Our first suggestion is to cover your Down Comforter with a Duvet Cover. Although a beautiful white down comforter on a bed does look spectacular!
Like anything in white fabric: stains that, if left untreated, could oxidize and cause yellowing. Exposure to heat or the passage of time can cause stains from food, beverages, and other oily substances to oxidize and turn yellow or brown, much the way a peeled apple turns brown after exposure to air. Once they become yellow or brown, these stains become much more difficult to remove and often cannot be removed.
Dirt, cookie crumbs, the dog jumping on the bed, the kids. all can contribute to your wonderful white down comforter quickly starting to change to an off white!
Never purchase a down comforter that comes in a colored fabric other than white. Any other color can hide an multitude of sins: prickly feather quills, dirty inferior down.
A duvet cover of at least 300 Thread Count provides added protection and an added feel of luxury. 200 thread count duvet covers are o.k., but usually need alot of ironing which leads to discouraged use. With all the fabulous colors and patterns on duvet covers that are available, its a wise choice.
It is pretty fast to redecorate a room, just by changing the duvet cover.
We recommend having at least two to four Duvet covers in your linen closet.
Its alot easier to wash a duvet cover than it is to wash a down comforter. But you are here to learn how to... so lets get started.
We will always recommend professional dry cleaning first for our Hungarian down comforters. Cleaning a down comforter at home isn't that hard, but it is a long process.
Don't dry clean your down comforter that often though. Once or even if you wish twice a year is enough.
Myths about Dry Cleaning debunked:
There are comforter companies out there that are claiming that the chemicals used in professional dry cleaning could damage the natural properties of the down. That is not true!
What they are really telling you is that the chemicals will damage the FEATHERs not the down.
Feathers have quills, chemicals do damage to this, and even could change the color of the quill... thats why you start to see the "shadows" of quills after it is dry cleaned a few times. Comforters that consist of less than 80% down, you will notice the feather quills start to appear after a few washes. Do you have a comforters of 95% Feathers 5% down... thats a scary thought? Add in a low thread count product, and your down comforter wont last very long at all. Its time to upgrade that comforter.
Cleaning a Down Comforter at home:
A Nice Sunny Day:
It helps when it comes to drying your down comforter, so if its cloudy, put off cleaning your down comforter for another day.
Large Capacity Washer and Dryer
The bigger the better. Especially if you have a king size down comforter. If you have a smaller capacity washer, thats fine.. just that stuffing it in might be difficult, and it will make alot of noise on spin cycle.
We suggest checking on your down comforter from time to time during the wash cycle and move the down comforter around a little bit. Since your washer machine wont be able to move your comforter around like it does with a regular wash load.
Water Temperature & Detergent:
Use cold water. We suggest adding the detergent right as the washing cycle begins and it is full of water. No fabric softener, use a small amount of liquid detergent. It is best not to use a colored laundry detergent, try to find one with no dyes as these can stain your bedding. Bleach is unnecessary too, or a very tiny amount if you wish. Check on the comforter every now and then and help your machine by moving the down comforter around a little.
Two Spin Cycles
Click the dials on your washer back after the first spin cycle and let it spin around again. It helps on the drying process by sucking out the water out of the comforter.
If you have a small capacity washing machine, please watch your washer carefully as it could start dancing across the room trying to spin that down comforter around.
It will make some decent noise too. No big deal.
Gut Check Time:
After the second spin cycle, take the down comforter out. At this moment you are going to be scared that you ruined it. The down and feathers are all bunched up into clumps! Don't panic! If the down comforter is still dripping wet alot, try another spin cycle.
Go Outside:
Find a nice place outside that has lots of sunshine. We suggest lying the down comforter out flat on the ground, or if you have something you can drape it across. A lawn chair works fine. Bring along another bedding sheet to put under the down comforter to protect it from anything dirty.
The Waiting Game:
Exactly, now go do your other chores, watch television, whatever. If its humid outside, your time waiting might be shorter. But on average we suggest about 2 hours for each side. When you go to check on it, if you see any clumps of down, you can loosen it with your fingers lightly. Expect to see alot of these. It will help the drying process, and wont damage the feathers or down.
Into the Dryer:
Now why did we suggest drying it outside first? Well no matter how good your dryer is; its almost a guarantee that going straight from the washer to the dryer, will still take a long time. You will get frustrated by seeing that your comforter just is not drying and its now cost you on your electricity bill!
The Down comforter from outside should feel slightly warm to the touch and hopefully a few sections should be fairly dry. If the Down still looks clumpy.. hand massage it. Bring it to the Dryer.
Set it to first dry on air fluff for about 15-20 minutes, and then low heat for longer time frame. Low Heat if your dryer is small capacity. If its a large capacity you can use a little bit higher heat selection. The tick is fine cotton and can shrink if its too hot. Thats another reason why you take the long way home drying a down comforter!
Tennis Anyone?
Put a clean tennis shoe into the dryer to help fluff up the down and distribute it well. Its going to get loud again, and check in on its progress every now and them. This is not an essential step.
If you have a low thread count down comforter (200 thread count) dont put the tennis shoe in, it could damage some of the stitching.
Final Suggestions:
After the dryer, The down might still be clumpy.. again just hand massage it out. Your comforter should be ready to use now. Hang it out on the clothesline for a quick freshen-up. We suggest putting the down comforter in a duvet cover when its ready for use.
Fluff your pillows frequently and turn them to prevent matting of the down. Always be sure to store your down in a dry cool place where they will not mold or mildew.
But please don't think a down comforter is to be used only during the winter months. A quality down comforter can be used all year round.
We also have a consumer's guide to Down Products too if your interested in knowing what qualities to look for in superior down products. Happy Washing!!
Purchase a superior quality DownTown Company Hungarian Down Comforter
Superior Quality? YES!
DownTown Company's comforters were recently independently tested
by the International Down & Feather Testing Laboratory and Institute.
Please review their Lab Results of DownTown Company's Down Products.
