How often are you stripping your bed sheets and properly washing and deodorizing these linens that are used every day in your home? Every week, every two weeks, or even every month, each household is different and will have a different schedule for washing their linens. How often to clean your sheets is an often-debated topic, with many under the strict belief that sheets should be regularly washed weekly. While others are under the assumption that washing your sheets every couple weeks is sufficient enough to keep odors, bacteria, germs, and dirt away. But what if I told you that are bed sheets are not the only linens that need to be washed regularly? Down comforters or duvets are an essential component to bedding that provides warmth, comfort, and the ability to quickly fall asleep the minute your body is safely wrapped in this thick blanket of comfort. Although these blankets provide unlimited benefits to sleepers, these linens are also known to provide several cons including a stinky con of odors that will seep into this material and become difficult to remove from the fabric, along with the difficulty of easily washing this thick blanket of material within the tight space of your washing machine. In this article we are going to discuss the advantages of regularly washing your down comforters, along with providing tips to properly wash and deodorize your down comforter at home, with ease!

What is a Down Comforter?

Selecting our bedding is often a decision that is not conducted lightly, as there are a lot of factors to consider including color, design, material, and even the necessary items that you will need such as a down comforter or duvet to cover the bedding. Down comforters are a top choice for bedding, as this blanket is often utilized as a cover for your sheets when you make your bed up. This type of blanket for your bed is often selected due to its comfort, quality, and ability to cover the bed completely – which provides warmth while you are sleeping. Down comforters come in a variety of options including the fill type, which can range from standard down to the more expensive white goose down. Additionally, when purchasing a duvet down comforter you will be able to choose from warmth rating or fill power – that indicates the level of warmth or fill-power, which typically a comforter will have a 650-fill power rating.

What is a Down Comforter Made Of

A down comforter is usually made of light, fluffy clusters and plumules that are sourced from beneath the feathers of a duck or geese. These will gather together to form a down comforter, with some down comforters’ quality superior than others depending on the fill power used within this blanket. The majority of down comforters are far lighter than that of a down-alternative variety, however, they both will be thick and may present difficulties when trying to wash this item in the washing machine.

How Often Should You Wash A Down Comforter

A big question is, “how often should you wash a down comforter?”, however, there is no clear-cut answer to this question – as each down comforter is different. There will be several factors that will contribute to the need to more frequently wash this piece of bedding such as how many people use this material, do pets use this blanket as well, and how often you are using this down comforter. Generally speaking, the more people that use a down comforter, the easier it will be to collect dirt, grime, odors, and even bacteria on the material. Similarly, if pets are also allowed to use this material, the dirt and odors will only multiply – thus if your whole family uses this comforter you will likely have to clean it more frequently.

How Long Do Down Comforters Last

Down comforters are a fairly durable piece of bedding that will typically last you for quite a while. It has been found that this type of comforter will last from anywhere to 10 to 15 years, but there is no set time when you will need to discard your comforter and opt for a new one. There are some tricks you can perform to test to see if your comforter has reached the end of its life and these will include the following:

• Hold the down comforter up to the light, this will show you the areas where the material has started to dissipate, this will appear as see through or deflated. When you see quite a few patches in your down comforter like this, it may be time to consider the purchase of a new down comforter.
• Be aware of signs of wear and tear in the shoulder compartments, this will happen fast with those who typically sleep on their side. Additionally, tossing and turning will also cause the down clusters to wear, which will be a sign of a new down comforter needed.

New Down Comforter Smells! Should You Wash Down Comforter Before Using?

You may be surprised to purchase a brand-new down comforter and experience a strong smell the minute you unveil it from its packaging. What is the cause of this smell on your new bedding material? Typically, the smell that is emitted from new down comforters are chemicals including dyes and other chemicals that were used in the manufacturing process that will produce this odor when acclimated into room temperature. The smell is released due to off gassing, where the chemicals turn from solid to gas in the air – this will lead to a chemical odor that will be released into the environment of your home. This is one of the main reasons as to why manufacturers suggest you wash bedding like comforters before you use them.

Can You Wash A Down Comforter in the Washing Machine?

There is usually a misconception that down comforters need to be dry cleaned, but this is really just a fallacy – it is quite easy to wash your down comforter in your home using your washing machine. Down comforters will require the use of mild detergent, wool dryer balls or tennis balls, and patience to accomplish a proper cleaning. The biggest pain about washing a down comforter is the time that it takes to dry this bulky item – as it may require the use of the dryer and outdoor air. Another issues that you may stumble across when washing a duvet or down comforter are the odors that are collected in the material that are not easily washed out through the use of mild detergent. The OdorKlenz Laundry Additive is a revolutionary odor neutralization laundry additive that can easily be added to any washing machine load to neutralize/break down a wide variety of odors from fabrics. OdorKlenz uses safe, natural earth minerals that will work to contain and neutralize noxious odors on clothing and linen materials without the use of masking agents or chemicals. This laundry additive is safe to use on any washable fabrics and will just need to be added to your everyday laundry detergent in your washing cycle.

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