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Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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Posted by lindaceneri (My Page) on Sun, Oct 2, 05 at 7:11
| I know that alot of you posted about washing your pillows (which I did that day after reading the post!!), but have you ever washed a down comforter in the washing machine? Our 4 year old slept with us last night and had an accident. I just have this urge to wash it, but I have heard to never wash them.
Any pointers will be much appreciated. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| I have never washed mine, which is the Stockholm comforter from Pacific Coast Feather, but I will type below the directions which came with it for washing: QUOTE....Professionally launder/dry clean (either is fine) your comforter every 3-5 years. Down actually washes well, but the size of comforters makes it more sensible to leave the cleaning to a professional. Your cleaner may either dry clean or wash your comforter. We are reluctant to recommend non-professional laudering because home washers and dryers are often too small. Also, most household washing machines have an agitator in the center, which places unnecessry stress on the comforter. END QUOTE I would not think of dry cleaning because you will be sleeping with any residual chemicals, but you could consider having it professionally laudered. Choose a good cleaners. Inquire about how often they do down comforters and if they are experienced in this. Ask if customers seem pleased with the results. You could also check for a website for your brand comforter and see what their washing instructions are. |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| I've done it. If you don't have a large enough dryer, you end up with lumpy 'clumping'. It's hard to get it fluffy in there if there isn't enough room... The one I washed wasn't very expensive, so it wasn't that big of a deal. But if I had a nice one? I'd have it laundered... |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| I have never liked anything drycleaned, so yes, I have been washing my down and silk for ever. My tricks are first, put on spray spin cycle, to get the air out, then I use my machine to 'hand wash' in cold water, fill, soak a bit, no agitation, drain, rinse, repeat to you machines ability. Drying, take your time, and continually return to refold allowing every part to fluff on the outside of the fold. I usually begin collecting each corner together and shaking down, then holding four corners, ,pushing to center of the comfort flopping down, four corners inside for first tumble in dryer, then I keep refolding in different ways to insure all sections have tumbled on the outside of the folds to insure the comfort is well dried and fluffed, gently, on low heat. |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| Thanks everyone!! I have a washer with no agitator, and it's really large. I'm going to give it a shot. |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| A tip that I read several years ago was to put clean tennis balls in the dryer to "fluff" the comforter. I have done this and it seems to work. |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| I wash mine in my frontloader and dry it with a canvas type tennis shoe to fluff up the down. It came out just fine. I also wash my down blanket on a regular basis. |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| I think smaller comforters would be easier to do than large, like a king size one. |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| I've been washing down comforters, pillows, sleeping bags and jackets for years. I use a special soap for down that I buy at REI but I suspect that baby shampoo might be OK, since it works for sheepskins (which I also wash). I wash the down items in a front-loader with cold water on gentle. Be sure to get all of the soap out, which could mean running an extra cycle. To speed up the drying, I roll the items in heavy towels, let them sit several hours, then change, you may want to do this several times. To finish up, I put in dryer on low heat with clean tennis balls to break up the clumps. Last time I did our pillows I had them back on the bed in 3 days. And, now that I think of it, I did them (just two) in my top-loader washing machine. I don't recommend that for large items such as sleeping bags and comforters; I think you need a front-loader for those. You will know when down is dry, because it smells terrible when wet. |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| wash allof mine-use woolite. just be sure to get it really dry |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| You can wash them in a bathtub, hang on a clothesline, rinse them with a garden hose and spray nozzle, let htem dry, then fluff them by whapping them with something. |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| Yes I used to wash ours regularly. With time, the down sort of broke down and started coming out of the seams, though. I'm not sure if this was due to washing it, or just age. I've also heard that dry cleaning can do the same thing. |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| The key is to use a mild soap that doesn't contain enzymes, like Ivory Snow. Woolite works, too. Regular laundry detergents will remove the natural oils in the down, eventually destroying the down. Use a minimum amount of soap. Double rinse. Spin dry. Dry on low with 2 new clean tennis balls. My kids have down comforters and accidents happen far too often. |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| If your type of washer will allow, King Size no problem, Use spin/spray first to remove the air, then proceed as usual. Kings aren't so big after. |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| Washed and dried mine about 3 times. I only paid $60 for it, so I decided to give the washer a try and save on the drycleaning bill. Turned out great. |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| I work at a dry cleaners and the cost of laundering a down comforter is $60 and up, it is washed in