Cleaning your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows: 6 reasons not to dry clean them

99% of the "advise" on the internet about dry cleaning your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows is technically flawed

The internet is awash with well-meaning but technically inaccurate “advise” about “professionally dry cleaning” your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows at a dry cleaning facility.

This misinformation is reinforced by some manufacturers and retailers of substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows who often include the words “dry clean” in their product literature and/or on the care labels attached to their pillows.

Truth is, you should never dry clean your substantially down and down/feather mix pillows in dry cleaning solvents or fluids at a dry cleaning facility.

And it makes no difference what solvent or fluid your dry cleaner uses....

The more aggressive perchlorethylene (brand name: Dowper), synthetic petroleum (brand name: DF2000 or EcoSolv) or formaldehyde dibutyl acetal (brand name: Solvon or K4). Or the more gentle liquid carbon dioxide (CO2) or siloxane (brand name: Green Earth).

After all, we should know.

And that's because WHITE KNIGHT pillowCARE is the bed pillow cleaning and refurbishment division of RAVE FabriCARE, nationally recognized as one of the nation's premier dry cleaners by non-compensated, independent, authoritative third parties.

There are 6 reasons you should never dry clean your substantially down or down/feather mix bed pillows:
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1. It's highly unlikely that dry cleaning will get your exterior/outer pillow shells (aka tickings or casings) pristine clean
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As a general statement, there are essentially two types of stains:‍

• ‍oil-based stains (such as body oil, hair oil, creams and lotions, etc.), and
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• water-based stains (such as perspiration, saliva, etc.).

Most pillows that have been used for one or more years exhibit both types of stains.

It’s the combination of oil-based stains and water-based stains, particularly the acids, salts and bacteria present in the perspiration, that causes your white exterior pillow shells to turn yellowish or brownish and develop odors.

Aggressive dry cleaning solvents WILL DO A GREAT JOB emulsifying the oil-based stains on your exterior pillow shells.

But these dry cleaning solvents WILL DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to remove the water-based stains such as perspiration and saliva.

Now you know why the originally white exterior pillow shells of your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows cannot miraculously transform to pristine white with dry cleaning alone.
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2. It's highly unlikely that dry cleaning will get your interior down fill or down/feather mix fill clean
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The “typical” interior fill of your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows contains:

• live and dead bed bugs
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• live and dead dust mites
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• dust mite feces
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• Der f 1/Der p 1 protein allergens in the dust mite feces (these protein allergens are the primary triggers of asthma and allergies)
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• dead skin cells (commonly called dander)
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• bacterial and viral pathogens (bacteria and viruses that can cause disease)
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• down and feather dust (minute particles that have broken off goose or duck down clusters and feathers)
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• other contaminants.

Dry cleaning WILL KILL the bed bugs and dust mites inside the down fill or down/feather mix fill.

But dry cleaning WILL DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO:‍

• denature (or deactivate) the Der f 1/Der p 1 protein allergens in the dust mite feces inside your down fill or down/feather mix fill (these protein allergens are the primary triggers of asthma and allergies)
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• kill the bacterial and viral pathogens (bacteria and viruses that can cause disease)
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• remove the other contaminants embedded in your down fill or down/feather mix fill such as down and feather dust, dead skin cells (commonly called dander), dead bed bugs, dead dust mites, dust mite feces, etc.‍

3. It's highly unlikely that all the dry cleaning solvent or fluid will fully evaporate during the drying process

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A modern dry cleaning machine has four primary cycles: wash, extract, dry and deodorize.

Given the fact that the interior fill of a substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows is relatively dense and will tend to “hold” the solvent or fluid, the dry cycle will need to be significantly extended in order to ensure that every drop of solvent or fluid has evaporated from the fill.

At ordinary dry cleaners, the pressure to get all their garments and household textiles through the dry cleaning machine, onto a press and into a poly bag is constant and hectic.

Given this pressure, what is the likelihood that your dry cleaner will significantly extend their dry cycle in order to ensure that the down fill or down/feather mix fill inside your pillow is absolutely dry and that every drop of solvent or fluid has been removed or reclaimed?‍

We’d guess, about slim to none.‍

But the problem gets worse .....

Depending on the dry cleaning solvent used, your pillow now has a high concentration of potentially toxic chemicals buried deep inside the fill of your pillows.‍

More specifically, if your dry cleaner’s solvent of choice is either perchlorethylene, synthetic petroleum or formaldehyde dibutyl actetal, you might want to think twice about burying your head in that pillow for even 1 hour.

Let alone for 7 plus hours -- every night.
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4. It's highly likely that your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows will stink after dry cleaning
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Garments and household textiles should always be cleaned in dry cleaning solvent or fluid that’s both continuously purified and continuously filtered.‍

Every single drop.

This way your garments and household textiles are cleaned in dry cleaning solvent or fluid that’s absolutely crystal clear.

As clear as bottled mountain spring water.

Continuous purification is much like boiling your tap water at home to remove the soluble (dissolvable) impurities in your water; continuous filtration is much like filtering your tap water to remove insoluble (non-dissolvable) impurities.

Unfortunately, very few ordinary cleaners both continuously purify their dry cleaning solvent or fluid before and after each load and then continuously filter their dry cleaning solvent during each load.

So soluble (dissolved) impurities such as residual dyes, body oils, food fats, oily-type lotions and creams accumulate in the dry cleaning solvent or fluid.

And insoluble (undissolved) impurities such as particles of sand, dust, dander and hair float around in the dry cleaning solvent or fluid.

