly aren't feather- so I'll give them a shot.

 

[An Officer]

I wouldn't worry too much about new pillows. They have such a vast choice in most decent size department stores that you'll be sure to find equal or better than your own. I've had pillows come out okay after machine washing, and others that became lumpy and unsalvageable, it's going to be a throw of the dice without tags.

I was very sad about having to replace my last set of pillows, as I was sure they couldn't be beaten, but was surprised to find something even better! And the quality of my sleep is still thanking me for it. You never know what you might find...

 

[RoJoHen]

I've never had a problem washing my pillows.

 

[propita]

I wash mine on express wash, but very hot. Mine are foam. Front loader washer.

 

[J.T.B.]

Washing is fine, if you put them in the dryer put a couple of tennis balls in with them, they will beat the stuffing down so it doesn't clump up.



Justin

 

[Holdfast]

The topic is timely however, as I need to have mine cleaned soon. I have feather pillows, and would not want to stick them in the washer-dryer. I suspect all the feathers would just clump together and never really dry out.

I seem to recall watching a programme where someone recommended that if you do stick them in a machine, use the most gentle wash programme you have, and stick a couple of tennis balls in there too, so there's something solid-ish to keep fluffing them up and moving the contents about evenly while they're in there.

I asked my local dry cleaner how they clean pillows. She said that the best way they do it is to actually slice open the old pillow-covering, ozone the feathers, and then sew them into a brand new pillow-covering. Same for duvets. She reckoned there was just too much chance of clumping if you try cleaning the pillow in the usual way.

Of course, foam pillows may be different.

 

[Balrog]

No tags? I'm calling the FBI...

 

[Cmdr_Blop]

For what it's worth... I once put my pillows in the washin' machine.

It wasn't the best of ideas that I've had.

IDK how you guys got it to work well, but my own pillows came out misshapen, and they would not "fluff it out" to resume their original form.

 

[Trekker4747]

Well, my pillows came out.... mostly okay. Though it does seem the foam stuff inside of them has bunched or clumped up during the washing machine process.

 

[Balrog]

For what it's worth... I once put my pillows in the washin' machine.

It wasn't the best of ideas that I've had.

IDK how you guys got it to work well, but my own pillows came out misshapen, and they would not "fluff it out" to resume their original form.

That's because it wasn't a pillow. It was the cat.

 

[Spot's Meow]

As for feather pillows, I have a down comforter that the tag says I can put in the washer and dryer on gentle cycles...when it first comes out of the dryer the feathers are clumped together, but after a couple of days all returns to normal (for reasons unknown to me). I haven't tried my feather pillows in the washer/dryer, but maybe the process would be the same.

 

[Ghost07]

I have always been told that to clean feather pillows...get a large trash bag, put a pillow in it, pour in some baking soda, then use the vacuum hose and vacuum all the air out. the baking soda makes the pillow smell fresh and clean, and nothing gets wet.

 

[Trekker4747]

That's "deodorizing" them, not cleaning them. Cleaning being used to remove stains, and actually remove any odor-causing substances/organisms from the pillow.

Even "dry cleaning" uses a solution of some-sort to actually clean something. Sucking sodium-bicarb through something isn't doing a heck of a lot of "cleaning."

 

[Starbreaker]

No tags? I'm calling the FBI...

No need. They've been camped outside of his home for weeks after he used an aerosol can improperly.