Our down comforter is dry clean only according to the tag. With the holidays approaching I know I will have to go without for a while if I take it in to be cleaned, plus our dog got blood on it and I'd hate to have that set in it. Apparently many people with large enough washers wash their dry clean only down comforters in the machine. Any horror stories from anyone who has tried this?
I had talked myself in to taking it to the dry cleaner. I spot cleaned the blood and folded it up, storing it in the garage for the time being. The spot cleaning caused the blood to spread and soak through...it was a huge mess. So I decided to go ahead and wash it. I used the hand wash cycle and dried it on low with the tennis balls so many suggested (the drying took forever!). It worked out just fine. The blanket came out perfectly clean (thanks to Spot Shot on the blood) and not damaged at all. Thanks ladies!
If it's not a washable down I'd take it to the cleaners. Elsewise I'd be prepared to buy a new one after it gets ruined in the washer. :(
I used to work for a feather and down pillow and comforter manufacturer it really should be washable as long as the fabric is cotton. After all down comes from water fowls. It usually says dry clean so the manufacturer isn't liable for it IF something happens to it. So, spot treat the blood with OxiClean then use a large capacity washer, you want it to be able to move. Use a mild laundry soap like you'd use for delicates or baby laundry and warm water. Use a double rinse cycle and a max extract cycle on the final spin and then spin again. You want to make sure all the soap is out and as much moisture as possible. Then dry it with clean tennis balls on a low heat setting. You will go through at least two drying cycles and you'll know it's dry when there are no down clumps in the baffles. Make sure you sort of flip it around mid drying cycle to keep the down from burning. Scorched down is not a good smell.
I've washed my down blanket (full size) in the washer a few times. I've never had any problems with it. I have a front-load washer that has a handwash cycle so I use that and I dry on low. I put a couple tennis balls in the dryer to help even-out the down as it drys. It's kinds noisy, but works well.
I wash all of ours (7) once a month to once every 2-3 mo and have for over 10 years.
The biggest trick is 3 tennis balls in the dryer. They break apart the feather clumps and allow them to dry completely and restore the original loft. 2nd biggest trick: when you think it's dry... let it dry for another 2 hours. You really want to get ALL the moisture out. When it feels dry... it isn't. When you have to YANK to get it out of the dryer because it's so durn plump... you're getting close. Typically a queen takes about 10 hours on med/low to dry completely. Sounds like a lot of work... but really... how much work is flipping the knob back to 90 minutes and once or twice pulling it out and shoving it back in (so make sure it dries evenly)? Takes about 15 minutes out of my day. And costs a heckuva lot less in electricity than paying for it to be put in the drycleaner's washing machine.
Horror story? Kinda. One of the Queens had a small rip in it a few years ago that I noticed and meant to patch (kids playing) but it wasn't full thickness and I just kind of forgot about it so 2 weeks later it went in the wash without a patch. ((I've only every had to patch one other comforter... kiddo using scissors illicitly)). Fine through the wash and then feather *explosion* in the dryer. LOL. Oh my goodness... what a mess. The laundry room looked like the orphanage in Annie during the pillowfight. Down EVERYWHERE. Fortunately it's a baffled comforter so it was on the down from one square. I got it restuffed with about 1/2 the feathers (the rest I got in the lint trap and by *removing* the lint trap and letting them fly out of my house... looked like a snow machine) and patched it. It's gone through the wash every 1-3 months ever since with no problem.
You'd have to have a pretty big washer and dryer for this. If you want to DIY it you should go to a laundry mat. I also recommend spot cleaning the blood (hydrogen peroxide works well!!) and then taking it to the dry cleaner in the spring. We do that too, we don't have down, but I used to, and it's a good system, I think!
Buy some oxyclean laundry spray, spray the comforter, use a clean tooth brush to rub at the stain then use dryell in the dryer. Don't wash it in the washer if its dry clean only. You'll destroy it.
Glad I read this post. I was wondering why my new jacket with down said to dry with four tennis balls or new sneakers.lol
I have a front load washer and dryer that are large capacity. I've had great results with both of our down duvets! They are dry clean only -but not anymore! I just washed and dried one today. The key is to dry them with tennis balls! This disperses the down and keeps it from clumping. I've been so happy since finding this trick -especially with the rampant sickness we've had for several weeks. I just feel like it's so much cleaner to wash it more often instead of dry cleaning once in awhile.
I've washed mine before, put in the dryer for a little bit, and let hang dry. No horror stories. I wash a lot of "dry-cleaned only" items. Dry cleaning just doesn't do it well for me. IMO.
I've washed down before. Just becareful that you have it set to the gentle/hand wash cycle, otherwise you're going to have feathers everywhere. Also, make sure you dry on low heat. You will need to pull it out of the dryer and then rearrange because it will only dry in spots if you don't.
I'd spot clean the blood carefully, then take to dry cleaners. We use our heavy comforter from Oct to March or so and dry clean in between.