These soluble impurities are then “absorbed” by your pillows during the “wash” cycle.

In particular, fabrics that are natural fibers (like your cotton exterior/outer pillow shells) and natural fills (like down and feathers) tend to absorb these soluble impurities like a sponge absorbs liquid.‍

In other words, instead of your dry cleaner continuously purifying and filtering his dry cleaning solvent or fluid before, during and after each load of cleaning, your pillows are functioning as your cleaner’s “cleaning filter”.

In effect, your dry cleaner is filtering the “dirt” in his dry cleaning solvent or fluid through your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows.

That's just like washing your clothes at home in the effluent from your dish washer!

So what you’re smelling from your pillows is not dry cleaning solvent or fluid.

What you’re smelling is the accumulated contaminants in your dry cleaner’s solvent or fluid that have been “absorbed” by your pillows.

Cringe at your leisure.
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5. It's highly likely that the dry cleaning solvent or fluid will destroy the fill power or “loft” of your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows
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Dry cleaning solvents and fluids rob the down of it's natural oils, leaving it flat as a pancake.

We'll explain...

When you buy a new substantially down or down/feather mix bed pillow, you are primarily paying for the quality of the fill – the goose or duck down in a substantially down bed pillow or the goose or duck down and feathers in a down/feather mix bed pillow.

The quality of the down in a substantially down bed pillow and the down in a down/feather mix bed pillow is largely determined by the fill power or “loft” of the down.

Fill power is, in turn, largely determined by the size of the down clusters in each pillow. There are tens of thousands of down clusters in a single standard down pillow (Ironically, each piece of down is called a "down cluster".)

Each down cluster has thousands of filaments (think: very thin filaments) radiating out in all directions from a center point (think: head of a pin).

Each of these filaments is coated with minute particles of oil.

The oil on the filaments gives the filaments their unique structure. And it's the unique structure of the filaments that gives down, amongst other things, it’s wonderful ability to loft after it’s been compressed and then released.

And what is the primary function of a dry cleaning solvent or fluid?

It’s to dissolve or emulsify greases and oils.

Fact is, water and detergents don’t come anywhere close to matching the oil and grease dissolving properties of all relatively aggressive dry cleaning solvents.

So let’s assume that you’ve decided to dry clean your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows

What happens to the oil particles on the filaments of each down cluster?‍

The oil dissolves.‍

And what happens when the oil dissolves?

The down clusters loose their structure or “body” – their ability to loft – and your down fill or down/feather fill looses it’s functional and monetary value.‍

In other words, you're paying the dry cleaner to -- consciously or unconsciously -- destroy the most valuable part of your pillow – the down fill or down/feather mix fill!

And we should know. After all, WHITE KNIGHT pillowCARE is a Division of RAVE FabriCARE, nationally recognized as one of the leading dry cleaners in the USA !
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6. It's not unusual for a substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillow to break apart while tumbling in a dry cleaning machine
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Dry cleaning your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows is always a risky proposition because the fabric of the exterior/outer pillow shells – already weak from the acids and salts present in perspiration – might tear open during the dry cleaning machine's wash cycle and your dry cleaner will end up with nasty mess on his hands.

And even if you dropped off your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows at your local dry cleaner for dry cleaning, your dry cleaner may not undertake the project. For 2 reasons:

• Your cleaner might recognize that the risk and time involved to dry clean, extract, dry and deodorize your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows far outweighs the likely reward.
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• Your cleaner might recognize that they might have a nasty mess on their hands and a consequent replacement liability should the pillow shell tear apart during the dry cleaning, extraction, drying and deodorization process.

To further illustrate this point, think of the weight of a soaking wet bath towel versus an absolutely dry bath towel.

When the bath towel is soaking wet, it's exponentially heavier than an absolutely dry bath towel. Now think of your pillow – soaked in dry cleaning solvent or fluid – and already weak from the acids and salts present in perspiration – tumbling in a dry cleaning machine's wheel.

That's like tumbling a brick in your home washer!

What's the likelihood of that pillow being returned intact?

Probably, slim to none.

But, then again, you might be in luck: Find a dry cleaner so desperate for your dollars that they might not recognize the possible pitfalls and time investment associated with dry cleaning, extraction, drying and deodorization your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows.

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Summary
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Before you decide to dry clean your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows, you might
want to answer these questions:

• Will dry cleaning get the exterior/outer pillow shell pristine clean?
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• Will dry cleaning get the interior down fill or down/feather mix fill clean?
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• Will dry cleaning significantly denature (or deactivate) the protein allergens in dust mite feces, de-dust the the fill of small pieces of broken down clusters and feathers, dead skin cells, dead bed bugs, dead dust mites and dust mite feces, kill the bacterial and viral pathogens, and remove all other contaminants?
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• Will the returned pillow stink of dissolved contaminants absorbed from the dry cleaning solvent or fluid during the dry cleaning machine's wash cycle?
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• Will the returned pillow stink of dry cleaning solvent or fluid that has not fully evaporated after the dry cleaning machine's dry cycle ends?
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• Will dry cleaning solvents or fluids destroy the fill power or loft of the down?
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• Will dry cleaning break or tear the pillow apart?

Now there are some dry cleaners who will tell you that it’s perfectly ok to dry clean your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows.

They’ll even tell you that they dry clean their own children’s substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows and that they “come out just fine”.

Don’t believe that story for a second.

Even ordinary dry cleaners are not that stupid!