Who doesn't use a pillowcase? Or how do I clean a caseless bed pillow

[classiccaprice]

Hey fellas,

I had an unexpected house guest last night who needed to stay in the guest bed. He's a friend of mine and was NOT drinking. I had put fresh sheets on the bed earlier, but had been called away to do something else and didn't finish putting on the pillow cases and heavy blankets. Anyway, I just walked in and he slept on the pillows without cases! They were on the foot of the bed! While part of this is my fault, forgetting to put the pillows in the cases, I always wash the bed sheets between guests. How do I clean the pillow from night sweat and such? They don't appear to be stained. Am I being to anal and overreacting and just let it be? I really don't want to have to take out the entire filing to wash the covering in the washer.

Thanks!

 

[tomturbomatic]

EEEUUUWWW

I have a body pillow on which I keep a pillow case, but occasionally, I wash the whole pillow. I have posted in this forum about how I did it, but a quick recap is that I chose one of the Maytags and put the pillow in where it almost covered the circumference of the tub. I used powder Tide HE and STPP and partially filled the tub, maybe not quite to the lowest setting with warm water. I stopped the fill and advanced the timer to drain and pulled the drain hose from the sink. I held the end of the hose over the opening of the tub and bypassed the lid switch with 55 cents in two quarters with a nickel between them wrapped in tape. I turned the machine on and directed the water stream to let the water from the hose be forced through the pillow by the slowly spinning tub. I don't remember if I used fast or slow spin. Once the pillow was saturated, I stopped the machine and let the pillow soak for maybe 5 minutes and repeated the spraying procedure for a couple of minutes. Then I stopped the machine and replaced the hose in the sink and let the machine go through a long, fast spin. I rinsed the pillow twice with the same spraying method.

My pillow is polyester fiberfill and is easy to clean. I hope your pillows are not feather or down. Those are harder to clean and very hard to dry completely with hours in the dryer and lots of plumping to redistribute the stuffing.

 

[yogitunes]

a pillow case only protects so far....

and its not like you had a homeless person sleeping on it......

Flers are usually best to wash these, and usually best to wash two or three at a time for weight distribution.....

if your that concerned over anything getting on the bed or pillows, your best bet would be to use plastic coverings on the mattress and pillows, then cover with sheets and cases...

 

[wringingwet]

I just throw mine

In my asko it handles pillows real well like almost all front loaders. My partner and I have severe night sweats so there is always some to wash

 

[jeffg]

"My partner and I have severe night sweats"

Philippe, what temperature is your bedroom at night, and what kind of heating do you have? Also if you're using a heavy (especially woven, which allows close to zero airflow) wool blanket, try switching to a lighter/open-knit blanket. We were having the same problem until we made that change. If you're having trouble finding them like we did, try Faribault in MN (see link).

As for the pillows, Martin nailed it imo. If they're not washed regularly, the presence/absence of cases doesn't really matter.[this post was last edited: 5/10/2014-14:04]

Faribault Mill | Blankets, Throws & Scarves Made in USA

Wool and cotton blankets, throws, scarves, accessories and apparel made in the U.S.A. View products to learn the 150 year old history of Faribault Mill.

www.faribaultmill.com

 

[circlew]

Both my pillows are foam rubber, and have zip off covers. I wash them every few months. The pillows themselves I wash about every year or so. I'm the only one who uses them, and I nearly always have had a shower before getting in bed.

 

[danemodsandy]

Suggestion:

Any good dry cleaner's can usually clean a pillow.

To prevent recurrences, you can get pillow protectors for your pillows. There is more than one kind. All of them go on the pillow before you put a pillowcase on it.

There are plain fabric zippered ones - basically a pillowcase with a zipper. They're washable.

Then there are quilted ones - like mattress pad material. These are also zippered and washable.

And there are plastic ones - vinyl with a zipper. These are wipe-clean, but they're uncomfortable under just a pillowcase.

The combination of a plastic one with a quilted one over it gives great comfort and ultimate protection. With a pillowcase over the quilted one, you basically have no idea the plastic one is there.

 

[petek]

If they're foam pillows I just toss them in the washer, our old GE toploader, then into the dryer they go.

 

[mattl]

Snarky mode on:  "If they are foam I throw them out."  I hate foam pillows.  Only like feather.  I know some have allergies to feathers and don't have a choice.  snark  off....

