Hand washed 2 feather pillows and now they stink!

confusedmummy

I hand washed two feather pillows which smelt fine beforehand (I washed them as I have an allergy and have changed all my bedding in case it is dust mites causing this). The pillows are less than a year old.

Anyway, I washed them with a washing liquid for delicate garments and now they absolutely stink and the cotton covers have yellow spots all over them. My husband thinks that the smell if from rancid sebum/sweat from the feathers coming off with the soap and this would explain the colour. It smells a bit like urine though. Does anyone have any advice of how I can get rid of this smell? I am going to get them dry cleaned when they have dried but don't know if this will get rid of the smell or the yellow spots.

TimBuckTeeth

As they are not much good as they are I would risk machine washing them with biological powder at 40C and rinsing twice. It is important to get them dry as quickly as possible.

abwsco

I always wash my feather pillows in the washing machine on a 40 wash with my usual non bio Ecover powder. Then tumble dry on a low heat for ages until they're fully dry. If the weather is good enough I put them on the line first for a bit of a blow.

avstar

In future if you want to kill off dust mites without washing then put your pillows/cushions/soft toys in the freezer for 48 hours.

I aso put bags of flour from the supermarket in the freezer for a couple of days to kill off any flour weavils that might be lurking in there, you don't want those pesky critters in your cupboards!

garethgas

Holy moly, how big is your freezer ? :rotfl:

pamsdish

I always put my feather pillows im W.M. It is impossible to wash them by hand ,sheer density of the item .If its possible I peg them on outside line to dry.Or at this time of year ,lean them on the radiator then finally tumble to air, and fluff them up.

sunshinetours

What does the label say. Some can't be washed. You do need to tumble dry them usually on a low heat and make sure fully dry

I would also suggest if you have allergies then a dust mite pillow cover (and mattress cover) would be a qworthwile investment along with anti allergy pillows and duvet, which usually aren't feather

Ken68

I agree Avstar, long ago I did the auctions, and anything suspect, like rugs especially went in a dedicated large chest freezer. Sometimes small furniture would go in, overnight to get rid of woodworm.
Also this is how the Royal Household do their valuable carpets and curtains. Was on the telly so must be true.

Ben84

You should be able to get allergy tests from your Dr to check for common allergies. That's how I discovered I'm allergic to dust mites. Actually, I'm allergic to their droppings, most people with dust mite allergies are.

Anyway, if you do have a dust mite allergy, I would just get rid of anything with feathers in. Dust mites absolutely love feather filled pillows and duvets in my experience, and to make thing worse they're hard to clean too - which is something I need to do often.