Detergent for down comforter
The Ultimate Guide to Washing A Down Comforter
Want to Save? Use Code Blog10 For 10% Off Your Next Order Shop NowWhen it comes to washing a down comforter, you can relax. It’s not hard to do. One of the special things about natural down filling is that it can be washed over and over to ensure a long lifetime to your investment.
While it can be tricky to wash a synthetic comforter, one of the many benefits of down comforters is that they come out of the wash beautifully. With proper care, your down comforter - also called a duvet, or a doona if you are from Down Under - can last many years. Washing your down comforter, whether duck down or goose down, can ensure a long life with your treasured friend.
Do it yourself or dry cleaner ?
Taking a down comforter to the dry cleaner
We recommend that you have your down comforter professionally laundered (not dry cleaned) because it’s easy and worry-free. This means to have your dry cleaner wash the comforter in a commercial-sized washing machine so you can be assured that your comforter will be clean and unharmed. We do not recommend to have your comforter dry cleaned because the harsh chemicals are not good for the down. But, dry cleaning is the sure way to prevent any shrinkage so we put that option on the care tags. Most dry cleaners can do either process but if want your comforter to be laundered, you need to ask to be sure they have washing capabilities because not all dry cleaners launder as well. A survey of dry cleaners across the country showed that it costs from $30 to $50 to have a dry cleaner wash your comforter, often depending on size. One way to cut down on the frequency of needing to wash your comforter is by using a duvet cover. It's like a pillow case for your comforter - just pop it off and throw it in the washer.
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Washing a down comforter at home
If you have a full-sized washing machine, it’s possible to wash your comforter at home. However, if you don’t have a large enough machine to fit your comforter with ample room, it might be best to head to the laundromat.
Just pick the ‘triple load’ machine and follow all the same steps.
- Water Temperature– Hot, warm or cold. We prefer cold water because the fabric can shrink up to 8% in hot water
- Spin Speed– Use the fastest speed to take as much moisture out as possible
- Soap– Gentle soap without additives
Optional:
- Whitening– Use non-chlorine bleach
- Fabric Softener– Not recommended because it will coat the down and reduce its fluff
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- Heat– Hot, warm or low; your choice
- Dry time– Be patient, on low heat it will take multiple cycles depending on your machines
Optional:
- Clean Tennis Balls or Dryer Balls– Add two or three balls to speed up your dry time. It will sound like they are beating up your dryer but they don’t actually hurt it
- Clumping or Odor– These are signs that your comforter is not dry yet. You want it to be completely dry to prevent mold
- Dryer Sheets– Ok to use for freshness
- Line Drying– Not recommended due to risk of damp spots and clumps
- No ironing or steaming
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How often can you wash a down comforter ?
As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure.
Keeping your down comforter in a duvet cover will protect it against dirt, stains and spills. Using a duvet cover can more than double your time in between washings.
Spot cleaning stains is also a great way to extend the time between washings. Push the down away from the area so the down doesn’t get wet while spot cleaning.
- With use of a duvet cover– wash every 3-5 years
- Without a cover– wash every 1-2 years
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In addition, the best thing you can do to keep your comforter looking new is to fluff it every day when you make your bed. By providing a steady flow of air, your down will continue to loft. Redistribute the down in your comforter as needed for Baffle Box or Euro Box designs. To redistribute the fill, you want to push the down with both your hand and forearm together so that you don’t create clumps. Each baffle box has a small opening in one corner to push the down through when refilling a box that has emptied over time.
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How to store your down comforter
Last but not least, many people store their comforters during off seasons. The key to storing your comforter is breathability. Letting the down breathe by keeping your comforter in a cloth bag will prevent any moisture or odor buildup. It should also be stored in a location where it is not compressed and has room to stay fluffy. Give your comforter a good shake when you take it out of the bag next season and it should be ready to go.
- Daily– Give it a shake
- Monthly– Wash your duvet cover
- Yearly– Check for stains and spot clean
- Every 2-3 Years– Give it a wash
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All-natural down is a durable and easy-to-clean material for bedding. With a wash every now and then, your down comforter will stay beautiful and warm for a long time. Lucky for you, care is easy.
