Maybe.
Because cheap pillows, like the ones you buy at Wal-Mart for $5.99, won’t weather the process in a way you’d desire. They’ll come out looking like nothing you’d want to put your head on…lumpy and strange. Who wants to put their face on lumpy and strange?
But a nice, high quality pillow can be washed, right in the washing machine. Yes, even feather pillows–especially feather pillows.
Check the pillows first to see if there are any tears in the ticking. Wash two at once if you can, to balance the machine. You don’t need much detergent. Set it for a gentle cycle if possible. Then, to dry them, put them in the dryer with some clean tennis balls. They’ll refluff the pillows nicely.
Or you can even use clean tennis shoes if you don’t have any tennis balls handy. What is it about tennis items and pillows?
If your pillows have a musty smell, Grandma would tell you there’s nothing better than setting them outside in the sunshine for a while. And you know about pillow covers, right? They look sort of like pillow cases, except they have a zipper closure instead of being open on one side like a pillow case. Pillow covers give you a nice extra layer of protection. Zip them on, then put a pillow case over that. Then you can wash the pillow cover and case very easily, whenever you feel your pillow has hit its drool limit.
The time table for fastidious folks is to wash the pillow case weekly, the pillow cover every other month, and the pillow itself once or twice a year. There you have it.
