Yellow Pillows? Here’s The Secret To Making Them Look Like New

How To Clean And Whiten Yellowed Pillows

In my experience, if you want to whiten dingy pillows, it’s not enough to wash yellow pillows in your washing machine with your usual detergent. I discovered this firsthand a long time ago, but I was unwilling to admit defeat, and kept trying to figure out how to whiten yellow pillows until I found a method that worked!

I’ll share that method with you in this post, so you’ll know how to clean yellow pillows and restore them to a whiter, brighter state. It isn’t that difficult to do, but it does require a combination of cleaning agents to break down those stubborn yellow stains.

To clean yellow pillows, you’ll add a cup of powdered laundry detergent, a cup of powdered dishwasher detergent, a cup of bleach (or bleach alternative) and half of a cup of borax to a washing machine or bathtub full of very hot water. After soaking the pillows for at least an hour, you’ll wash and dry the pillows as usual.

Related: The One Thing You Need To Do Before Switching To Lighter Bedding

This is one of my most popular blog posts, so I’m far from the only one who’s enthusiastic about this laundry hack! Read on for the complete step-by-step tutorial!

Why Do Pillows Turn Yellow?

Wondering why pillows turn yellow in the first place? That dingy yellow hue that bed pillows tend to develop over time is caused by the moisture they absorb while you sleep, including sweat, saliva, natural oils from your hair and skin, and even skin and hair product residues. It’s perfectly normal for pillows to turn yellow (if a bit gross), but I’m also glad there’s an easy way to restore them to cleaner state!

Here’s how it’s done.

How To Wash Yellow Pillows

You’ll need:

• 1 cup powdered laundry detergent
• 1 cup powdered dishwasher detergent
• 1 cup bleach (or bleach alternative)
• 1/2 cup borax

Related: 31 Surprisingly Brilliant Ways to Use Borax

Directions:

First, check the tag to make sure you can machine wash your pillow. (You can put most feather pillows, down pillows, and synthetic pillows in your washer, but it’s better to be safe than sorry!)

Remove the pillow case and pillow protector, if present.

Step 1 – Soak In Hot Water

The first step in the cleaning process is to soak your yellow pillow in hot water to give the cleaning agents a head start on dissolving those tough stains. (If you have a top-loading washing machine, you can do the soak right in your washer. For those with front-loading washers, or if your top-loader doesn’t have a soak function, you can do the soak in a separate container or your bathtub.)

Related: How to Clean Your Top-Loading Washing Machine (Effortlessly)

Start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil on your stovetop. Stir the laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, and borax into the boiling water, and stir until the powdered ingredients dissolve. (You could also pour the water into a bucket and then add the dry ingredients if you don’t want to mix cleaning ingredients inside a cooking pot.)

Once the powders have dissolved into the water, pour the water into your washer (or whatever you’re using to soak the pillows in), then add the bleach. Then let the pillows soak in the solution for at least 30 minutes (an hour or more is even better), flipping the pillows over about half-way through the soak time to make sure that they’re getting saturated on both sides.

Related: Get Your Front-Loading Washing Machine Sparkling Clean (and Germ Free!)

Step 2 – Wash

Following the soak, wash the pillows in your washing machine on a normal hot water cycle. (Add an extra rinse, if your washer gives you the option.)

Step 3 – Dry

Finally, all that’s left to do is dry your pillows. A lot of people ask if you can dry pillows in the dryer, and most of the time, the answer is yes.

Down pillows should be dried on the “fluff” or “air” setting, while synthetic pillows can be dried on low heat. Add a couple of tennis balls or wool dryer balls to the dryer to help fluff the pillows as they dry.

Related: The One Extremely Simple Thing You Need To Do To Your Pillow

This “before and after” features a pillow that our Production Manager Brittany offered up as a test subject. As you can see, this method made a profound difference in the color and appearance of her pillow (and the difference was even more dramatic in person!)

FAQs About Whitening Yellow Pillows

Does this work for memory foam pillows?

Generally speaking yes, but be sure to check the tag. Keep in mind that memory foam will take much longer to dry, so be sure to give it plenty of time in the dryer on a low heat setting. If you want to dry it outside, make sure there is a nice breeze to provide plenty of opportunity for all that dense memory foam to air out.

Does this work for down feather pillows?

Definitely. Follow the same advice above for your down feather pillows—plenty of drying time on low heat. It’s best to put them in your dryer with a few dryer balls to help prevent the feathers from clumping as they dry. (Believe me, you don’t want to end up with a pillow full of hot, soggy clumps of feathers.

Have you ever tried washing stained or yellow pillows?