Choosing a Down Comforter
If you are in the market for a new down comforter, you’re in the right place! Pacific Coast® comforters are exquisitely made with the best materials available and timeless elegance in its craftsmanship.
We guarantee you’ll have a good night’s sleep every night for years to come. Take a look at our comforters and experience what it’s like to sleep in true luxury. We’re so confident you’ll love our comforters, you can try it out with our 30 Night Comfort Guarantee. If you’re not fully satisfied, you can return your comforter, hassle-free. And while you're at it, add some life to your bedroom with our wide variety of opulent pillows, all-season comforters, stylish down blankets, and silky soft sheets!
How to Wash & Dry a Down Comforter: Easy Tips & Tricks
How to Wash & Dry a Down Comforter: Easy Tips & TricksWritten by Grove Collaborative
Last Updated: August 12, 2022
Comforter bunched and twisted? Unsure how to even wash a down comforter? With our simple guide, you’ll be back to a clean comforter and cozy bed in no time.
All of the down in your comforter suddenly down at your feet? We’ve been there. After you read our down comforter cleaning guide, you’ll be warm and cozy in all directions — no dry cleaners necessary! While laundering items like pillowcases, sheets, and duvet covers is easy, cleaning some of your bigger, bulkier bedding items is more challenging.
One of the most intimidating bedding items to clean is the down comforter. Often made from feathers and plumules from ducks and geese (although vegan and synthetic options exist!), down comforters can seem unwieldy to clean. They’re big, heavy, delicate, white, clumpy, and temperature-sensitive — meaning many people simply drop their comforter off at the dry cleaners to avoid dealing with it altogether. Considering the potentially harmful chemicals dry cleaners use — chemicals that’ll off-gas into your bedroom air and even directly into your face — there has to be a better option.
Since most down comforters can be washed at home, we’re here to walk you through the process. Follow this guide, and you’ll have a fresh, clean comforter — without a big bill to show for it.
Down comforter cleaning basics
Will washing a down comforter ruin it?
If done properly, no, washing a down comforter will not ruin it! Like all delicate textiles, there are a few things to keep in mind to avoid permanently damaging your down comforter.
Using properly sized laundry machines, delicate cycles, mild temperatures, and mild detergents are all things to keep in mind. Fear not – we'll break down these details and more during the step-by-step instructions below.
How often should you clean your down comforter?
Sans any major spills, you should clean your down comforter once every one to two years. If you have a removable duvet cover on your comforter that you can take off and wash, cleaning your down comforter once every two years is plenty.
Can my washing machine handle my down comforter?
Probably not, but maybe. Here’s how to know:
Read the owner's manual and care tags
The first thing you’re going to want to do is check both the manual for your washing machine and the care tag for your down comforter. At-home and in-unit washing machines are usually too small, top-loading, or equipped with agitators — all things that prevent proper down comforter cleaning.
Many apartment buildings with laundry rooms use front-loading washing machines, but they will likely be too small for a comforter that is any larger than twin-sized.
Unless your building has an additional extra-large washer and dryer unit, your best bet will be to find large ones elsewhere to wash and dry your comforter in.
Go to your local laundromat
Your local laundromat will have the gigantic, roomy washers and dryers that are perfect for your large down comforter. Most laundromats use extra large, front-loading washing and drying machines, ideal for a spacious, proper clean.
If your down comforter is extra big (or crunchy,) you may need multiple wash and drying cycles, so be sure to bring plenty of quarters and a lot of dryer balls (which help speed up drying times) with you to operate the machines.
What do you need to wash a down comforter?
Washing a down comforter just requires a mild detergent and dryer balls. Easy, right?
Instead of special tools or soaps, the most important element is the washing machine itself — a roomy machine gives your comforter space so that the whole thing gets thoroughly washed, rinsed, and dried without twisting or bunching.
Guide to washing your down comforter
Step 1: Select a warm-water wash
Intense temperatures on either end of the spectrum can harm a down comforter.
If the wash water is too hot, the down can singe or burn. Too cold, and the down can clump and lose some of its soft touch. A warm cycle wash is the ideal middle ground for a down comforter.
