- 1Check care tags. As a basic rule of thumb, always check care tags before laundering something. While most pillows are machine washable, some might require dry clean or spot cleaning only, as either the fabric or the pillow’s filling will degrade in the wash. Although you could forego the manufacturer’s instructions and machine wash your pillows anyway, this will void any warranties you might have on your pillows, and could even leach toxic water, in the case of some foam pillows.
- 2Spot treat any stains. Pillows are prone to staining due to sweat, dirt, and makeup, primarily, although oils and food stains often find their way onto pillows. Before you toss your yellowed pillows into the washer, spot treat any small stains, using a standard stain removal spray, or a paste of baking soda and water.ads2222
- 3Wash pillows in a mixture of vinegar, washing soda, and detergent. Instead of laundering your pillows only in your standard detergent, run a load with your standard detergent, as well as vinegar, washing soda, and dishwasher detergent. Use 1 C (8 oz) of dishwasher detergent, ¾ C (6 oz) washing soda, and ½ C (4 oz) of vinegar for every 3 tablespoon (44.4 ml) of regular laundry detergent you use. This mixture was formulated to wash two pillows.
- 4Run a second cycle with just hot water. The mixture above can be thick and grainy, and may adhere to pillows without a thorough rinse. After you’ve run a cycle with the mixture, run a second cycle with only hot water, or hot water and and ½ C (4 oz) of vinegar. This will remove any remaining detergent, and will give your pillows a quick sanitizing session.
- 5Check for color. Remove your pillows from the washer, and check to see if the color has improved. If not, you can place the pillow(s) back into the washer, this time running a load with approximately ¼ C (2 oz) of peroxide as a safer bleach solution.If the pillow is still yellow following this procedure, the color may not be salvageable. If the color is the only issue, and the pillow does not smell of mildew, mold, or sweat, you can simply place it in a pillowcase to hide its unsightly color.
- 6Place in dryer with tennis balls. Once clean, your pillows should be placed in a clean dryer on the “air dry” setting, with tennis balls thrown in. The tennis balls will “punch” the pillows as they dry, creating a more even dry cycle and giving your pillows a chance to fluff up.
How to Whiten Yellowed Pillows Using Washing Machine?
Every night, you use pillows to cushion your head, leaving behind hair, dead skin, and more, including makeup, sweat, and dirt. As you can imagine, these things accumulate over time, leading to once-pristine pillows turning yellow. You can whiten and breathe life back into old, yellowed pillows by washing, treating, and maintaining them instead of new ones.
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