Washing Feather Pillows

A post from Kelli–

A while back, you may remember that I had gone to an auction and purchased a few feather pillows.  I wanted to wash them, but didn’t quite know how.  That’s where you all came in to share your advice which I very much appreciated.  I wanted a method that was quick, simple, and fairly inexpensive.

I purchased a can of tennis balls and threw the pillows in the wash.   I opened the wash after they were finished, threw them in the dryer with then tennis balls and it worked great.  I did put them on an extra cycle in the dryer because they seemed a bit damp and then laid them out to dry in the kitchen for a little bit, but the process worked great.  Puppy was even excited to snuggle with them!

I repeated the process with the set that I had purchased at the auction, making sure to check for any holes or tears.  I knew one of the pillows I purchased (I had bought 3) had a hole, but it wasn’t either of the ones I was planning to wash in this load.  The washer went off and I went to switch the laundry, but when I opened the washer, this is what greeted me–

Needless to say, I was not happy.  It was however my fault because I hadn’t sewn the extra case for them, but since it worked so well for the first set, I figured I would just do it again for the second set.  After looking at the “cases” part, it appears that the fabric must not have been in very good condition as there were lots of little tears in each pillow.

So–How would I recommend doing it next time?  Sewing the case for each of them and then washing them.  Just like Hedy told me I should….  Good thing I have more feather pillows to try the new and improved method with!