How to Clean Down Feather Beds

Down feather beds are large and bulky. They are best spot-cleaned with a cloth soaked in Dawn dish soap or another detergent that's suitable for down. You can get away without cleaning your down feather bed if you place a cover over it to catch any stains, dust and debris. If an in-depth cleaning is necessary, find a laundromat with a commercial-sized, front-loading washer.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Dawn dish soap

1. Run a front-loading, extra-large commercial washer through a complete wash and rinse cycle without detergent. This will help clean any laundry detergent residue that might damage your down feather bed out of the machine.

2. Load the down feather bed into the washer and set it to the gentlest cycle possible with cold water. Add Dawn liquid dish soap, or a suitable down detergent like Down Wash, to clean the down without making it brittle. Remove the feather bed from the washer as soon as the cycle is complete.

3. Place the feather bed in a commercial-sized clothes dryer right away. Set the dryer to a "warm" setting, place at least six clean tennis balls inside the dryer and begin the cycle. Remove the feather bed from the dryer at the end of the cycle.

4. Shake out the feather bed to distribute the down. Place it back in the dryer and run the feather bed through another dryer cycle. Continue running the feather bed through the dryer until it's completely dry.

Tips & Warnings

• Once the down feather bed is completely dry, lay it out and use the palm of your hand to carefully push any down that may have clumped in the corners back into position.
• High temperatures in a commercial dryer may scorch the fabric or the down. Likewise, if you don't thoroughly dry the down, it may mildew.

References

• Pure and Natural
• Why Buy Down
• Down Bedding

Resources

• Down Wash