Months ago, I pinned this tutorial for whitening yellowed pillows. I’d been wanting to tackle it for a while, but I finally managed to get to it this week.
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I’m actually trying something new this week, where I spend any extra time in the day working in my “focus room” for the week {more on than later}. This week’s room has been our master bedroom. There’s really nothing masterly about it, but it sounds good, right? 🙂
On Monday, I worked on washing the sheets. I’m known to go far too long between washing our sheets – oops! I decided to tackle the yellow pillows on Tuesday and was super excited to see how they would turnout.
Yeah, I know, they look horrible!
But, in order to feel better, I’m telling myself that yours either look like that too or have at some point in the past. 🙂
How to Whiten Yellowed Pillows
Ingredients:
1/2 C. Borax
Directions:
1. Fill up the washer 1/3 of the way with HOT water.
2. Add the 4 ingredients and agitate for a couple minutes so that it all dissolves.
3. Add the pillows and let the washer fill up the rest of the way. Agitate for 6-7 minutes, then turn the pillows over and agitate 6-7 more minutes.
4. Let the machine continue through the rinse and spin cycle.
5. Wash the pillows again from start to finish as if a normal load {I added bleach in with my laundry detergent}.
6. Dry the pillows on low heat {you may have to do this twice to get them 100% dry}. I put a tennis ball in a sock and added it to the dryer to help fluff the pillows.
The Results
Overall, I was pleased. I washed 2 different sets of pillows in order to compare using liquid vs. powdered laundry detergent. Both times, the pillows turned out much cleaner, although not perfectly white. I didn’t notice any difference between using liquid or powder laundry detergent. If you are expecting perfection, then you may not get it with this method, but I was pleased enough to not go out and buy brand new pillows. Since pillows are not cheap, that’s a huge savings for me!
Next time, I might try letting the pillows soak in the machine overnight or for a few hours. This is what Jillee recommends when she used this solution on whites in general, so I don’t see why it wouldn’t work on pillows as well.
It’s hard to get good pictures of whites, so bear with me!
FINAL GRADE = B+/A-
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Do any of you use any special recipes for washing pillows?
Or do you just buy new pillows? 🙂
Recipe from One Good Thing by Jillee but I adapted the directions just a bit.
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I have always had good luck with this combo: put some liquid detergent in a cup/small dish (I usually just use the cap to the detergent), put in some Oxi-clean (or similar product) then add white vinegar (enough for it to fizz but not make the solution too thin). The vinegar will immediately "activate" the Oxi. Stir then apply to stains. I generally use a toothbrush to scrub out spot stains but for something like a pillow, I would use a vinyl-bristled brush. Scrub lightly. Let sit if the stain is deep/set. Use remainder of solution with more detergent in your washer; wash as normal. Check for stain when you remove from the washer – if stain persists, do not dry, repeat steps and wash again. I almost never have to repeat – this combo takes out just about everything – chocolate, ketchup, blood – you name it! Also, you may already know this, but vinegar is really great at keeping your whites white (don't mix with bleach of course!) and getting out really smelly odors. It also works as a great fabric softener. It keeps soap scum from building up in your washing machine which helps the machine properly rinse and spin. You can use it with regular detergent in HE machines (use less detergent than normal) so you don't have to buy HE detergents. Got that tip straight from a guy that works on washing machines and it has saved me a bunch (by being able to buy any detergent). I use vinegar with almost every load. Just put it in where your fabric softener would normally go. Love the direction your blog is going in; can't wait to keep reading!
Thanks for sharing! This sounds similar to the homemade stain remover solution I've used quite a bit. That post can be found here if you are curious about it.
http://www.theteacherswife.com/2013/09/homemade-laundry-stain-remover.html
I'm glad you mentioned vinegar b/c I'm hearing some great things about using it as a stain remover. I may try this basic recipe and use vinegar instead of the bleach and see what that does. I actually just used some vinegar in with an ordinary load I washed this morning, so I'm glad to know you find it helpful! Thanks for your sweet encouragement about the blog!! 🙂
thanks so much for sharing w/ Twirl and Take a Bow! Getting things white is a constant struggle and I love seeing how you did it! ox
Thanks for visiting! I'm enjoying the linkup – it's great to get new ideas!
Hi
How would you go about cleaning feather pillows
According to the original pin where I saw the tutorial, most down and synthetic pillows can be machine washed. If I were you, I’d just double check the label on your pillow to make sure that is the case before you try this. Hope that help! Have a great day! — Sarah 🙂