The Cover Is Not the Problem. The Filling Is

The short answer: how to wash throw pillows is really two questions, and almost every guide answers only the first one. The cover decides the water temperature. The filling decides whether the pillow can go in a machine at all, and there are more than a dozen different fillings out there, some of which a washing machine destroys outright. If there is no care label, squeeze the pillow: one that folds and squashes easily is down or a down alternative and will usually wash, while one that resists and springs back is more likely foam and should not. And if you have a top loading machine, the pillow will float rather than wash, which is why so many people take one out still dirty.

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Check the filling before you check anything else

Guides to this subject open with fabric types, and fabric is the easier half of the problem. It decides your water temperature and whether you can machine wash the cover. It does not decide whether the pillow survives, and that is the question people actually get wrong.

Why the insert decides everything

There are more than a dozen filling types in circulation, and they behave completely differently in water. Down and down alternative are fine and simply need thorough drying. Polyester fibre is fine and clumps if dried badly. Feather needs care because the quills can work through wet fabric. And solid foam or memory foam should never go in a machine at all: it absorbs enormous quantities of water, becomes heavy enough to unbalance the drum, and the agitation tears the cell structure apart. What comes out is a lumpy, permanently deformed block that never dries properly.

So a beautiful linen cover on a foam insert is not a washable pillow. It is a washable cover wrapped around something that must be spot cleaned, and treating it as one item is how people ruin both.

The squeeze test, for pillows with no label

Most decorative pillows lose their tag within a year, so here is how to work it out by hand. Take the pillow in both hands and try to fold it in half.

It folds easily and stays squashed when you press it: down or down alternative. Loose fill, moves freely, generally washable.

It folds but feels dense and springs back slowly: polyester fibre or cotton fill. Usually washable, and the drying is where the care goes.

It resists folding and snaps back immediately: solid foam or memory foam. Do not machine wash. Spot clean only.

You can feel individual quills or points through the fabric: feather. Washable with care, but check every seam first, because a wet quill will find any weak stitching.

One last check before anything gets wet, and it takes ten seconds. Run your fingers around every seam. A pillow that has been sat on for three years often has a weakened seam that has not opened yet, and a wash cycle is exactly what opens it. Two minutes with a needle now saves you fishing stuffing out of the drum later.

Work out your method in 3 taps

The filling, the cover and the machine. Those three decide whether you wash it, hand wash it, or clean only the surface.

Cover fabric, and what each one tolerates

With the filling settled, the cover decides your temperature and your cycle. Find yours on the left, and note that the last column is where most of the damage actually happens.

Two rows deserve emphasis because they are where good pillows get destroyed. Velvet and faux fur both survive the wash and die in the dryer: velvet pile crushes flat under heat and weight, and synthetic fur fibres soften and mat into something that looks like a wet cat. Both come out fine if you air dry them, and faux fur recovers completely if you brush it gently once dry.

Drying is where pillows actually die

Every guide devotes most of its length to washing and a sentence to drying. It is the wrong ratio. Washing a pillow badly makes it dirty. Drying a pillow badly makes it lumpy, misshapen or mouldy, and none of those three reverse.

The clumping problem

Wet fill sticks to itself. As it dries it sets in whatever position it happens to be in, so a pillow left to dry undisturbed comes out with a dense lump at one end and a hollow at the other. Once that has set, redistributing it by hand only partly works and the pillow never quite regains its shape.

Two things prevent it. Dryer balls tumble through the load and physically break the fill apart as it dries, which is what they are actually good at even though they are sold as a fabric softener replacement. And taking the pillow out two or three times during the cycle to pull it back into shape and give it a shake does the same job by hand.

The damp core problem

A pillow feels dry long before it is dry, because the surface dries first and the middle holds moisture for hours afterwards. Put a pillow back on a sofa with a damp core and you have a warm, dark, humid space with organic material in it, which is how a pillow starts to smell within a fortnight and grows mildew inside where you will never see it.

The test is simple: hold the pillow against your cheek and squeeze the middle. Skin detects residual coolness far better than fingers do. If there is any coolness at the centre, it is not dry, whatever the outside feels like. Give it another hour.

If you have no dryer

Air drying works and takes patience. Lay the pillow flat rather than hanging it, because a hanging wet pillow lets all the fill migrate to the bottom and dry there. Turn it every couple of hours and reshape it each time. Outdoors on a dry breezy day is ideal and sunlight helps, though strong sun will fade a coloured cover over a full afternoon.

