Washing

I use a special product specifically for clearing your washing machine, I think it's called Machine Doctor, you can buy it fin supermarkets. I was shocked at the grunge going down the drain
I'd clearly wrongly assumed bio washing powder was sufficient to keep machine clean but, as I rarely use a very hot wash, goodness knows what was happily enjoying life in its innards......

will try that thanks, I have give it a wash cycle with White Vinegar (but that smells a bit urinary) ! lol

My husband works with all sorts of nasty smells and products etc.

I found that the only washing powder product to cope with all his work clothes was Bold.

maybe your washing machine needs a rinse through biker? When we wash at lower temperatures, which you will have done with the jumpers, there can be residue of detergent and products left behind. Stick some soap powder in and do a really high temperature, say 90 degree wash ( stick some dish cloths in) and that may get rid of the smell.

Does anyone else's washing smell of "wee" once washed...I have this problem quite a few times, the last one being, I bought two jumpers from Edinborough Woollen Mill , not wool just ordinary jumpers, one cream one blue, I washed them in Bold, then bit of Tescos own brand softener, but once dried they smell of wee, well smells like wee to me, also sometimes when my jeans get wet in rain, they smell of dogs! I don't have dogs no animals in the house, I am often re washing stuff, not everything smells of wee lol. just certain things.Iv used diff wash liquids powders, softners etc I should really keep a list of what I have used and the smell it leaves, but life is too short for things like that.

The website advertised a couple of posts down/up the thread could push any well balanced person over the edge into complete OCD hell. Don't go there.

I wash pillows and duvets by hand in the bath. I dont do anything that would change the shape of either. I dip pillows up and down in the soapy water and then rinse repeatedly until the water stay clear. With duvets I do much the same and once there is only clear water I take the plug out and roll up the pillows to squeeze out as much water as possible and shake them out. With duvets I fold and roll them up to get out as much water as posssible. I only do these jobs when it is an exceptionally hot day.
Sugarpufffairy

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If the problem is worry about dust mites, these are usually killed off by extremes of temperature. If I know it's going to really freeze overnight I hang my summer duvets out on the line overnight. I give them a good biffing with an old tennis racquet too.

In summer I hang my winter duvets outside during the day when temperature soar.

Don't know if it works as unable to do a double blind tests with limited resources, but reckon it must help. Even just the beating must dislodge some of the blighters - bit like my old granny used to lift and beat her carpets every spring.

I watched a programme about dust mites and the next day I went out and bought a mattress protector. It's very comfy. Pillows are a problem with washing. They are quite cheap where I live but you can't keep buying new ones. I wonder if they can be dry cleaned? The dry cleaning would probably cost more than the pillows.

I buy all my pillows from Lancashire Textiles and they are brilliant. Not extremely pricey and they are from the "bounce back" range, which they do every time. I need a few to ease this breathlessness at the moment but also have one under my feet for the swelling due to heart problems. Coupled with my memory foam mattress and my light 4.5 summer king size quilt, my bed is wonderful and comfortable. Somewhere I wish I was right now if not for acute IBS pain. Painkillers and Buscopan taken.

I cant get my duvet into the washer either so I will probably find it easier to replace it than take it to the cleaners. I never see a launderette nowadays. Can anyone tell me if you can still get the single duvets that zip together to make a double .If so I will get 2 and wash them separately in my washer.
I once had a lovely king sized duvet(wedding present) and it was much too big to go into the washer so I cut a legth off one side and stitched it, It then fitted into the machine.

loopyloo my accident was nearly 6 years ago. It is the gross swelling which is a problem, hence the elevation.

Ouch Charleygirl, and commiserations-I did the same (Weber C#) two and a half years ago. Do hope you recover quickly.

I washed and dried a memory foam pillow last week. I do not have a tumble drier so it took a week to dry naturally indoors. It was very lumpy but surprisingly it is now back to normal, needing only a small amount of pummeling. I only use it downstairs to elevate the pinned and plated ankle following a #dislocation.

It's the luck of the draw with pillows.
I have washed two this week and they are fine, but in the past I have had them go lumpy. Lumpy ones get slung out as I can't be bothered to faff around with them. Maybe they were cheap to start with, I can't remember. But I do put a couple of bath towels in the machine with the pillows to balance the machine; maybe that helps and the pillows don't get bashed about so much.

I'd use tennis balls or dryer balls but I have to I hate the sound of them beating up the inside of the tumble dryer...... They don't do any damage it's just the sound!

Or dryer balls. I'm going to have a go at washing one of those cushions and see what happens.

Tennis balls do work with down/ feather fillings. I do my gilets like that!

If it is a natural feather filling, I'd heard you can tumble dry it on a high heat with a couple of clean tennis balls, and it stops the lumps. Not sure of it works though, but seems you have nothing to lose, so may be worth a try.

There are some times in life when something is trashed, lost or broken and you have to just put it behind you, pretend it hasn't happened and move on. This is one of those times .

Thank goodness hildajenniJ you didn't take the duvet to Johnsons. After a very distressing experience with their 'cleaning' a few years ago I would not trust them with a dishcloth.

What is so annoying it is a newish pillow and wasn't cheap.

My husband regularly marks the pillow case and the protection cover but this time the pillow was marked.
I was horrified to see how much it was marked when I changed the bedding this week. Haven't a clue how he marked the pillow so much.

Might as well have bought an inexpensive one.

I'm going to open the end this time and see what I can do.

Thanks everybody for your comments, I just had to have a grumble about this to get it off my chest.

We somehow have managed to end up with a spare kingsize duvet so I take one to the launderette periodically and have it service washed and dried. It costs me £15. I even, sometimes, remember to collect it before they ring me up and threaten to charge storage!

I nearly threw away some feather cushions but then saw how expensive new ones are. I'm hoping that my newly purchased spin dryer will help with washing them. I'm going to wait till the weather is hot then wash them using that Dettol wash additive , spin dry them for ages then put them outside in the scorching heat [ever the optimist]. My dog lives in the kitchen but when I do let her sit on the sofa I put a single duvet on it in case of accidents, as they're easy to wash. It did happen once for no apparent reason.