Drying a duvet (comforter)

[adam-aussie-vac]

Hey guys, I just went to the my preferred laundrette , and after washing in hot water, they said next time it’s better if I do it in cold water, they said I couldn’t really dry it in their dryers as it’ll cause a lot of shrinkage, so they said it’s best for me to take it home and hang it up to dry in the sun,

It’s a single synthetic duvet, do you Tumble Dry them and wash in hot or Wash in cold and hang out?

Previously, I went to a slightly closer laundromat, which is an unattended one, and I used to wash it in hot and dry it in hot too, so I’m not sure if was I washing it incorrectly or were they just trying to get me out of the Laundrette?

 

[ea56]

It’s your duvet and your money. I don’t see why you can’t use their machines in the manner that you see fit to wash and dry your duvet as long as what you’re doing doesn’t cause any damage to their machines.

If its synthetic it would probably be better wash it in warm and dry it in a dryer to fluff up the synthetic filling. Line drying it will leave it kinda flat IMO.

Eddie

 

[parunner58]

Adam, when we wash our quilts, bedspreads, duvet's in our Whirlpool Duet front loader, we select the Bulky Cycle. It is warm wash and cold rinse with a medium final spin(Whirlpool's website says about 900 RPMs) then we dry it on the timed cycle staring with 45 minutes on medium heat, our dryer is natural gas. In the dryer we may have to stop it and unball it maybe twice and add a few minutes. We have never had any problems with shrinkage. The bedding is full and queen size.

 

[qsd-dan]

You'd have to define what "hot" water is via temps. Here in the USA, all laundromats I  have been in, hot is anywhere between 95F and 120, usually chased by cold water in another dispenser.

 

Some commercial dryers do run pretty hot though. I imagine shrinkage should be minimal to none. If it does shrink the first time, there should be little to none after that.

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

Alright, I’ll keep that in mind for next time,

As I normally like to wash the doona every six months, (doona, is Australian generic term for duvet, same way, how hoover is the same thing for vacuum cleaner in Britain) but I’ll probably dry it at home in the Westie as I have normally dried it there before so I’ll probably do that

(I’ve just bothered to hang it on the line, because I’m actually curious as to how it will dry, it’s strung over two lines

 

[DADoES]

 
I have one queen-size synthetic comforter.  It washes reasonably well in the Neptune TL (also in the Calypso which has been out-of-rotation for 4 years).  Workable in the AquaSmart but better in the Neppy TL.

Dries nicely in the SmartLoad, auto-sense Delicate at Dry+, or Extra Dry for a bit more assurance.  The programmed Bulky/Comforter/Synthetic cycle is 80 mins Timed Air Dry, so nope.  Bulky/Comforter/Feather is auto-sense Low Heat Dry+ so the same as Delicate Dry+.

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

So, after all the years of washing it, the tag says

“Dry clean only” but I’ve washed it in water for years, and it’s always come out fine, and I did hang it up to dry and it’s come out alright, not as big and billowy, but clean nonetheless

Should I continue washing in water as I’ve had no adverse effects or should I try getting it dry clean?

 

[ea56]

Adam, if you’ve been washing it in water since you bought it and drying it in the dryer with no ill effects I can’t see any reason why you shouldn’t continue to do so. I’ve have a king size down comforter that I bought in 1983 thats been repeatedly washed in both TL’s and FL’s and dried in a dryer with no problems whatsoever.

Eddie

 

[logixx]

I washed two pillows this week. Both were synthetic inside and and out and both said they're save to wash in 140F water, which is what I do. I will also dry them at up to 160F. Never an issue so far.

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

Oh cool, yeah, I continue washing it in hot water,

As that’s what I do with my pillows that are synthetic, and I know that the duvet is also synthetic as well

 

[mrboilwash]

My duvet is 100% polyester and the caretag allows to "boil" it in the wash but to dry it only on low heat in a dryer.

The one I`ve had before allowed a hot dryer but low heat makes more sense to prevent scorching or maybe even to start a fire because chances are high to overload a dryer`s capacity with this kind of bedding.

I don`t see the need to go over 60° C on bedding because I already wash the sheets and duvet covers much hotter but it`s nice that I could if I wanted to.

 

[henene4]

Synthetics don't really shrink.
Think about it - it's just plastic, basically.

Biggest danger is - as with any plastic - melting it.
I know of basically no plastic used in clothing production that has a softening temperature below 140F.

So, washing in hot shouldn't be an issue.
Especially with a comforter, going hot is the only proper way to kill mites and such.

The problem with laundromat dryers is that they are usually gas - so even if you set it to the lowest heat, the flame will just be on.
That means the air going in will be just as hot. A big bulky synthetic item might get stuck on the hot air intake.

I had a synthetic pillow literally melt open in a laundromat dryer once.

But if it allows drying in a dryer at all - there is no reason not to do it.

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

Yeah, next time, I’ll take it to a different laundromat,

Unless it’s got stains, which is very rarely does, but I’ve been there before and they’ve been able to get blood out of one of these, and previously, I have dried them in a dryer, even the Westinghouse one, which where you can only set the amount of time and can’t change the heat setting, as it’ll either heat up to 80°C that is, if you want to absolutely bake out the moisture, or I put it into my GE which does a pretty decent job, but I prefer baking the moisture out of my doona to make sure it’s completely dry