Washing mattress heated pad

[retro-man]

I have a Sunbeam mattress pad king size that needs washing. The manual states to wash on delicate after a 10 minute soak cool water with a cold rinse. No problem there. Now onto the drying. Warm dryer for 2 minutes on delicate, then place item in the dryer for 10 minutes, then hang on lines to allow to dry completely opened up over 2 or more lines. Now I don't or anyone I know have clothes lines. Then stretch back into shape after completely dry. I have Whirlpool Duets and the dryer has a super delicate setting. Do you think that this would be ok? Could stretch it out after drying is done, but is all the tumbling going to cause problems with the electrical part? I don't think that the temp is that hot on that setting most likely just barely warm. Anyone else wash and dried one of these? It also states not to use commercial machines because they run too hot. Thanks for input.

Jon

 

[jamiel]

I think its more the tumbling action than the actual heat---particularly where the junction box is you don't want them pulling the wires loose from the pad backing.
I just had to replace one which we'd had for 5-6 years because the wires were starting to come loose--they rely on the correct spacing to not overheat.

 

[ea56]

We have a king size electric blanket and no clothsline. When I wash the electric blanket, I give it an extra spin to facilitate drying. And when I dry it I put a couple of clean, dry bath towels in the dryer, preheat the dryer and towels, then add the damp blanket and dry it on low for 15 mins., then I take it out to the patio and drape it over the backs of 4 chairs and let it finish drying in the sun. I pick a day that is sunny of course. I also wash it as seldom as possible. After all, its got a top sheet protecting it on the under side where we sleep, and a bedspread over the top so it really doesn’t get very dirty.

A matress pad may need to be washed more frequently, but you could help keep it clean longer by placing a lightweight regular mattress pad on top of the electric pad to protect it from body sweat and oils.
Eddie

 

[mattl]

I've washed my heated mattress pad any number of times.  I too have a duet but I don't bother to put the pad into the dryer.  I have some vinyl furniture in the basement so I drape it over the sofa, it dries overnight.  Odds are you could rig something up to lay it over/across to dry.

 

[retro-man]

Thanks for your replies. I will do the 10 minutes in the dryer first. I have a roll of very large plastic that I can open up and cover the couch with it and lay the pad over that with a fan blowing on it, should dry in no time. Just thought I could cover the bed with the plastic and stretch it out on that and turn on the ceiling fan.

Jon

 

[ea56]

Jon,

you may want to rethink putting plastic underneath the pad while it is finishing drying. The plastic will prevent the moisture friom wicking away from the back side and slow down the drying time. The reason I use the backs of 4 chairs is so the air can circulate underneath and facilitate the speed of it drying.
Eddie