Washing pillows and comforters: how to do it right!
27. February 2026 | How To’s, Tips & Tricks
In spring 2020, the motto is: stay at home. To slow down the spread of the global coronavirus pandemic, everyone who can is currently staying at home. Because we spend so much time within our own four walls, tidiness and cleanliness are becoming increasingly important. Traditional spring cleaning is more popular than ever in times of coronavirus. What could be better than the feeling of freshly laundered bed linen? Exactly: sinking into completely clean pillows and comforters! To make sure nothing goes wrong when washing your pillows and comforters, we have summarized all the important information for you here: Washing pillows and comforters: Do they have to be? Each of us loses moisture, skin cells and sebum during the night. On average, we produce at least half a liter of sweat at night! The moisture naturally evaporates quickly, but the salts and skin oils it contains remain behind. Around 0.5 to 1 gram of dead skin cells are removed from our skin every night. In combination with moisture, these provide an excellent breeding ground for house dust mites. For better sleep quality House dust mites produce 200 times their body weight in excrement over the course of their lives – and it’s so light that we breathe it in at night! Do you really want to wash your pillows and comforters now? We think that’s a good idea, because clean bedding clearly makes us feel better and improves the quality of our sleep. How often should pillows and comforters be washed? We should wash our bed linen relatively often: once or twice a month is a good guideline. Your pillow and comforter don’t need to be washed as often, of course, but you should give them a treat once or twice a year. Incidentally, pillows are subject to more wear and tear than comforters and should therefore be washed a little more often. Try washing them every three months or so. When should comforters and pillows be replaced? If you treat your bedding with care and look after it a little, you will enjoy it for a long time. Shake comforters and pillows regularly in the morning and let them air out well. This will help them retain their original volume and great properties for a long time. For reasons of hygiene, however, you should replace comforters and comforters after 7 to 8 years and pillows after 2 to 3 years. Can you wash pillows? Don’t worry: all pillows made from our functional fiber and Feather/down assortments can be washed without any problems. If you follow a few rules, washing won’t harm them at all. For our pillows with a removable inner pillow, you can also wash the outer cover separately to protect the filling. Can I wash my down pillows at home? IMPORTANT: Only wash your feather and down comforters and pillows at home if you have a tumble dryer! The fine down and feathers clump together during washing and need to be separated again. This only works so well in the dryer that the bedding regains its usual fluffiness and warmth. You can wash your feather and down pillows in a household washing machine with a capacity of 5 kg or more. Never vacuum! You should also never vacuum down pillows and comforters, as otherwise the cover could lose its downproofness and small feathers and down could be sucked out. How do I wash my comforter? You can wash our complete fiber range conveniently at home in a washing machine with a capacity of 4.5 kg or more. Feather and down comforters can be washed at home with a capacity of 7 kg or more. Washing pillows and comforters: How full can the laundry drum be? For oversized comforters or comforters, we recommend that you wash them in a launderette, as the washing machines there have a larger capacity. It can help to look at the weight of comforters and pillows to make a correct assessment: You can easily wash them in your household washing machine up to about one kilo filling weight. Pillows should always be washed individually. The washing drum must not be too full: It is best to only fill it halfway. If the drum is too full, the detergent cannot be distributed evenly and your washing machine can damage itself in the long run. Washing pillows and comforters: Everything at a glance FiberFeather downNatural hairDo not use fabric softener or optical brighteners!Liquid mild detergent Alkali-free, liquid mild detergent or down detergentLiquid wool detergentEasy-care programWool programWool programUp to 60°CUp to 40°CUp to 60°CSpin up to max. 1000 revolutions/minute Spin up to max. 800 revolutions/minute Spin up to max. 1000 revolutions/minute Suitable for tumble drying with reduced thermal stressSuitable for tumble drying with normal thermal stressSuitable for tumble drying with normal thermal stress Which detergent can I use for pillows and comforters? At what temperature are comforters and pillows washed? The material of the comforters and pillows determines the temperatures at which they can be washed. Our functional fiber ranges are particularly easy to care for: you can wash all comforters and pillows at 60°C in the easy-care program of your washing machine. Exception: The cooling Famous pillow with Outlast® Heatspreader should only be washed at 40°C. For feather/down bedding, it is best to use the wool wash program up to 40°C. Washing cashmere and camel hair You know it from your cashmere sweater: wool products are often a little difficult to wash. Comforters and pillows filled with natural hair are usually not washable at home, or only to a limited extent, because they can shrink or felt quickly. Rinse & Spin All detergent residues must be thoroughly rinsed out to ensure that the bulkiness and insulating properties of our bedding are not compromised. However, be careful when spinning: Fiber comforters and pillows should be spun at a maximum of 1000 rpm, bedding with feathers should only be spun at a maximum of 800 rpm. The quills of the feathers could break under higher loads. What is the best way to store comforters and pillows? Can neck support pillows and toppers be washed? The cores of our special and neck support pillows and the foams of our toppers are not washable. However, they are equipped with a removable cover to protect them from soiling. If necessary, you can remove the cover and wipe the cores with a damp cloth. Allow them to dry thoroughly afterwards. The covers of our special and neck support pillows and mattress toppers are easy to wash. The covers of the NeckProtect® pillows and side pillows, as well as the Vario Nature and Vario Space covers from our pillow bar are washable at 40°C. All others can be washed at 60°C. Some of the covers are even suitable for tumble drying: Please pay close attention to the care symbols on the respective washing label.
