Cleaning a Feather Bed??

I wash my down comforter at home all the time. I found this online and it's pretty much what I do--down to the tennis balls! Good luck!

#1. Carefully read the care label on the bed or comforter. It should indicate whether the bed can be washed or should be dry-cleaned.

# 2. Before washing, check for tears in the fabric. The process of washing could cause the feathers to "explode" out of the cover.

# 3 Use a large-capacity washer.

# 4 Select the cold-water wash cycle and use liquid detergent. (I use Tide Bleach Alternative.)

# 5 Tumble dry low or medium in a large-capacity dryer. Toss in a few tennis balls or a clean tennis shoe to keep the down fluffy.

# 6 Remove bedding from the dryer several times during the drying process and shake out, then return to dryer. Drying may take several hours.

# 7 Remove the bedding from the dryer as soon as it is dry. Be sure it is completely dry before putting it back on the bed. Wet feathers can rot.

I wash all my down comforters (ikea) every other month. The newest one is about 8 years old. What One&Done posted is exactly how I do it. Because they shrink so much when wet, even the kings go in our home washer super easy. Well, IN takes some shoving, but once they're wet, no worries.

The only thing to be REALLY sure of is that they are TOTALLY dry. MUST use tennisballs (they break apart the feather clumps). And, as a rule of thumb, when you think it's dry... put it back in for 3-4 more hours. When totally dry it will practically be bursting at the seams puffy and when you squish it, it immediately pops back up instead of staying back down. If they DON'T get totally dry, they can grow a kind of almost odorless (actually, it smells a LITTLE like urine) mold that is VERY bad for lungs.

If the bed is too big for your home machine, the laundry mat is a good alternative, since their machines are WAY bigger... but that's spendy.

Option 1.5 is to soak the beejeebers out of it in the bath to get is "small" so it WILL fit in your home machine, or to wash it in your tub, and then dry it at the laundrymat.

Option 3 (1=home, 2=laundrymat) is "Kid'n'Pets" or "Nature's Miracle" sold at pet stores or QFC. The same enzymatic cleaner that you use on urine, poo, vomit on carpets/ furniture. It will totally break down the uric acids and biologicals. I just can't stand the smell.

And for NEXT time (or when cash becomes available)... check out SleepCountryUSA. They have mattress covers that are waterproof AND breatheable (you can stick your face into it and breathe right through it). On the desk in all their stores they have a lttle glass jar with blue or colored liquid and a square of it over the top. Doesn't let ANY of the liquid out, but you can blow bubbles through it if you like. Not plastic, doesn't rip, isn't noisy, doesn't make you sweat/isn't hot nor retains body heat. Has a super short kind of terrycloth weave on oneside and the cellulose stuff on the bottom (terrycloth side goes towards you/your sheets). We have them on all of our beds, and I can guaranteed from personal experience... they work GREAT and last forever. They are NOT cheap, unfortunately. I bought ours during one of their sales, and they were still $50 each. I think they're about $100 normally.

I agree with everythihg one and done shared, but will add that for large items - take to the laundrymat. they have SUPER capacity washers that can clean your bed better than a made for the house front loader.

Also, you could inquire at the laundrymat if they provide any kind of take away cleaning/washing service - could be cheaper than dry clean, but more effective than doing it yourself.

If it's a feather bed, it's much different than a down comforter, much heavier and cannot be washed in a machine. I've had mine for about 10 years now, however it's never been pee'd on. I'd clean the pee stain as you would if it were on a regular mattress and then drag it outside and let it air out in the sunshine and fresh air for a bit. Might be too cold to get the benefit of the sun this time of year tho.
We just take ours out and beat it and hang it for a day in the summer every year.