How to Clean Bed Pillows

The first key to cleaning a bed's pillows is to determine what kind of materials they're made of. Feather and down filled pillows, which have been around nearly forever. are gaining in popularity again. Foam pillows and the newer foam memory pillows are also hot. There are also lots of manmade fiber fill and polyester filled pillows. It's gotten to be a regular science to buy a pillow as well as to clean one.

Things You'll Need

• Gentle liquid hand washables laundry detergent
• Vinegar
• Tennis balls or sneakers

Instructions

1. Know why you should clean bed pillows. If you or anyone in the house has allergies, know that pillows are magnets for dust mites and their feces, sloughed off skin and house dust. Your pillows can weight as much as 50 percent more than they should with all these unhealthy additions. This is a disastrous condition for anyone with allergies. Allergists recommend washing bed pillows as often as once a month and changing pillow cases as often as every other day for people with severe allergies. This will cut down on allergies a great deal. Even if you don't have allergies, breathing in all these little nasties should be reason enough to wash the pillows at least every three or four months.

2. Know what your pillow is made of. Fiber contents vary greatly so you need to know what you're working with. For polyester of manmade fiberfill you can wash them in the washing machine. Generally, two pillows will fit together for a balanced load but you may have to wash king sized pillows separately. If the basket is not balanced, add a small bath towel to even it up.

3. Wash manmade pillows on the gentle cycle. Only allow the machine to agitate for a few minutes. Let the pillows spin for a few minutes and check them. Take them out as soon as they aren't soaking wet. Put them into the dryer on low heat with a fabric softener sheet for the fresh smell and a couple of tennis balls or sneakers to help them get nice and fluffy. Take them out as soon as they're dry and they should look and smell like new.

4. Wash down pillows in the washing machine. Use a liquid detergent made for hand washing and allow it to mix in the water before adding your pillows. It's hard to get soap out of down so be careful to use only the recommended amount for about two sinks full of water. You may have to stuff the pillows in since they hold a great deal of air. As long as they aren't in there tightly crammed (which should only happen with large pillows and a small washer), it's all right. Don't wash more than two at a time.

5. Let down pillows soak for two or three hours and squeeze them every once in a while as it's very hard to get the down inside really wet. Once they seemed soaked, turn the machine on the gentle cycle and add a couple of sneakers of tennis balls to prevent the pillows from bunching up in the corners. Dry down pillows in the dryer on a medium high to high setting along with your tennis balls or shoes. Check on them and fluff them every so often if they seem a little scrunched up. Take them out and fluff them and put them back in the dryer until they're dry. You can hang them outside, but turn them and fluff them often to prevent bunching.

6. Clean foam and memory foam pillows in the sink by hand. These don't do well in the washing machine. Fill a large sink or the bathtub with water, a little mild hand washing liquid detergent and set them in the water after the soap mixes well with the water. Get the pillows good and wet with your hands by gently squeezing them--never wring these pillows as they will not lie properly afterwards. Let them soak a little and then rinse them with warm water. Add vinegar by pouring it on with the water (it helps to take the soap suds out) and let the water run until it runs clear.

7. Wash feather pillows in the sink or tub as well but you will have to really wring and squeeze these because they are very hard to wet thoroughly. Let them soak for fifteen minutes and go and agitate them some more. Do this a few times (less if you've washed them recently) and then, adding vinegar again, rinse until the water runs clear. You can put these in the dryer on hot and don't forget your tennis balls or shoes. Check on the pillows every ten minutes or so and fluff them and shake them out well before putting them in the dryer again. Feather pillows may take a while to dry but make sure they're completely dry or they may take on a musty smell.

Tips & Warnings

• Leave pillows in the sun for a few hours once they're good and dry and they'll smell wonderful. The sun also has a bleaching effect on them.

• Make sure bed pillows dry completely or they make take on a musty smell and you'll have to start over washing them.