Do I need to wash pillows?

[tiredpooky]

It must be many years....
If so how often?
Does it really matter?

I wash mine every so often and hang them out on a nice sunny day.

Yy, I know what you mean about the smell! Lots of tumble drying and a hot day makes it OK. We have lots of hot days here, so I can just leave things out in the sun.

I have just announced to my office that some people throw their pillows away every 4 months and everyone, without exception, was .

I wash them once or twice a year. at least after hayfever season i over.
have a beautiful plump, soft but firm hollow fibre pillow that comes out like new.
the dc's ones are cheap hollow fibre ones from ikea that go in the wash when they smell or they had a nosebleed.
hollow fibre is great!

At the risk of being told I'm minging - I have never washed a pillow in my life, just keep 2 or 3 pillowcases on them and wash top ones weekly and inner ones a couple times a year. I did throw away some lumpy pillows last year but they were my dad's so at least 40 years old. And a couple cheap ones wore through and got fibre everywhere.

Never had a problem with lumpy pillows etc.

No, Notcitrus, I don't think you are minging. I don't remember my parents either washing or throwing away any pillows ever. I don't think my DM has washed a pillow from about 1950 till now. She covers them in multiple protectors. It was only when I started to read the care labels on my pillows that I grasped that washing and drying them was a possibility, and I've only done that in the last ten years.

I use a pillow protector on each pillow then a pillow case. I replace the pillows about once every 5 years (3 pillows in total in our house). I've tried washing them (not feather type) but they just go lumpy.

You bin pillows? How wasteful! Yes, I wash them and put them in the tumble dryer and reshape whilst they are hot from the drier. I wash them once a quarter and use pillow protectors.

I've tried washing them and they go all lumpy! Never tried the tumble drier, I think 4 months is an exaggeration, maybe every year?

I am genuinely curious how people wash synthetic pillows without destroying them. I have asked before and not had a satisfactory answer, so come on, people, tell!

Wash, put it in tumble drier, take it out when hot, shake the HELL out of it.

Cannot believe people throw them away!

hollow fibre.
they don't go lumpy, just fluff the up after washing. job done.

yes I rarely throw them out. wish textiles recycling would take them.

my dh also sweaty head and won't have pillow protector.

feather ones stink if not bone dry and thats hard to achieve.

I wash my feather pillows once a month and wash the protectors every week with the pillow cases. You have to tumble dry them though usually for around 2 hours to get them really dry.

I buy new ones every few years now I use the feather pillows.

When I had synthetic pillows, they would go lumpy. You couldnt wash them very often and when they were too lumpy from washing I put them in for the dogs and cats to sleep on. I think they used to be replaced 2 or 3 times a year. I would never go back to them. I love my feather pillows now

Omg have never ever ever thought about washing them. Ever. Will now though.

I was very tired yesterday and totally mis-calculated the pillows....it would be more like 24 per year. It's still a complete waste.

My tempur firm pillow costs 65 pounds, there's no way I'd replace it annually, let alone 4 times a year!

I have a really thick pillow protector thingie that gets washed very regularly.

The case protects them, I wash the cases. I've had my pillows for many years.

if i replaced all ours 4-5 times a year that'd be 40-50 pillows! ridiculous

Wash twice a year. Feeling very minging by comparison with new pillows 4-5 times a year!

If you tumble dry them with a tennis ball or two in the dryer then they don't go lumpy.

Anyone had any success washing pillows without a tumble dryer? Mine always go lumpy.

www.homebargains.co.uk/products/3690-silentnight-just-like-down-microfibre-pair-of-pillows.aspx

We have these and they don't go lumpy...

I wash mine maybe once a year - tumble dry them (feather and synthetic) and put in the airing cupboard for a few days until bone dry. I have a fair few spares so kind of rotate them. Very slowly!

don't you think about landfill????????????
It is recommended you freeze pillows to kill dust mites for those with asthma