Almost every day, it seems as if we receive more and more information about the nasty germs and fungi that can take up residence in the one area that we hold sacred—the bedroom.
The news is rife with reports of dust mites and other unsavory creatures in your bed, but did you know that your pillow can also be a hotbed of gross activity? In fact, a recent study revealed that most pillows actually have about 16 different types of fungi living inside of them. When you think about it like that, it’s easy to understand why so many pillows become yellow after several months of usage.
However, there’s no need for you to have to deal with yellow pillows—in fact, there’s a simple home remedy that will help your pillows to achieve their former glory. Your first step will be to make sure that your pillow can be washed—check the label.
Now, assuming that it can be washed, program your washing machine so that it’s filled approximately 1/3. Combine the following ingredients: 1/2 cup of borax, one cup of bleach, one cup of powdered dishwasher detergent, and a cup of laundry detergent. Put this magical whitening formula into the washer and turn it on, allowing all of the ingredients to dissolve before placing up to two pillows at a time inside of the washer. Make sure the pillows go through the rinse cycle two times.
As far as drying goes, the process will differ depending on whether you have down pillows or pillows filled with synthetic material. Those with down pillows will want to put the dryer on “air cycle” for their pillows, while the owners of synthetic pillows will want to put the pillows on a cycle with light heat. Voila! You now have beautiful, unsoiled white pillows.