Proper Care for Down Pillows
What is down?
Down feathers are the soft, fluffy feathers found beneath the rougher exterior feathers of a bird. Down is not only soft, but has excellent insulating properties which makes it quite desirable in sleeping bags and winter clothing.
Down pillows and comforters are made of either duck or goose down, with goose being preferable to duck. Not all down pillows are the same; some manufacturers add feathers to the mix The quills of these feathers eventually poke through the fabric and can jab an unsuspecting sleeper in the face. When choosing a down pillow, be certain that the pillow is labeled 100% down
What kind of pillow should I buy?
If you have ever shopped for pillows, you will noticed that they come in three different levels of firmness. Some are rather hard, while others are so soft that you sink practically to the mattress. The degree of firmness all depends on how you sleep.
For the person who sleeps on his back, a medium thickness of pillow supports the neck and the back. The side sleeper will need a firmer pillow with enough height to support the head evenly with the shoulders. For the stomach sleeper, a low, soft pillow will keep the head and body in proper alignment.
Proper care of your pillow
Down pillows are quite easy to care for. To protect the ticking (the cloth exterior), we use a zippered pillow slip or pillow cover. Pillow slips are usually made of cotton and provide an extra layer of protection against body oils. The pillow slip fits nicely beneath the cases, and should be washed regularly. With the double layer of both a cover and case, the pillow will only need to be laundered once a year. It can be sent out to be dry cleaned, or, can be laundered at home in a washing machine.
If washing at home, it is best washed in cold water, using a detergent that has a degreaser to remove body oils. Stains must be pretreated before laundering.
To dry the pillow, merely toss it in the dryer that has been set at the coolest and gentlest setting. Add some tennis balls to the machine to help fluff up the down as it tumbles.
If you prefer line drying, remove the pillow from the dryer after it begins to fluff up. Clip to the clothes line, and let it finish drying in the sun. Between yearly washings, down pillows can be hung from the clothes line to disinfect and remove stale odors.
After time, the ticking can eventually take on a dingy yellow color, or even develop permanent stains. When this happens, a dry cleaner can recondition your pillow by removing the old ticking and replacing it with new. They also will run the feathers through a special machine that cleans and restores the fluff. This process usually costs around $10 and is a terrific way to recondition down pillows purchased at yard sales and thrift stores.
