How to wash a down-feather pillow at home?

Along with the use of synthetic fillers, pillows continue to be traditionally stuffed with bird feathers. This magnificent heat-insulating and moisture-proof material is shared with humans by waterfowl of the bird world - swans, ducks, geese, eiders. To increase the softness of sleeping accessories and reduce their weight, manufacturers use a combination of feather-feather.

But for all its merits, any feather-down product is a source of potential health hazard. The natural origin of fluff and feather makes them a breeding ground for microscopic molds and parasites, in particular a house dust mite, which provokes undesirable reactions and exacerbation of symptoms of respiratory pathologies. The correct maintenance of bedding, which shows annual cleaning, helps minimize the risk of such problems.

Let's talk about how to wash a down-feather pillow at home and what processing methods are guaranteed to return freshness to products and help maintain their original softness.

Despite the huge range of household chemicals, not every detergent is suitable for cleaning pillows from feathers and down.So, it is advisable to immediately abandon the use of washing powders, even well-known brands, because qualitatively rinsing powder granules from feather-feather filling is quite problematic.

The second negative point concerns the loose consistency of powdered products, which negatively affects the useful qualities of natural materials. But when nothing else is at hand, the use of the powder should be strictly dosed, not more than 50 g per machine load.

Which drugs deserve attention:

• Specialized Concentrate "Unipuh." It contains no phosphates, aggressive bleaches and chlorine. It copes well with the removal of a variety of contaminants, while maintaining the integrity of the filler structure, lipid coating and the breathing properties of the pillows. Unipuh treatment reduces feather fragility and prevents the filling from rolling. They are good at cleaning down jackets and downy bedding.
• Delicate action BioMio - environmentally friendly and does not smell. Ideal for gentle and high-quality cleaning of products made from natural materials.
• Biogels for washing children's clothes - high-quality products that, thanks to the gel formula, are easily rinsed from the structure of natural fibers. They have hypoallergenic properties and can easily cope with stubborn stains.

The use of laundry soap with a high alkali content and fatty acids in a volume of at least 72% is not beyond doubt. Once again, we list the main advantages of a well-known remedy:

• It has an antibacterial effect, which is an additional plus in the fight against dust mites.
• It has a completely environmentally friendly composition without the slightest hint of synthetic additives.
• Hypoallergenic - eliminates the risk of developing or exacerbating allergies.

Method of application: the bar is ground with a grater and a working solution is prepared from the resulting chips. Less: after washing things have to be thoroughly rinsed.

To properly wash the down-feather pillow at home, and this is done by machine and manual methods, it is important to correctly prepare for processing.

A chintz is suitable for sewing fabric cases, although you can use other loose cotton material. Gauze, by the way, is absolutely not a suitable option: the fragile single-layer material, the sharp tips of the feathers will quickly break through, and the two-layer gauze shell fluff will instantly clog. In both cases, the packing volume will decrease sharply, which is unacceptable.

The width of the cases must match the width of the sleeping accessory, while having twice the length. With bags of this size it is convenient to carry out any manipulations during washing, and drying the contents will take much less time.

To prepare the downy product for cleaning in any way, proceed as follows:

• First, the dust accumulated inside is removed using a carpet knocker (crackers).
• Carefully unzip the breastplate from one edge.
• Being careful, transfer the filling into the cases.A wet cotton sheet will limit the unhindered spread of weightless fluff around the room when it is removed from the bed. In addition, natural cotton fibers have antistatic properties, which also facilitates the work with light feathers.
• The cases are tied well, if not laziness, then they fix the open edge with threads or fasten the zipper.

The process of washing bedding manually includes three procedures:

• prolonged soaking;
• the wash itself;
• repeated rinsing.

Warm water is poured into a capacious container or bath, the optimum temperature is from 30 to 40 ° C.

A two-hour soaking of covers with feather-feather filling is enough to make it soak properly and even the deepest pollution begin to come out. Washing may have some nuances, which directly depends on the degree of wear of the pillow.

In newly purchased pillows, the filling is completely fresh, therefore, the fan of feathers is firmly held on the rods, that is, you can not worry about the safety of the filler during wet processing.

Procedure:

• the product is soaked in any of the previously listed detergents;
• the breastplate is freed from feathers;
• the filling is placed in parts in a colander, rinsed and squeezed;
• sort out wet down-feather mass to remove the remaining specks;
• the feathers are transferred back to the colander and the rinsing procedure is repeated;
• a few drops of aromatic oil are diluted in a tank of a suitable size and the feathers are lowered there.

Thanks to this procedure, the filler will get a pleasant smell and once again disinfected. The best effect is provided by the natural aromatic oils of orange, pine, cypress. Synthetic fragrances can cause itchy skin or migraines. After the aroma of the bath, it remains to dry the feathers, which will be discussed later.

Here you will need to proceed with caution in order to avoid damage to repeatedly used packing. In this case, cleaning products and aromatic oils are used in a similar manner. To eliminate the old smell of feathers and improve their condition when soaked in water, ammonia is added. In the absence of ammonia, you can use vinegar at the rate of 15 ml of essence per 5 l of working soap solution.

Feather bedding can be washed at home using an automatic machine. In order to improve the quality of washing, do not neglect the capabilities of special soft plastic balls for cleaning feather fillings. Their principle of operation is extremely simple: when the drum tumbles water and turns the contents along with the balls, they hit the product many times and “knock out” deeply ingrained dirt. Another useful feature of balls is prevent clumping of feathers lumps.

