Last year (which wasn't really that long ago, if you think about it) I saw an article on facebook about washing your pillows. The article had close-up photos of millions of dust mites living in your pillows, and it urged you to stop being gross and to wash your pillows. It said put two or three in, use baking soda, dry with some tennis balls. Well, right there I decided I couldn't do this, because I didn't have any tennis balls. Whew! Guilt relieved!
And then last week I went to my mom's ladies meeting and one lady gave her household tip for the month--about washing your pillows. But I can't, I inwardly whined/rejoiced. I don't have any tennis balls. I wasn't about to go out and buy tennis balls, not in this economy, are you kidding?
And then last week I went to my mom's ladies meeting and one lady gave her household tip for the month--about washing your pillows. But I can't, I inwardly whined/rejoiced. I don't have any tennis balls. I wasn't about to go out and buy tennis balls, not in this economy, are you kidding?
Anyway, I went home and the first thing I did was help my son tidy up his room a little, and lo and behold in one of his toy drawers, sat a tennis ball. NNNOOOO!!!!! Now I have to wash our pillows!
So, one bright and promising afternoon (because really, how long would this take, anyway?), I stripped off the pillowcases and, armed with my box of baking soda, braved the laundry room. My husband's pillow wouldn't easily fit, but my pillow and EJ's pillow are pretty small in comparison, so I kinda scrunched them down and yes, they all three fit, no problem. Well, slight problem. But I ignored the warning flag jumping up and down in my brain and proceeded to add what looked like half a cup of baking soda and just a bit of detergent. I spun the dial, pulled it out, and walked away. Out of sight, out of mind.
Until I came back an hour later to find this...
So, one bright and promising afternoon (because really, how long would this take, anyway?), I stripped off the pillowcases and, armed with my box of baking soda, braved the laundry room. My husband's pillow wouldn't easily fit, but my pillow and EJ's pillow are pretty small in comparison, so I kinda scrunched them down and yes, they all three fit, no problem. Well, slight problem. But I ignored the warning flag jumping up and down in my brain and proceeded to add what looked like half a cup of baking soda and just a bit of detergent. I spun the dial, pulled it out, and walked away. Out of sight, out of mind.
Until I came back an hour later to find this...
After I opened my eyes and found the wet mess still there, I opened the lid. I *attempted* to retrieve my husband's pillow. It weighed about 400 pounds. You can see why.
Niagara Falls was coming out of that pillow! Our dryer is smaller than our washer, and right about now is when I realized I'd have to dry this pillow all by itself. But it was so big and drippy, I left it to relieve itself of all that water and dried the two smaller pillows first. I put them in with the two balls (I found a second one) for a total of an hour and a half. By then it was EJ's bedtime and the pillows were *mostly* dry. I threw in my hubby's pillow and finally figured out how best to arrange it in there for maximum dryer-ness. An hour and a half later, IT was not dry. Like, at all.
I graciously allowed my husband to use my pillow that night (because really, I should have known something like this would take ALL day). The next morning, I felt my pillow and yes, it was still damp. To the point of leaving a wet spot on the bed. So back to the dryer they went. This big pillow was still wet also, leaving me with another day of running to the dryer every thirty minutes to check on the pillows. But at least all those dust mites are gone. For now.
So, the moral of this story? Don't wash your pillows unless you have an industrial size washer and three days to devote to drying them. Otherwise, just do like we used to do, and buy new ones every 4 or so years. They're only ten or fifteen dollars! And in this economy, new pillows are so worth all that electricity to run your dryer for that long. :-)
I graciously allowed my husband to use my pillow that night (because really, I should have known something like this would take ALL day). The next morning, I felt my pillow and yes, it was still damp. To the point of leaving a wet spot on the bed. So back to the dryer they went. This big pillow was still wet also, leaving me with another day of running to the dryer every thirty minutes to check on the pillows. But at least all those dust mites are gone. For now.
So, the moral of this story? Don't wash your pillows unless you have an industrial size washer and three days to devote to drying them. Otherwise, just do like we used to do, and buy new ones every 4 or so years. They're only ten or fifteen dollars! And in this economy, new pillows are so worth all that electricity to run your dryer for that long. :-)
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