November is here, and the cold temperatures are starting to creep in too! The temperatures overnight have been dipping towards freezing, and my lighter summertime bedding is not quite cutting it at this point. One of my household tasks this week will be swapping out my lighter bedding for my heavier winter blankets. But those blankets and pillows have been in storage for the past several months, and I like to clean them up a bit before putting them back on the bed.
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I figure that I’m probably not the only one thinking about getting their bed ready for the colder weather! So I thought it would be a good idea to share a few tips for cleaning and freshening your cold weather bedding items, like down blankets and pillows. You’ll enjoy those long winter’s naps much more if you have a clean comforter to cuddle up under! ;-)
5 Tips For Cleaning And Caring For Down Bedding
Cleaning Down Pillows
You should wash your down pillows in your washing machine every 3 to 6 months. Washing your pillows regularly removes bacteria and skin cells that can cause musty odors.
Cleaning Down Comforters
Launder your down comforters only as needed, up to twice a year at most. The washing process strips the feathers of their natural oils, which can affect the loft of the blanket.
Since down comforters can be really bulky, I recommend taking them to commercial laundromat to wash them. A laundromat is likely to have large machines that can better accommodate bulky blankets than your machine at home.
Drying Down Bedding
Dry your down bedding items on the lowest possible heat setting.
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Add a wool dryer ball to the dryer too, which should help the feathers stay more evenly distributed throughout the blanket.
Airing Out Down Bedding
To keep your down blankets and pillows fresher between washings, just hang them out on a clothesline on a sunny day. This can be done as often as you like to keep them smelling fresh.
Spot Cleaning
You don’t have to wash the whole blanket or pillow to deal with a small stain. Just use a bit of Dawn dish soap and some warm water to spot treat the stain. Then dab it with a clean, damp cloth to remove the stain and any soap residue.
If you follow these simple tips, your down pillows and comforters are sure to last through years and years of wintertime use!
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Homekeeping Laundry
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Thanks I am a male of the species living in the island of ‘Great Britain England in the U.K.,I have found this material satisfying to the point I have found to my curiosity,I have followed a few points to your advice & to my late mothers ,trying to take winter duvets to our u.k. Laundrettes in our towns and city’s rather than our domestic washing much smaller machines drum cycles, (meant to say home washing machines),which are not so evenly balanced like our dry ers like a bad penny ? Failing that the hand washing attempt of the divan by… Read more »
I tried with Dawn dish soap and the results were satisfactory. Will try implementing this tips next time. Thanks for sharing the article.
I got my comforter out yesterday and gave it a food cleaning! I live in AZ and I am praying for the weather to turn so I can use it!! Over the heat here!!
I am thinking putting pillows in freezer for a few hours could accomplish sanitizing. If jeans cans be refreshed in freezer, why not pillows?
That should work! :-)
What does the freezer do to jeans to refresh them?
It kills bacteria to clean them without the wear and tear of washing :-)
I don’t like washing my down pillows as they take too long to dry thoroughly, I strip off the pillow cases and put them into the dryer on high heat for 60 minutes. It leaves them fresher, fluffier and is so much easier to deal with………………..
After spot cleaning stains, this is how i care for mine as well.