Step 2: Select a gentle cycle
Like intense temperatures, intense spin cycles, agitation, and general tossing can lead to clumping, bunching, twisting, and tearing — all in all, an uneven clean for your down comforter.
A long, gentle cycle avoids all those potential issues and leads to a nice, even clean.
Step 3: Use mild or down detergent and dryer balls
For most down comforters, a single load’s worth of any mild, gentle, or natural detergent will do the trick.
Down detergent, or down wash, is most commonly used on down jackets and coats, specially made without harsh chemicals like bleach and sulfates, which can damage your down.
Dryer balls are natural drying aids that will help speed up the time it takes to dry big items and leave them feeling soft after washing too.
GROVE TIP
Skip the softener!
Harsh laundry detergents are terrible for down, stripping it of its natural, protective, insulating coating. But you’ll also want to forego the fabric softener — and detergents that contain softeners — since they leave a harmful coating on your down material that reduces its fluff, increases clumping, and decreases warmth — turning your down into a downer.
Down comforter drying basics
How long does it take to dry a down comforter?
Drying your down comforter requires a lot of one thing: patience. Depending on the size of your comforter, it can take anywhere from 2–4 hours to fully dry, but wool dryer balls can help cut down on time.
Can I air dry a down comforter?
We don't recommend air-drying a down comforter. If the down on the inside is not completely and thoroughly dried, it can quickly develop mildew and mold.
Not only that, air drying a down comforter takes forever.
Guide to drying your down comforter
Step 1: Use the right dryer
Stick to a large, front loading dryer.
Similar to the wash cycle, stick to the delicate, low-temperature settings. Intense dryer temperatures, even more than intense water temperatures, can damage the down — taking the comfort out of the comforter — so patience is key.
Step 2: Add dryer balls
One highly recommended item for drying a down comforter is wool dryer balls — and lots of them.
Wool dryer balls act as safe agitators, creating more space for warm air to travel throughout the comforter. Throw at least a half dozen wool dryer balls (or a few tennis balls, in a pinch) in the dryer for faster, more even drying.
Step 3: Pause to fluff, and air it out
Throughout the drying process — every hour or so — stop the dryer, take out the comforter, and give it a good shake.
Fluffing it up will help keep the interior down evenly distributed so it dries evenly.
Once it’s dry, hang the comforter from a clothesline, or drape it across some chairs, to air it out on all sides. Let it hang for an hour or so, then put it back on your bed, and enjoy!
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How to wash a duvet in a washing machine and by hand
It is difficult to find something lighter and warmer than down, so blankets have long been made from it. It is warm and comfortable to sleep under it.
But over time, all blankets accumulate dust, and dangerous mites multiply well in such conditions. This is why blankets need to be washed periodically.
But not everyone knows how to wash a duvet so that it retains all its qualities.
Tables
- 1 Features
- 2 Machine washing
- 3 instead of conclusion
- 3.
1 Interesting about washing:
- 3.
Features
9000Pooh is a very capricious filler. It is sensitive to chemicals used in cleaning.
Before washing a duvet at home, you need to prepare suitable products. Upholstery cleaning kits are best suited. nine0012
Instead of soap, it is better to use washing gels or shampoos, they are washed out better when rinsing.
In sports shops or home improvement departments, you can find special detergents for washing sports jackets with down, they are good for blankets. In any case, detergents must not contain:
- bleach;
- fragrance;
- air conditioner;
- strong, aggressive chemicals. nine0026
- Remove the filler from the pillowcase.
- Put the down and feathers in a special canvas bag.
- Dissolve detergent in warm water.
- Thoroughly wash the bags of down several times, each time changing the solution to a less concentrated one. nine0019
- Rinse the bags in clean water, changing the water until it remains clear after the procedure.
It is important to understand that the main thing is not only how to wash a duvet. Proper drying is also important.
If moisture remains inside the duvet, mold can form, so these products must be dried thoroughly.
It is better to dry the product in a straightened form on a horizontal plane, turning it over regularly for even drying. It is possible to hang up a blanket, but the fluff may fall down. If the fluff has fallen into lumps, you will have to gently stir it up with your fingers. nine0003
The label will tell you how to wash the duvet correctly, for example, it will indicate the temperature recommended for washing, whether bleach can be used, whether machine washing is recommended.