Indoors, put a fan on it. A pillow drying in still air can take two days, which is long enough for the middle to start smelling before the outside is dry.

The one that covers both jobs: mesh bags and dryer balls

Washing pillows properly needs two things, and this set has both. Three zippered mesh bags protect covers from abrasion in the drum, which matters most on velvet and anything textured, and six wool dryer balls break up the fill as it dries, which is what stops the clumping.

The bag sizes are the useful part: 19 by 15 inches takes a standard cushion cover comfortably, with 15 by 12 and 11 by 8 for smaller covers and delicates. Zips rather than drawstrings, which sounds trivial until you have fished a drawstring bag out of a full drum with its contents scattered through the load.

The balls are unbleached merino, dense rather than spongy, which is what makes them effective at separating a wet load rather than just bouncing around in it. A set like this lasts over a thousand loads, so it is a one-off purchase rather than a consumable.

Worth it or skip: Worth it if you own more than a couple of decorative pillows or anything with a textured cover, since it solves the two failure points at once. Skip it if you only ever hand wash and air dry, where neither item does anything for you.

Check the mesh bag and dryer ball set on Amazon

Two more, depending on how you dry

XL dryer balls on their own, if you already have bags. Six extra large New Zealand wool balls, which the maker states shorten drying time by 10 to 30 percent and last over a thousand loads, meaning two to three years. On a pillow the time saving matters less than the mechanical action: they physically break the wet fill apart as it tumbles, which is what prevents the lumps. Use three to six per load. See the XL wool dryer balls →

A single extra large mesh bag, for one awkward cover. If you have one velvet or faux fur cover that needs protecting and no interest in a full set, a single large zippered bag does the job for very little. Turn the cover inside out, put it in the bag, and the decorative face touches nothing during the cycle. See the extra large mesh bag →

Replacing a cover rather than rescuing it? I go through what works seasonally in the guide to fall throw pillows, and the wider approach to layering a bed is in cozy bedding ideas.

Something went wrong? Diagnose it in 2 taps

The quiz above is for planning. This one is for a pillow that has already been through the wash and come out worse.

People also ask about washing throw pillows

Can you wash throw pillows without a removable cover?

Usually yes, and the deciding factor is the filling rather than the sewn cover. Down, down alternative, polyester fibre and feather all wash as a whole pillow. Solid foam and memory foam do not, at any temperature, because they absorb enormous amounts of water and the agitation destroys the cell structure. Check the seams before washing, since a sewn pillow that splits in the drum spreads its contents through the entire load, and put it in a mesh bag to protect the cover from abrasion.

How often should you wash throw pillows?

Covers roughly once a month in a room you use daily, and every two to three months in a spare room. Inserts every three to four months, since they are protected by the cover and mostly need airing rather than washing. Spot clean spills immediately regardless of the schedule, because a mark left to set is a far harder job than a mark blotted within the hour. Pillows on a sofa where people sit and lean need the shorter end of both ranges.

How do you clean throw pillows that cannot be washed?

Vacuum first with an upholstery attachment, which removes hair, dust and crumbs and does more than people expect. Then spot clean marks with a barely damp cloth and a very small amount of mild detergent, blotting from the outside of the mark inward rather than rubbing. Dry the treated area quickly with a fan so no ring forms. For odour rather than marks, sprinkle bicarbonate of soda over the surface, leave it fifteen minutes and vacuum it off, or simply air the pillow outdoors on a dry day.

Why did my throw pillow go lumpy after washing?

Because wet fill sticks to itself and sets in whatever position it dries in. The fix is mechanical rather than chemical: dryer balls tumble through the load and break the fill apart as it dries, and taking the pillow out two or three times to reshape it by hand does the same job. If it has already happened, rewet the pillow and dry it again properly, which recovers most though not always all of the shape.

Throw pillow washing FAQ

There is no care label. How do I know what is inside?

Squeeze it. A pillow that folds easily and stays squashed is down or down alternative. One that folds but springs back slowly is polyester or cotton fibre. One that resists folding and snaps straight back is foam, and should not go in a machine. If you can feel individual quills through the fabric, it is feather, which washes but needs its seams checked first.