General machine wash rules include:

• The use of reliable covers made of dense matter, capable of withstanding repeated rotation of the drum and water pressure. There will be no problems with the compact new accessory, even if it is washed in its entirety along with the packing. While the durability of a worn-out breastplate is doubtful, which means that there is a high probability of damage to it during the washing process, and this can lead to a malfunction of the automatic machine.
• Uniform load distribution inside the drum.Uneven load when laying one case will provoke strong vibration. For this reason, you need to add a towel or a pair of pillowcases, then the balance will be restored.
• The right choice of washing mode: creating optimal conditions for machine washing involves the use of the following programs: “Delicate wash”, “Hand wash”, ideally - “Wash the duvet / down jacket”. For any of these modes, a combination of a temperature of 30 ° C and double intensive rinsing during spinning at low power up to 400-500 revolutions is characteristic.

The sequence of operations when washing by machine:

• printed cases are placed in a drum;
• the encapsulated gel is added directly to the drum, and the concentrate is filled with a compartment specially designed for liquid products, after which the balls are added;
• at the end of the washing, the cases are removed and laid out on an even basis for drying.

To get started, here are some practical recommendations for a general plan for drying down-feather accessories for sleeping:

• When squeezing the feather mass, it is necessary to qualitatively remove moisture. Wet feathers are of interest to pathogens and molds. From the product with a characteristic unpleasant odor that has already appeared, which will already be a clear sign of mold damage, it remains only to get rid of.
• Wet cleaning of down-feather accessories is preferably carried out in the summer. In the heat, the products will dry at maximum speed. Therefore, drying will take only a day or two. The faster the moisture evaporates, the lower the likelihood of developing a fungus.
• A prerequisite for high-quality drying of down is good air circulation, therefore, cases with packing are placed in sufficiently ventilated places.

Consider the three most common and most convenient ways of drying down-feather fillings.

Drying of feather contents in street conditions can be carried out not only in the warm season, but also in the winter season. The advantage of summer drying is the ability to process feathers with ultraviolet light - weapons of mass destruction of pathogenic viruses and bacteria. A similar effect can be achieved by “freezing” the filling in the winter, since the effect of frosty air is equally detrimental to all harmful microorganisms.

How to dry:

• the filled covers are squeezed out with neat movements with a terry towel;
• then knead lumps of feathers with hands;
• hang cases on the street.

If it is too cold outside, then heating radiators can be used to dry the washed feather pad. To prevent the drying of fluff and feathers, they are distributed over several cases, filling by 50%, systematically whipping and kneading lumps, not forgetting to often turn over the covers.

Nowadays, only the lazy did not get a convenient floor dryer. Just this useful thing is useful for drying cases with stuffing from feather and fluff. To increase drying speed, It is placed in the immediate vicinity of radiators.

Another modern assistant in everyday life is a tumble dryer. This is the ideal solution for drying washed bedding. According to the instructions, such a unit ensures their complete drying for four hours at a given temperature of 30 degrees. If you put a few balls in the dryer, then at the same time you will get rid of the lumps. Owners of automatic machines equipped with dryers should also use the miracle balls, which will take care of evenly whipping the downy filling.

With the right and timely service, a down-feather pillow will last much longer.

What is needed for this:

• Shake the pillows daily, so the packing will cure less. It is advisable to do this in the morning, so that before evening the product has time to restore its original shape.
• Ventilate bedding monthly in the fresh air. You are already aware of the beneficial effects of ultraviolet and frosty air. In addition, this is a great way to refresh a pillow, which will be a pleasure to sleep on. High humidity in the apartment is an occasion for more frequent drying.
• Long-term storage of down-feather pillows involves the use of dense cloth cases. The disadvantage of plastic bags is insufficient ventilation, which is why the product may “suffocate”.

The simplest solution for those who do not want to wash the filler or simply do not have free time - dry cleaning services. Entrusting pillows to professionals, you will receive high-quality, cleaned, disinfected accessories in brand new cupcakes.

Once again, we recall that the annual processing of natural filler is not only an integral part of quality care.

Finally, we offer some more tips for caring for down-feather pillows.

To reanimate a shrunken down mass, use the following methods:

• Place bags with sticky filling in a bulk plastic bag. It’s great if there is a special vacuum bag for storing things. Take a vacuum cleaner and insert the hose into the bag, after disconnecting the nozzle. The docking place is wrapped as tightly as possible with tape. Then all air is pumped out, after which it is re-pumped. The procedure is repeated a couple of times.
• The product is placed on a soft horizontal base and using a plastic cracker, systematically tap on it from the sides.

Feathers and fluff of not only a large family of waterfowl, but also hens can be used as packing. Unlike duck, swan, goose feather, contact with water is contraindicated for chicken feathers, as it provokes their deformation.

Therefore, such bedding shows exclusively dry washing methods, namely, their:

• knocked out with a cracker;
• vacuuming using a nozzle used to clean upholstered furniture;
• fry in direct sunlight. An alternative is ironed, not including steam function;
• with the onset of cold weather, they freeze in the street, placing on the balcony.

However, to achieve the most effective result is possible only by dry cleaning using ultraviolet lamps in combination with air treatment. For this purpose, the filling is removed from the breastplate, and then placed in a special apparatus for purging. Air flows qualitatively remove dust accumulations in the deep layers of the filler, and also contribute to the restoration of the volume of feathers. UV radiation will take care of the destruction of microorganisms.

See how to wash a feather pillow at home in the next video.