Bedding question that frankly, I am ashamed to ask

[roaringwater]

I have had a home of my own for 22 years, been married for 20 of those and have quite old children.

However, I am embarrassingly clueless about some elements of housekeeping. While I do change the bedlinen (even I am not quite this filthy), I don't really know what you're supposed to do to keep the actual pillows and duvets clean. To be truthful, every now and again, I just crack and buy some new ones in IKEA. Surely there must be a better way?

Also, I have no idea why I don't know this stuff - my parents' home is immaculate. I was a very studious, bookish child: this was greatly lauded and encouraged and I wasn't ever shown how to do practical things (e.g. figured out for myself how to clean a bathroom when I bought a house.)

Advice from more capable people would be great.

I'm the same as you - I just buy new every so often! I will never have a show home!

I’ve never washed a duvet. We’ve had ours over 20 years.

Seriously? That is minging.

I’ve never washed a duvet. We’ve had ours over 20 years.

There’s nothing boak about it at all.

Once a year i put the pillows in the washing machine and wash them that way. Then I take them to the laundrette and dry them in the big tumble dryer for an hour. Done!

Mattress protector gets washed and dried at the laundrette once every few months (too big for our washing machine).

Large duvet / quilt - I take to the laundrette where they clean and dry it for a tenner. Once a year. Single duvets / quilts also once a year. Small enough to fit in our washing machine then dry in laundrette tumble dryer.

Mattress - once or twice a year I sprinkle it generously with bicarbonate of soda, leave for as long as I can then hoover up. Finally a quick spray of some fabric spray that I made myself using washing up liquid and fabric softener (i also like using it on curtains and sofa from time to time).

www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/house-and-home/household-advice/a680123/how-often-wash-your-duvet-pillows/

I change my pillows every six months I also have wool duvets which stop dust mites and protectors for the mattress and pillows.

I guess it depends on how long you have a duvet or pillow, plus what’s it stuffed with. We had a goose down duvet as a wedding gift and it started to go a bit lumpy, we did have it cleaned professionally but after the lumpiness set in I bought much cheaper man made fibre filled one. I think we had that duvet about 10 years.

We have pillow and mattress protectors but I do wash pillows a couple of times a year. I just let them dry naturally and use ones off the spare bed if they aren’t quite dry.

PhantomErik the duvet must be so heavy while wet though, do you drag it down the stairs or fling out the window:)

I’ve never washed a duvet. We’ve had ours over 20 years.

even my mattress protectors and pillows get grim if I don't wash them regularly. I do not believe that it's remotely clean to keep unwashed duvets for so long.

Anyway it's not good for you to be too clean. clean bedding is not "too clean" though. Putting your duvet in the wash daily would be. Once a year, hardly.

*”I’ve never washed a duvet. We’ve had ours over 20 years.”

Seriously? That is minging.*

No, it’s not.

In the 21st century where people presumably wash very regularly, wash the bed linen often and use mattress/pillow protectors- it’s fine.

Unless there’s been a bodily fluids accident, a spillage that can’t be spot-treated or it has been stored for a long time, it’s totally OTT to be washing or replacing bedding at the frequency some people on this thread are. People, especially young kids, need some exposure to normal household germs and dust. It’s not reasonable to expect things to be spotlessly clean or new.

Get some decent pillow and mattress protectors and accept that an old duvet isn’t HAZMAT.

Our summer duvet can be washed and dried in our machine as it’s light enough. We do that before we pack it away (we haven’t had to switch to our winter duvet this year so we will wash it in a couple of months and continue using it for the summer. The winter duvet is washed and dried at laundrette before we pack it away.

Bedding changed once a week, more often if needed. Pillow and mattress protectors every couple of weeks or so, as needed.

Our pillows atm are washable so we do them at the same time as our duvets.

I recommend the book “ Home Comforts, the Art and Science of Keeping House” for all such dilemmas. It is an American book, so some of the advice does not apply to us, and it is um...rather over zealous compared with British standards, but it has lots of useful stuff on how to clean various things, how to store things and organise them. I am a total slattern but still find it useful !
Oh and I wash the duvets before storing them when changing them each season, but I have problems drying pillows as I don’t have a tumble drier, so don’t wash them unless it is very warm weather and they can go on the line.

mattress protectors all round here plus toppers with washable covers.

probably should have pillow protectors but find pillows go saggy within a year anyway, so they get chucked. Not good but nowhere wants them.

did wash a duvet once at a laundrette, costs a fortune. As the cover is washed frequently and most body fluids go down rather than up, I don't see a need in a pet and smoke free house.

oh, and we bathe at night so go to bed clean anyway.

There’s nothing boak about it at all.

Yes there is. 20 years of dead skin cells and sweat. Duvet covers aren't an impenetrable barrier

What about feather pillows which you can't wash? When I was a child, all the pillows were from my GPS home so 30+ yearsnold...

If you find yourself wondering why you need to wash your duvet, the answer it to keep your bed hygienic and free from dust mites.

Every night, we sweat at least 200ml of liquid onto our bedding. House dust mites feed on dead skin that has been partially broken down by mould, and both the skin itself and the dust mites that find it so tasty, can quickly build up in unwashed beds and bedding.

Furthermore, The Sleep Council estimates that as much as a tenth of the weight of a pillow that has never been washed is made up of human skin scales, mould, dust mites (including dead dust mites) and their droppings. So, there's certainly an incentive to keep bedding clean...

So there you have it...

I have thick pillow protectors. I wash pillows once a year. It used to be more before I got the protectors. I wash all duvets yearly during season change as they are all seasons ones. My 10 tog super king doesn’t fit in the machine. I hand wash it in the bath. I put it on the airer in the bath and it drip dries enough within 24 hours to then be transferred to the line or airer to dry. We also have a super king down all seasons, which fits in the machine but I prefer the synthetic one these days and use it as back up.

Jux

I wash feather pillows. They take around a week to dry. Then I tumble dry to fluff up.

I love the extremes on these threads, from buying new pillows and duvets every 6 months to a year - really?

to keep the same unwashed duvet for 20 years.
As long as you don't have a B&B
Even if you never have sex, never sweat, never have been unwell and had temperature, or anything of the sort, it's still very grim.

I buy washable pillows and I take the duvets to Timpson Dry Cleaners in Sainsburys, every six months.

Once per season - duvets (send them out). Memory foam pillows - every 2 months (also sending out).

We have these - really nice and can fit in normal washing machine

www.finebedding.co.uk/products/spundown-duvet

Bedding roughly every two weeks, we have layers of pillow cases and pillow protecters.

Wash the actual duvet whole when weather gets hot...

Duvet is washed a couple of times a year at the launderette. Costs £6.50 and the duvet is a woollen one so not cheaper to just replace it. Also hung on the line to air in between washes too.

Pillows hot washed and then tumble dried with tennis balls to plump them up again.

I love the extremes on these threads, from buying new pillows and duvets every 6 months to a year - really?

See this to me is absolutely fucking bonkers.

I’m not exactly the most environmentally conscious person, but I’d be turning myself inside out with guilt at the thought of 4 duvets and 10 pillows going to landfill every year just for my immediate family.

Imagine if everyone did that?