Can I wash a velvet or faux fur pillow cover?

Wash yes, dry no. Both survive a cold delicate cycle in a mesh bag and both are destroyed by dryer heat: velvet pile crushes flat under heat and weight, and synthetic fur fibres soften and mat into something that does not recover. Air dry both, and once dry, brush faux fur gently with a soft brush to lift the pile back up.

How do I stop pillows floating in a top loading machine?

Wash two at once, positioned on opposite sides of the drum so they balance each other and stay submerged, and add a couple of towels to absorb some of the buoyancy. Stopping the cycle halfway to turn them over helps considerably. A front loader avoids the problem entirely, which is why it is the recommended machine for anything bulky and light.

Should I use fabric softener on pillow covers?

No. It coats the fibres, which reduces breathability, dulls the colour over time and makes covers attract dirt faster. On textured fabrics like velvet it flattens the pile as well. Wool dryer balls do the job it claims to do without leaving anything behind, and they shorten drying time as a side effect.

Is it worth replacing the insert instead of the whole pillow?

Frequently, yes, and it is the option most people never consider. If the cover comes off and still looks good, a new insert costs a fraction of a new pillow and restores the shape completely. Fibre fill compacts with years of use regardless of how well you wash it, so a flat pillow with a lovely cover is a candidate for a new insert rather than the bin.

How long does a throw pillow take to dry?

Considerably longer than it looks. In a dryer on low heat with dryer balls, expect well over an hour for a standard pillow and longer for feather. Air drying flat indoors with a fan takes most of a day, and without a fan can take two, which is long enough for the middle to sour. Check by holding the pillow against your cheek and squeezing the centre: any residual coolness means it is not dry.

The throw pillow cheat sheet

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Keep reading

The same question comes up across a house: what is inside the thing decides how you wash it.

• The Two-Inch Rule Is Compensating for a Weak Insert
  Before washing one, get the size right. An 18×18 cover wants a 20×20 insert, and the reason is fill weight rather than dimensions.
• It Is Not the Weight. It Is How Concentrated It Is
  A 15 lb blanket is a 30 lb load once wet, and the maker’s own answer is to wash the cover and leave the insert alone.
• The Wires Do Not Mind Water. They Mind Being Bent
  Water reaches the sealed wiring no more than it reaches duvet filling. Wringing, clothes pegs and repeated folds are what break it.
• Two of These Three Causes Are Fixable. One Is Not
  The throw next to the cushions has three causes of hardness that feel identical, and heat damage is not one you can wash out.
• Woven and Knitted Blankets Fail in Opposite Ways
  Construction decides whether a wet blanket can hang or must dry flat, and getting it wrong stretches it permanently.
• Stiff Towels Have Three Causes. Vinegar Only Fixes One
  Residue, softener buildup and hard water look identical and need different answers. Also why vinegar and bicarbonate cancel each other out.
• New Sheets Are Not Stiff. They Are Coated
  Mill finish is temporary by design, and thread count matters less than staple length.
• Submerging It Is a Drying Question, Not a Washing One
  The pillow you sleep on rather than lean against, where solid foam changes the answer completely.
• Washing Foam Is Easy. Drying It Is Where Sofas Die
  Scale it up to a seat cushion and the drying becomes the whole job, with a 48-hour clock attached.
• One Letter Decides Whether Water Ruins Your Sofa
  Before washing any cushion cover, the tag decides whether water is allowed near it at all.

Squeeze it before you wash it

Almost every guide to this answers for the cover, which is the easy half. The cover is fabric and it follows fabric rules. What decides whether the pillow survives is the thing inside it, and a great many pillows have no label telling you what that is.

So squeeze the middle. Polyester and down compress and spring back, and both can generally go in a machine on a gentle cycle. Solid foam compresses evenly and returns slowly as one piece, and it must never go in a machine at all, because agitation tears the open cell structure and the pillow comes out lumpy for good.

Two more things worth knowing before the lid closes. In a top-loading machine with a central agitator, a pillow floats rather than tumbling, so it never really washes and can wrap around the agitator instead; wash two at once to balance the drum, or use a front loader. And the covers most likely to be ruined are velvet and faux fur, which usually survive the wash and die in the dryer, because heat is what mats the pile permanently.

Ten seconds with your hands tells you more than the label would have, and it is the difference between a clean pillow and a bin bag.