a bubble machine (no agitator)in a gentle detergent and line dryed for 24 hours then machine dryed with clean tennis shoes then hand fluffed. I wash my own on delicate and do the rest of the drill myself. There are 2 types of drycleaning fluids and neither does a very good job on down as neither is actually "dry" but a fluid that evaporates rapidly, so the clumps form. Don't use dryer sheets or fabric softener as you don't want any coating on the feathers. |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| Washed mine in my regular washer with my regular detergent and dried on low setting with clean tennis balls to fluff. Usually took 2-3 cycles and then I hang it out side on the line to get that great out of doors smell. Comforter is over 20 years old and still going strong. |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| I take mine to the laundromat every year. It costs about $15 in total to wash and dry it. They have this huge washer that costs about $10 to wash with an extra rinse. Then I stick it in the dryer for a few cycles with some tennis balls to break up the feathers that clump together. I've not had a problem at all doing it this way. The only bad part is that it takes the better part of an afternoon to get this done. Luckily the place is next to a Starbucks, so I can hang around in there reading a book and then just check on the comforter every half hour or so. |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| Although I don't do it as often as I should it is really important to wash down regularly because dirt and body oils will actually cause the down plumes to compress and they won't keep you warm anymore. I found a really great down cleaner that I also use to clean my sleeping bags called Revivex Down Cleaner. I bought it from www.backpackinglight.com. Also, someone had mentioned that their comforter came out all clumpy when they washed and dried it. Although it takes a little extra effort it's totally worth it to take the comforter to the laundry mat and use their industrial size washers and dryers. The comforter won't dry in a home dryer b/c it's too cramped. Also, I've found that if you throw in a few clean tennis balls with the comforter in the dryer that will break up clumps. |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| I found this site while I was trying to figure out if I could wash my down comforter. It's a king-sized comforter and this December (2006) I'll have had the comforter for a year, and it hasn't been washed or drycleaned since I bought it. This really bugs me. I'd really love to wash it at home, but I have a lot of concerns. The last thing that I read on here said that a home dryer won't get it dry... But if it's possible at all, I'd like to give it a try. However, I have a top-loading washer with an agitator. The washer is a Maytag with "Oversize Capacity Plus," but the washer tends to struggle with a large load of towels. I'm sure that the comforter gets extremely heavy while wet; I have a hard enough time pulling it off my bed to fluff it. It's not a very thick or expensive one; I found it at Target for $49 (marked down from $100). So... I was wondering if anyone has successfully washed and dried a KING-SIZED down comforter at home with a regular, top-loading washer with an agitator... And if anyone's managed to do that without breaking the washer, were you able to dry it in your home dryer? This comforter is KILLING me... It's not particularly soiled but I feel the need to wash it. I'm about to just go for it and try but I don't want to ruin it and I don't know when I'll be able to find a decent one that cheap again. On top of that, the machine that I'll be using isn't exactly mine, and I'll be mortified if I break it... If anyone can help, please do! (I know a cleaner that'll dryclean it for $20 but I want this WASHED.) Thank you! |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| I've successfully laundered and dried my king-sized down comforter at home in my old sub-par top-loading machine and lousy dryer with no problem at all. It will feel like you're over-stuffing the washing machine when first getting the comforter to go in, but don't worry....it will fit. It's amazing how compacted the down becomes when wet. Just make sure you've disolved the detergent (I use Tide or Costco's Kirkland brand) in some water before adding the comforter. And the advice about putting something hard like a shoe or tennis balls in the dryer is good. You want the wet compacted down to get refluffed in the dryer and evenly distributed. I am by no means a laundry expert, but I've been washing my down comforter in this manner for ten years with good results. |
RE: Have you ever washed a down comforter?
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| If only I knew how to post photos on this site! What a mess I made today. :) I discovered that our dog peed on the bed this morning (!!), requiring an immediate laundering of the duvet cover and down comforter. I first called the dry cleaner and learned that it was going to cost $25. We have had this comforter for five or six years, so I figured that it was worth it to go the "free" route ... So I turned to the web and came across this page. I used several of the tips -- I chose the hand-wash cycle, and used baby shampoo instead of detergent and tennis balls during the low-heat dry cycle. Halfway through the dry cycle, I opened the door to see if I needed to "do" anything (in case it had twisted in to a giant knot). My word! Feathers everywhere. The comforter had ripped. I took some pictures to show hubby when he returns to town, because it was an impressive mess. The down comforter is now in the garbage, and we have feathers all over our roof, where the dryer vent is routed! What I learned? Try the bath tub next time (I have an old-style washer), and don't use any tennis balls until the comforter is mostly dry. And when I DO use a tennis ball -- use only one instead of a pair! And heck, after this experience, I might have to break down and go laundromat to use one of their ginormous machines! |
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