We've only washed ours once in our Kenmore FL. I would definitely say 'Bulky' cycle. Since you're just freshening, I would think Woolite Delicate Wash would be fine (I'd prefer Charlie's Soap laundry detergent as it rinses clean). I'd do a double rinse. Yes to the dryer balls. Can't say if hot water temp would damage the down, I would think not, but I just don't know. Hope this helps & good luck!

I would not recommend washing a down comforter in any home machine. If it is a tight fit in the washer it won't get cleaned much and the down may get damaged. Drying it is another matter. Even in a commercial dryer where there is lots of room it can take hours to dry them and you can't have the heat too high. To get the down really dry and fluffy in a home machine is difficult. I would recommend taking it to a laundromat yourself or having a laundry service do it for you.

I finally gave up and changed to a down alternative comforter. Not quite as fancy but much easier to wash/dry.

Good luck with your comforter.

Don't use enzyme detergents on down or feathers (potential damage), and such materials must be dried thoroughly or it'll mildew. Tumble dry at LOW temp, for repeated cycles (~40 mins each, may take several hours), flipping/fluffing between cycles.

Look at the fabric of your comforter very carefully. If it has a high thread count or appears tightly woven, this might be a problem for your washer.

After getting our first FL this year, I used the "Comforters" cycle to wash two bed pillows because my washer's owners manual said this was the cycle for pillows.

Once the water passed through the tightly woven fabric cover of the pillows and got inside the pillow, to the poly stuffing, the fabric cover held the water inside the pillow. It was so heavy with water that the washer would not even spin. The water didn't want to drain out easily, either. It was such a mess that I had to put it outside and the pillow was a complete loss. This was a standard size pillow, so a bed-size comforter could end up a real mess, depending on the weave of the fabric.

This all sounds familiar. I washed my son's new LE down parka in my Miele W4842. I used Miele's down detergent but I also have LeBlanc for down as well.

I used the outerwear setting and the coat floated on top of the water for quite awhile. Water finally penetrated it and it looked soaked. It came out nice and clean and smelling lovely but it looked awful. I was scared it was ruined.

I had to dry it forever to get it dry. I did use two tennis balls but I still ended up with some clumps of down. It did eventually fluff out after he wore it a few times. After a few days the coat looked brand new.

Thank you all. I think I will give it a try tomorrow morning. As I said this is an older comforter that hasn't been used in at least 4 years. I recently took it out of the linen closet and started using it again but it just doesn't look, smell or feel fresh. If it gets ruined in the wash, then I'll get a new one. I won't feel bad since it wasn't expensive in the first place.

Here is my plan:
- run a quick rinse and spin cycle in order to saturate it
- then run a bulky cycle with Water Plus and Extra Rinse using Persil Wool and Silk wash (no enzymes or brighteners) and warm + water
- if needed, rinse and spin again
- spend the rest of the day drying it ;-)

Good plan except expect that it will probably take more than one Quick rinse and spin cycles to completely saturate the item, through and through.

Don't bother starting the wash-phase cycles until the darn thing looks like a drowned rat - one that's been flattened by a semi. You're not at the right point until you look at the thing and think OMG, I've ruined it.

Additional rinse cycles may be necessary since sometimes previously-unwashed comforter covers can shed a fair amount of sizing/filler during their first trip in water.

Plus plan on drying it some more the second day after a night of airing indoors.

Also be sure to pre-treat any really grungy spots ahead of time.

I'm sure it will be fine!

L.

As stated above the big problem is getting it completely saturated. For comforters and high thread count items I start the clycle on delicates and after 10 minutes stop and restart it on the bulky cycle. This seems to give time for absorption. Any detergent without enzymes will be fine. After the 2nd spin I stop the washer and again go back to the delicates cycle, then back to rinse. For drying my uber bulky king size comforter I take it to the laundromat. My dryer just isn't big enough to circulate the air and fluff it. Dry on low. Run one extra drying cycle when you think it is done. Down gets funky if not dried completely and the feathers seem to hide moisture.

Thank you all. The comforter is now finishing drying! It washed really well. What I had to do is run a Rinse and Spin cycle, then a Quick Wash cycle (no detergent), then I started my Bulky cycle adding a prewash and an extra rinse. Then I rinsed again. I wanted to be absolutely sure that the comforter was well saturated and rinsed really well. It looked like a drowned rat when I was done with it ;-) but it washed beautifully. There were no stray feathers in either the washer or the dryer!!! I have been drying it on medium, pausing every ten minutes or so to untangle it and fluff it. It's almost the end of the second 1 hour cycle and it seems completely dry. It is super fluffy and looks brand new!