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Very few things rival the experience of having a feather pillow. The feather fillings are one of the best pillow materials for stuffing. When your pillow is wrapped in high-quality Egyptian cotton fabric, going to bed may become the best part of your day.
As if these pillows don’t already have enough going for them, they’re also easily machine washable. You can use virtually any washing machine to effortlessly clean your feather pillow.
But for all the comfort that a down-filled pillow offers, it has one problem: stray feathers. It seems that despite quality control, knife-edge seams and handling the pillows with care, you still need to know how to stop feathers from coming out of the pillow.
The good news is you don’t need to give up and switch to synthetic pillows just yet. We’ve researched feather pillows and discovered the most efficient ways to ensure that stray feathers never become a problem again.
Feather Pillows – What to Know
Unlike most standard pillows, a feather pillow is made from products obtained from an animal. For example, during the feather and down production process, fillings are taken from the back, wings or belly of a goose.
The fine feathers are what give those Canadian down-filled jackets their amazing fluffy feel.
However, the down-feather mixture comes with quills, which ultimately causes a feather problem.
Over time, the outer cover of your feather throw pillows or couch cushions will often wear and become thin. These quills can easily poke through if the original pillow cover is too thin.
Here are a few ways to prevent decorative pillows from leaking feathers.
By doing so, you can keep your feather pillow in the best condition for as long as possible.
Use Zippered Pillow Protectors
This is one of the simplest ways you can keep your down-filled pillow intact.
On the surface, using feather-proof cushion protectors or a pillow protector might seem like a waste of time.
A lot of fabric technology goes into the manufacturing and production of a feather-proof pillow protector. That extra fabric is specially designed to keep feathers in the pillow rather than simply serving as another layer of fabric.
Additionally, your regular pillow covers won’t work because they do not have the tight weave needed to withstand the pokes of feathers in the down-filled pillow.
So, if and when the feathers finally escape through your original down-filled pillow cover, they’ll be trapped in a tight outer cover.
Using a pillow protector also has another benefit. Your pillow will stay cleaner longer, as the pillow protector will protect the pillow from coming in contact with unwanted dirt or grime. This means you can minimize the number of times you machine-wash your feather throw pillows and feather bed pillows.
Try to Keep Your Feather Pillow Fluffy
You’re trying to learn how to stop feathers from coming out of your pillow, so you may assume that fluffing will cause additional stray feathers.
If you fluff your pillow correctly, you won’t see any stray feathers.
Daily fluffing is great for the integrity of a down-filled pillow because it helps sort out the feathers. When you take some time to fluff the pillow, the individual clusters trying to make their way out of the pillow will fall back into place, eliminating feather leaks.
Don’t wait until your pillow looks flat before fluffing. Depending on the cluster size of the feathers in your pillow, this can permanently prevent consistent leaking.
Knowing how to fluff a pillow properly is important because you shouldn’t be too rough. If you are, the movements could put pressure on and dislodge the feather fillings, which can cause the entire stuffing to fly out.
Keep the Washing to a Minimum
Similar to most other bedding materials, washing from time to time is necessary to ensure your pillow is free of dirt and dust mite accumulation. This is especially easy to do with your feather pillow.
However, even though these pillows are machine washable, you should avoid over-washing your pillow. The reason for this is that frequent washing can hurt your pillow.
After a thorough machine washing, your pillow’s condition will be slightly worse, as machine washing causes long-term damage to the cotton fabric.
With that being said, the original pillow cover will wear as it ages, whether you wash it or not. But constant cleaning has a way of fast-tracking that deterioration.
The best thing you can do is wash your feather pillow only when necessary, and it also helps to watch the kind of laundry detergent you use.
Always Handle Your Feather Pillows With Care
When you buy a new feather pillow, fluffing may seem unnecessary. However, the feathers will begin sticking together and clumping after continued use.
We often tend to be more carefree with new feather couch cushions and pillows than we are with old ones. We know that the older family room pillows and cushions have become delicate with time, and we treat them with care.
Most people believe that their new down-filled pillow can take a beating.
However, if you don’t treat a feather pillow properly, you may wake up to find that your once fluffy pillow is now dull and flat. Of course, gentle treatment isn’t enough to make your feather pillows last longer. But it’s a good start.
When you compliment fluffing with feather-proof, quilted pillowcases, these products last much longer.
Patch Feather Leaks as Fast as Possible
Even if you take every precaution to maintain your feather pillow, you may still find a stray feather. In these cases, if you limit washing, use your down-filled pillow with extreme care and still see feather leaks, you can easily fix the pillow through sewing.
First, make sure you inspect the outer fabric of the pillow. In most cases, you’ll find a fabric patch that’s been worn thinner than the other surfaces or a ripped seam.
Even if the hole is large, it’ll still be easy to fix if you have some sewing experience. Some resources you’ll need to gather include a sewing needle, thread and a fabric patch to cover the spot.
You don’t need to do any fancy stitching if you don’t want to. The most important thing is to properly close the ripped seam.
Bottom Line
Learning how to stop feathers from coming out of a pillow simply involves being more conscious of how you use the bedding product in the first place.
Even more durable pillows will eventually fall to ruin if you don’t take care of them.
With feather pillows, you need to do a little extra work. Ultimately, the best down pillows offer a balance of comfort and safety from allergens like dust mites that makes all that hard work worth it.
