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.
oh that is wonderful.
WOW! I have throwing out my down pillows when they get too grungy. Who knew you could wash them? At 40 to 50 bucks a piece, I will certainly try this.
ROFL! I think my three feather pillows have hit their drool limit.
Me thinks I’ll have to give them a wash this weekend and if’n it’s not raining/snowing will hang them out on the clothes line.
aha! There is a solution!
Thanks
Hm… Can I wash my foam pillow that is shaped to keep my neck happy?
It’s recommended to wash a foam pillow by hand. I guess you’d put it in a tub of soapy water and then rinse. Sounds hard.
WHERE were you last week when I washed pillows that wound up bunchy and crummy because I didn’t know about this amazing tennis ball trick???
You can wash pillows depending on the materials used. For cotton, you can use your washing machine to do the work. Use the gentle washing cycle in cold or warm water cycle only. But if you have a memory foam pillow, it is better to use dry cleaning only. These foams have open cells inside it and it absorbs water quickly. It might take days to dry them up completely, which is enough time for molds to form.