Is there a tennis ball in there? I hear you're supposed to put a tennis ball in there. Also, you know it's done becuase it stops being translucent and wrinkly and starts being bulbous and taut and hot on the outside.

Hmm. Tennis ball--that instruction wasn't on the pillow tag. *g* But seriously, the pillow *is* as you describe (bulbous, taut, hot on the outside--er, yes) and yet it has this damp feather smell which is not entirely of the good. So I worry.

Is it a sort of...mushroomy smell? That's not going to go away, especially if you were washing the pillow because something spilled on it. You're not using that horrible Dryel stuff, are you?

Hug the pillow. If it feels hot all the way through, it's fine. The bottom line is: the outside won't get bulbous and taut and yeah, I'm regretting ever starting this line of description, until the inside is baked through. And what you might think is a "damp feather smell" could indeed be a "cooked feather smell." Yes?

No Dryel--just normal wash & dry, which the tag said was possible. (I'm now kind of wishing I'd gone dry-clean, but dry-cleaning is such a tedious set of errands.)

Hug the pillow. If it feels hot all the way through, it's fine.

This was very helpful, thanks! I discovered after hugging it that if I pinched the center with thumb & finger it created a damp spot. Not done!

Any mushroomy-baked-feather smell ("...and for a lovely casserole idea, try baked pillows!") will hopefully be buried under casing layers.

i have no knowledge of bulbous and taut.

is the pillow down, or feathers? if it's down, it'll take about three times longer to dry than you think is even possible (like, three or four hours.)

a tennis ball is necessary to fluff the down. if you don't have one, take the pillow out of the dryer every half hour and beat the pulp out of it, in an attempt to separate the down clusters, which like to clump together. try to get all the lumps.

if it's not entirely dry when you're done, as long as it's only very, very slightly damp, it doesn't matter, because it will continue to air dry - but you have to continue to agitate it every so often. what you DON'T want is a damp cluster of down staying clumped in the middle of the pillow, unmoving, and molding.

don't worry, washing is actually better, dissolves more water-soluble dirt. it's just that it'll take some effort to dry. i actually have a set of tennis balls i keep around the house just for this - and i only wash my pillows once a year.

it is, however, not very used to being washed and dried. don't worry, any smells arising from the water or the heat should dissipate, as long as they weren't there before.

OMG 3-4 HOURS?! Well, I put it on medium instead of low, and after my repeated pinch-testing it seemed rather dry. But now I see you're right--there is a clumpy patch in one corner that I didn't notice. Grr. Well, I'll spring for another dryer cycle & knock it around a bit. ;>)

Thank you! Very helpful info!

Listen to these instructions carefully.

You need to fluff up the pillow until it's a scary bulbous mess, then shove it into the dryer. Walk away, make a coffee, get settled into your programme and forget the time. Now then, and only then, realise you can smell the faint aroma of singed feather and run screaming down the hallway while standing on various things with your bare feet and running into the side of the door with bruising force.

Once you've stopped leaping about the place with one hand covering your arm that no longer works while your feet swell up, you need to wrench the dryer open and pull the slightly smoldering pillow out, burning your hand in the process. Then you need to find a pretty pillow case and cover it up so nobody finds out.

Then in two weeks time once the pillow grows mold on it because for some reason it still didn't dry the whole way through you need to rip it apart in a fit of anger, get the vaccum cleaner out, throw it all in the rubbish bin and call it a day.

Then go the store and buy a new feather pillow. Because they're the best!

Quite possibly the most accurate laundry instructions I have ever read.

Life is complicated. *cries quiet tears*

Snerk. You have all terrified me with Mold Fear! ::weeps::

Before I left home this morning, I gently settled my pillow next to my radiator so that it can bask in its sauna-like atmosphere all day.

If you lack a tennis ball, a clean washable sneaker (Keds do the job perfectly) or soled slipper works even better. I highly recommend having something in there to keep it fluffing.

This is the weirdest set of LJ comments I have read ever, and it's fandom so you know that means something. Bulbous pillows! Helpful tennis balls, or, even better, sneakers! I'm in an alternative universe of bizarre domesticity.

I have the unshakable feeling I should be writing it all down.

... going to bed now.

*g*

Bulbous pillows!

Not just bulbous pillows, but bulbous, taut, and hot pillows. Yeah, baby.

Drat. I have neither. In perverseness--as it in no way a ball or sneaker--I briefly contemplated a soapstone egg I have, imagining it whanging madly around the dryer until all life in the universe was destroyed by its crazed force, but sanely reconsidered.

In the absence of a ball or footwear, I'm very glad you did not resort to the egg experiment. I see that ending badly.

The $5 Kmart Generic Keds-like Canvas Sneakers in our laundry room are, I think, officially in the house just for the purpose of smashing feathers in the dryer. Then again, we also have two down comforters, so I guess it's not extravagant.