Keeping Up with Your Down: Washing, Care and Maintenance

You’ve got your comfy, cozy, and ever-so-warm down comforter…and then you go and spill your lunch all over it. Who would have thought eating pasta in bed could lead to such tragedy? Alas, you must clean up this mess, but can one even wash a down comforter?

Coupon-Gurus and Pacific Coast have teamed up teach you the right, and wrong, ways to take care of your down products…

For starters, stop eating in bed! Down will last longer the less it must be cleaned, so the best advice we can give is preemptive; try not to expose it to things that are going to dirty it!

Second: Duvet, duvet, duvet! The duvet is simply a fancy word for cover, and cover your down comforter, you must! The duvet is going to protect it from dirt, dust, and body oils. Wash your duvet as needed, but only wash the actual comforter when you must.

It behooves you to shake out your comforter once every week or two weeks, to keep the down from bunching up at the bottom. You want the down evenly distributed throughout the comforter for well-balanced warmth. Most down comforters have individual sewn “boxes” that keep the down from traveling all over. But even within these boxes, the down can bunch up, so shake it out!

Air it out! Never forget that down in an animal product. It has a natural scent that is not completely removed by the treatment process it undergoes, so giving it a little air on a clothesline from time to time will keep it fresh.

When you must wash it, spot treat any stains first, and use an oversized washing machine to make sure it has room to really move in there. Use a very mild detergent that contains degreaser, and cold or warm water only. Before you put it in the dryer, squeeze out any excess water gently. Dry on a low or no heat setting with a tennis ball or two tossed in to again keep the fill from bunching up. Now here is an important point: though you want to use low or no heat, you must make sure your comforter is completely dry! If not, the feathers could start to mold and if that happens, it is good-bye comforter!

If you are not brave enough to wash it on your own, you can take your comforter to be dry-cleaned. They will know exactly what to do. If you have been keeping your comforter protected with the duvet and there have been no “accidents” on it, you should only have to wash it once every 3-5 years or so.

If you want to keep your down comforter nice and fluffy for many years, there are things you can do on the daily to make this a reality. First, as we mentioned, shake it out. If you really want to be good about it, don’t just fluff it once a week, do it every day. A few brisk shakes can really pay off over time. Secondly, if you want to, say, flop down on your bed a read a book, pull back your down comforter first. Laying on top of it will inevitably crush and break the feathers inside. Better to pull it back and only sleep under it if you want to get the most out of it. (Obviously, this is not an option with a feather bed.)

Ok, so its summer now and you don’t need a warm blanket. How do you store your comforter? The key is to store it in something breathable. Also, try not to fold it up too small, or you can damage the feathers. You want to keep it in cool, dry place. If you are washing it before you are storing it, you must be sure it is completely dry first, or it will mildew.

Follow these simple instructions and your down comforter will give you years of warmth, and, as the name implies; comfort! Check out Pacific Coast’s selection of down comforters, pillows, and more, and be sure to stop by coupon-gurus.com to get savings coupons, codes, and exclusive offers before you shop!