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Down pillows - wash at home or send out to be dry cleaned?

Down pillows - wash at home or send out to be dry cleaned?

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Old 07-08-2014, 11:16 AM
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Default Down pillows - wash at home or send out to be dry cleaned?

The tag says "professional dry clean only" - and because the pillows are probably old, that is the ONLY thing the tag says.

They are DH's favorite pillows, but they are starting to smell a bit funky.

Last edited by kathy; 07-08-2014 at 12:09 PM. Reason: DOWN - not own - pillows
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Old 07-08-2014, 11:30 AM
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I wash my FOAM chips pillows but they take a loooong time to dryer even after being in the dryer. If I remember correctly, in the old days feather pillows had the case removed and the feathers were rinsed and then laid out to dry and when dried and fluffed, put into new cases. I think nowadays dry clean would be your best option? I am not sure I would want to lay my head on a pillow dry cleaned though for the fumes. Maybe someone who has dry cleaned a feather pillow will say how it turned out.
Forgot to add....do not get feathers wet!! They stink like a wet dog until they are completely dry again.

Last edited by Tartan; 07-08-2014 at 11:35 AM.
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Old 07-08-2014, 11:58 AM
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I wash my down pillows all the time. Are the cases good or are the feathers coming through? If so, get pillow ticking and make a new case for them and put the pillow inside it. You don't have to take it apart unless you want to. Then wash using something like woolite or Orvus soap, just a little. Wash then throw in dryer. It might take quite a few rounds before it is dry. Check the pillows once in a while and if there are large clumps, you can "fluff" or pull the clumps apart gently. Do not use any softner. Mild heat ending with air.
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Old 07-08-2014, 12:02 PM
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Forgot: If the pillows are REALLY old, the feathers might have broke down and washing won't help. Mine are about 10 years old and still fluffy. They seem to dry faster on hot days, even though they are in a dryer. Not sure why.
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Old 07-08-2014, 12:46 PM
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Cases are very good - no stains or yellowing.
I have no idea how old the pillows are - but they fluff up wonderfully.
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Old 07-08-2014, 01:01 PM
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I have a really really old down pillow, and when I opened the pillow to change the ticking... what was on the inside was the equal feather dust. Over the decades of use the feathers had broken down into tiny particles ( maybe that's why I found it so comfortable) Then , I the remembered about how many dust mites can be found in pillows so I tossed the contents and bought a new one. It will take some time to break this one in .
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Old 07-08-2014, 01:13 PM
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I've washed feather/down pillows, in the past. Took forever to dry them (I used low heat and clean tennis balls) but they were wonderful, at the end of it all. As for washing, I threw them into the washer with regular detergent, then gave them several extra rinses. This was years ago, so I don't remember whether I used warm water or cold.
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Old 07-08-2014, 01:27 PM
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Febreeze?

I have heard that some people are allergic to it.
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Old 07-08-2014, 01:37 PM
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Originally Posted by bearisgray View Post
Febreeze?

I have heard that some people are allergic to it.
Fabreeze only (maybe) covers the odor. It doesn't clean them, in any way.
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Old 07-08-2014, 01:47 PM
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i've always washed my down pillows. we got them as a wedding gift over 40 years ago. now, though, i had to combine the feathers from both pillows into one.
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