Proper Bed Pillow Care

Today we are going to take a break from talk of packing and all things related to the upcoming move and instead chat about proper care of our bed pillows.  Whether you have expensive or inexpensive pillows, there are certain things that you can do to properly care for your pillows to make your time in bed a little more comfortable and luxurious.  I'm not one who likes the bed covered in pillows.  I have three sets of pillows on my bed.  That works for me.  I don't want to feel like I'm sleeping in a jail cell with my "single issue" pillow.  I also do not want to fight my way out of a sea of pillows in the morning.  Take a look at how I have set up my bed.

Of the six pillows on my bed, two of them are Miracle Bamboo Pillows which are placed in shams.  These pillows are very dense, so I use them in shams at the base of the headboard.  Then I have two sets of extra firm pillows that I picked up at Home Goods in regular pillow cases.  The first set of  pillowcases match my sheet set.  The second set are these soft, microfiber pillowcases.  The microfiber pillowcases are the ones I actually lay my head on because they are so incredibly soft and comfortable.  You will see as we go through this post how I have them arranged on the bed.

In order to add a layer of protection to the bed pillows, I place each pillow in one of these cotton pillow protectors.  I do this with all bed pillows on all beds in all bedrooms.  These covers can be easily removed and washed with a load of whites in warm water.  I use warm water and a capful of Clorox Ultimate Care Bleach along with my regular laundry detergent.

This is the only bleach I use in the washing machine.  It is thick, almost the same consistency as liquid laundry detergent.  It does a wonderful job of brightening white fabrics without causing any yellowing, which you will get if you use regular bleach in the laundry.  I highly recommend you add a bottle of this to your laundry room arsenal.

Here is the pillow protector right out of the package.  You could launder these first if you chose to, but I don't really see the need.  But they do need to be pressed with a steam iron.

I unzip them first, then iron from bottom closed end toward the open end.

I use a steam iron on the highest setting and Faultless Premium Starch.  This gives the pillow cover and nice, clean, wrinkle-free appearance and the spray starch adds a fresh cotton scent.  You just slip the pillow inside the cover and zip it up.

I use Faultless Premium Starch when ironing at home.  This is the best starch on the market.  The pure cotton scent is wonderful and I especially like the fact that it does not flake - on dark colors or,  at all.  If you iron at home and use any type of spray starch, you know about the "flaking" issue.  This does not, so look for this brand when you are shopping.

Now it is time to iron the pillowcases.  Same deal basically as with the pillow protectors.  I use a very hot steam iron and the Faultless Spray Starch and iron from the closed end of the pillowcase to the open end.

Here we have our pillow enclosed in the pillow protector case.

And here is the pillow on the bed in a freshly iron pillowcase.

And here is how I have the pillows arranged on my bed.  Neatly arranged and waiting for a good nights sleep. 

I have removed the headboard from my bed for the impending move, so the pillows are in the same order as I mentioned in the first paragraph of this post, just without the headboard in place.  I am not certain that I will use the same headboard in the new apartment, but we'll see about that as the move continues.

A nice, neat, orderly bed is always a comfort to lie down in at the end of a busy day.