 

I use the quilted pillow protectors and toss them in the wash withe the rest of th bedding, every time.  I tried the plastic lined quilted covers but really disliked them.  I scrunch my pillows to a form I like and the plastic fought back and was noisy to boot, no thanks.  I do toss the pillows in the FL 2 or 3 times a year, always come out nice -- but I always check the ticking to make sure it is in good shape.  I've had pillows explode in the washer, not fun.

 

[stan]

You

Might be "over reacting" it's not like you didn't know the guy, or that he was filthy, or had lice.
Just hang the pillow in the sun for the day, it probably fine.

 

[DADoES]

 
I've washed pillows numerous times, including some that weren't supposed to be done.  They don't do well in agitator-style toploaders or the Neppy TL.  Much better in frontloaders, although even so agitation should be kept to minimum aggressiveness.  Ran a pair in the Duet when I had it, on Sanitary, and they did get rumpled up.

The Calypso also does nicely with pillows (always include the soak option) although they should be flipped around/over halfway through both the soak and wash period for even exposure to the water stream.

 

[norgeway]

Re Sweating at night!

I bet no one would sweat in our house..68 degrees...you need a blanket!!!

 

[whirlykenmore78]

A trip to the laundromat.

Is all that's needed. I usually wash pillows that way. Wash them in the large machines in warm or hot water. Dry them in the largest dryers they have with a few clean tennis balls on low heat. They come out fine for me.
WK78

 

[fido]

My mother used to make pillow cases out of old sheets and use them underneath the bought ones, so there was extra protection for the pillows. You could do the same with old, faded pillow cases.

 

[washingpowder]

I would wash them in the laundromat too. Just make sure to run a hot cycle with half the dose of detergent and another cold one to ensure proper rinsing. I don't know about machine settings in other areas but in New York it seems two rinses with pulse-spin won't rid of all the detergent that saturated the insides of the pillow.
I usually wash them in my toploader; however the results vary depending on elbow grease I put into saturating and rinsing the load.
I wash my pillows once a month and they *seem* to be clean.

 

[NYCWriter]

Laundromat ...

... EW.

God only knows what was in those machines before you got to them.

 

[whirlpolf]

both washer types and both filling types

Washing pillows, my "favorite"... (doing reenactment markets, having several persons with medical challenges in my family, then restoring old interiors to the best of my knowledge). I have had my share, can tell you...

First: Washing entire pillows is ackward, this way or another (my impression)

Then: Type of washer:
Using an American type classic agitator washer (GE Filter Flo and Shredmore Dual Action here) will handle the scrubbing/turning/kneading action somewhat better (just as I like their appropriate drum size), but extraction is best in a Euro FL (higher r.p.m.)as well as sanitation (boil wash) but bad about them: Spinning one or two items at a time (6 and 7 kg machines), larger ones have larger "American" dimensions and are hard to find here. (Some can be had for 9-12 kg, but they will not fit under a regular kitchen counter).

Learning curve: Boil wash on feathered (!) pillows gives you a strange blend of "grandma's laundry basement" (soapy, sodium like) and "chicken soup" smell (stale and or spicy)
So for me, some 60 to 70 degrees centigrade will do (extra hot, but not boiling).

Unfortunately using the 3000 rpm. of my extra spinner unit is no option (too small for a stuffed blanket, still pillows will be ok using a flexible drum guard atop the compressed pillow).

Next: Type of stuffing: Forget feathers / down. Only synthetics will wash and refluff sufficiently. Washing breaks the feathers (I have tried all sorts of options and so-called "secrets") and it will get them limp ALWAYS. A neighbor of mine, she does the same washing but then uses a direct-air vacuum motor plus two hoses to refill the feathers from one pillow to the other in order to "turbo-fluff" them up again zooming through the vacuum. (Works for the first night, then they are flat again, like a postcard (AND shredded anyhow).
So forget any feathers (at least this will save some geese and birds from being plucked).

Last but not least:
*off-topic mode ON*
Petek, this pic of yours: WOOF!
*off-topic mode OFF*

Some bedding suppliers here have begun offering "Permatherm" fiber cushions and blankets, some synthetic yarn that spreads its own little fluff around its length. Never tried it, but it sounds good to me (40 C wash = warm wash, medium spin, air dry on a rack, occasional re-kneading)
Your findings?

 

[foraloysius]

I wash my down pillows (thin ones because I have a waterbed)two pillows in one load indeed on 60 degrees Celcius/140 degrees Fahrenheit. Before washing them I give them a rinse and a spin so all the air is pressed out of them. High water level washing at the delicate cycle on 60 degrees as I said gives a wonderful result. In the dryer with a few tennis balls or dryer balls works wonder for fluffing them up.