Clean It Up: Pillows

Once a quarter, I wash our mattress pad and deep clean our mattress. It helps freshen everything and delay both normal wear-and-tear, as well as gross build-up that happens over time.

Then I saw a note on Pinterest about the importance of washing your pillows. I've washed my pillows in the past, but not on a frequent basis. I thought to myself

Self, you should wash your pillows once a quarter when you wash the mattress pad. And self, you should try out that pin on Pinterest as part of your 101 goal to try a pin once a month!

That's how I ended up with two very icky pillows in our washing machine.

I set the machine on warm, with a second spin cycle to reduce extra moisture. I added our normal scent-free detergent and ran the load. No problems.

Please ignore how icky and dirty my washing machine is. I need to clean it. How ironic is it that something that cleans needs to be cleaned? The cycle never ends...

Anyway, once the pillows are washed, toss them in the dryer. The pin's instructions suggested adding tennis balls in socks (to beat out extra moisture without transferring stain onto the pillows). Instead I added two heavy-duty dryer balls.

I had to run the dryer cycle a few times to get the pillows completely dry.

The results were WORTH IT though. Nice fresh-smelling pillows again. And as an added benefit, the pillows were unbelievably fluffy and firm.