Soak the duvet before washing it. To do this, you need to draw water of the required temperature into the bath and dilute the detergent. Immerse the blanket completely in water and leave for an hour.
Then you need to wash the most polluted places with your hands, if any. You can use a soft toothbrush to remove stains. There is no need to additionally soap the contaminated places, it is enough for the blanket to lie for an hour in water with detergent. nine0003
When hand washing, it is very important to rinse the duvet well.
It is best to do this at least three times in clean water, wringing out the soapy water each time without twisting. Since it is very difficult to wash a large product by hand, it is better to use a washing machine. In modern models there is a special mode for products made of fluff.
Machine wash
For better cleaning, before washing the duvet in an automatic washing machine, it must be soaked. nine0003
For 15 minutes, the product is immersed in warm water, in which 2-3 teaspoons of table vinegar are dissolved. The blanket must be turned over several times so that the water soaks the entire product.
In order for the blanket to be evenly distributed on the drum in the machine, it must be rolled up, immersed in the drum and turned several times. Then the blanket will not stray into one place, and the machine will not make noise because of this.
You can select a specific mode for such products, but if there is no such function, then the blanket in the washing machine is washed in the gentle wash mode without wringing out or with spinning at low speeds.
nine0011 But drying a duvet in a washing machine is not recommended. The fluff inside can be very matted.
Instead of conclusion
Do not dry-clean blankets at home, because cleaning agents are very aggressive and harmful to human health.
To do this, things are sent to special dry cleaners, but this is only required when heavily soiled.
Good manufacturers treat the surface of duvets with special dirt-repellent compounds, so they are less dirty. nine0003
But despite this, the blanket should be washed or cleaned once a season, then this wonderful thing will last for many years.
Duvet and pillow care - hand and machine wash, dry, air, fluff, store.
washing down duvets After you have decided to buy a duvet or pillow, you should think about the rules for caring for it.
Even factory-made products from reliable manufacturers can be easily spoiled. With unreasonable care, the filler in warm duvets can turn into a shapeless mass. nine0003
How to wash a large duvet
Even the best duvets cannot be washed more than once a year. Before throwing the product into the washing machine, you need to study the tags. Bedding should not be soaked and the spin mode should not be set at high speeds. So that the fluff in the blanket does not gather into lumps, if you have tennis balls at home, you should put them in the drum of the washing machine. Suitable temperature for washing - no more than 40 ° C. Liquid powders should be used as a detergent. Avoid conditioner and bleach. All down products, whether down pillows or cloaks, are washed separately. nine0003
Hand wash duvets
If you decide to hand wash your duvet, remember that this is a very labor intensive process. In order not to spoil the product, you must strictly follow these rules:
Pouched down or machine washed duvet should not be dried in direct sunlight.
Some products are labeled dry cleanable. In this case, you can not throw them into the machine or attempt to clean the blanket manually. By ignoring the icon on the label, you can ruin the bedding. nine0003
Additional care for duvets
Down can get wrinkled Purchasing a duvet is only the first step on the way to a good night's sleep. In addition to washing, the product also needs other care - airing and whipping. Pillows and duvets made of 100% goose feather or swan down are aired every month. To do this, you need to place the product in a well-ventilated area where direct sunlight does not fall, for example, on a balcony.
Air out the bedding more than once a month if the room has a high level of humidity. These measures will help prevent the smell of dampness and the formation of mold. If you ignore this type of care, you can earn an allergy or face other troubles. nine0003
It is important to beat the filling in duvets daily. Then they will always be fluffy and soft. Bedding, with proper care, will retain its properties throughout the entire operational period, which varies from 5 to 10 years.
How to store down duvets
If the room is very hot, you may not need a duvet. Then it needs to be stored away. A suitable place to place bedding is in a closet or well-ventilated pantry. Air access is a very important aspect in this case. Without it, the filler of duvets and pillows may undergo a process of decay or mold. nine0003
Down blankets must not be placed in vacuum bags, plastic bags or airtight covers. They are folded neatly, without being pressed into special covers that can be replaced with cotton fabric.
