How to wash your child’s pillow without ruining it

There is that morning when you lift your child’s head and catch that faint smell hanging about. A little dried dribble, a runny cold, a night when they sweated a lot. You tell yourself it is time to wash their pillow. And then one very simple question stops you: does it go in the machine, like the rest of the laundry?

The answer depends on what is inside, and that is exactly where a lot of people go wrong. You put the pillow through the machine like a sheet, it comes out misshapen, full of lumps, and it never gets its shape back. One bad wash, and a good pillow is wasted.

In this guide, we show you the right way to go about it, without making life complicated. The pillowcase and cover on one side, the pillow itself on the other, material by material. How to wash it, above all how to dry it properly, and a few tips against stains and smells. Enough to keep your child’s pillow clean and healthy, for a long time.

The first thing to do: read the care label

Before you load the machine, turn the pillow over and look for the small label stitched into the side or into the cover. It tells you everything: what temperature to wash at, whether machine washing is allowed, whether the tumble dryer is permitted or forbidden. Every pillow is made slightly differently, and those little symbols are there so you do not get it wrong.

If the label says « hand wash » or crosses out the machine symbol, you believe it, even if it is less convenient. In the same way, a crossed out circle means « no tumble dryer », and that one matters: heat can damage some materials for good. A pillow washed against its label is often a pillow ruined.

This guide gives you the broad rules material by material, but your pillow’s label will always have the last word. Keep to this simple habit: read first, wash after.

The pillowcase and the cover: wash them often

This is the easy part, and the good news is that it is also the most important day to day. The pillowcase and the removable cover are what really touches your child’s skin and hair all night long. That is where dribble, sweat, dead skin and dust build up. Which is to say, it needs washing often.

The right rhythm is about once a week, like the sheets. More often after a cold, a fever or a very sweaty night. Most pillowcases and covers go through the machine without trouble, usually at 40 degrees, sometimes at 60 if the fabric can take it and you want to see off the germs after an illness. Here again, the label decides.

One small trick that changes everything: keep a second cover or a second pillowcase to hand. That way, while one is in the wash, the other is already on the pillow. Your child never has to wait, and you are never caught out on an evening when the washing was forgotten.

• The pillowcase and cover are washed often, about once a week.
• More often after a cold, a fever or a very sweaty night.
• Usually at 40 degrees in the machine, up to 60 if the fabric allows it.
• Close the zip of the cover before washing, so as not to damage it.
• A spare pillowcase or cover, and you are never stuck.

The pillow itself: it all depends on the material

This is the heart of the matter, and the part where a pillow most often gets ruined. Unlike the pillowcase, the pillow itself does not always go in the machine, far from it. Everything depends on what is inside. One material copes with water and the drum, another hates them and never recovers.

Here are the main families of filling, with the right approach for each one. Find the one used in your child’s pillow, often written on the label, and follow the matching line.

• Foam and memory foam: usually no machine. Water and the spin cycle break the foam down. Wash the removable cover instead and clean the block by hand, gently.
• Synthetic fibres and microfibre: often machine washable, at a low temperature and with a gentle spin. Check the label first all the same.
• Down and feathers: more delicate, often a gentle wash and a long, patient dry. Go carefully, or leave it to a dry cleaner if the label advises it.
• In every case: do not guess, read the label, and when in doubt choose the gentlest option.

Foam and memory foam: the big trap

It is the material used in many pillows designed for children, because it moulds well to the head and keeps the right height for the neck. But it is also the one that hates the machine most. Water soaks into the foam like a sponge, the spin cycle twists it and tears it from the inside, and the pillow comes out in pieces or all lumpy. Nobody wants that.

The right approach is simpler than it looks. Take off the cover and that is what goes in the machine, like a pillowcase. For the foam block, you sponge it: a soft cloth, a little lukewarm water, a drop of mild soap on the stain, then dab without rubbing hard and rinse barely at all. Never soak the block, never wring it out.

Then, most important of all, you air it. Let the foam block breathe in the open air, laid flat, away from any direct source of heat. Properly dry and properly aired, it gets its shape and its comfort back. That is the whole secret of a foam pillow that lasts.

Drying: the step most often got wrong

People often think the hard part is the washing. In truth, it is the drying that makes or breaks a pillow. A pillow put back on the bed while it is still a bit damp in the middle means a musty smell within a few days, and a nice cosy corner for dust mites. The very opposite of what you want under a child’s head.

The right method is to dry it flat, in the open air, without rushing. Lay the pillow out flat on an airer or a towel, in a well aired room or outside in the shade, and turn it over now and then so it dries on both sides. A thick pillow can take a day or two to dry all the way to the middle, and that is normal. You wait until it is dry everywhere, really everywhere.

The tumble dryer, for its part, depends on the label. For many foam pillows the answer is no, heat damages them. For some synthetic fibres it is allowed at a low temperature, sometimes with dryer balls to keep the loft. Never put away a pillow that is still warm or damp, wait until it is genuinely dry through.

• Dry it flat, in the open air, in a well aired room or outside in the shade.
• Turn the pillow over now and then so it dries on both sides.
• A thick pillow can take a day or two to dry in the middle.
• The tumble dryer only if the label allows it, and never too hot.
• Only put it back on the bed when it is dry everywhere, right through.

The right habits against stains and smells

Between two proper washes, a few simple habits keep the pillow fresh with no effort. They are little old fashioned tricks, easy to pick up, that save a lot of big clean ups.

How often, and the safety reminder

To find the right rhythm, keep these simple markers in mind. The pillowcase and cover, about once a week. The pillow itself, a more thorough clean every few weeks to every few months depending on the material, and every time there has been an illness, a night time accident or a smell settling in. There is no need to wash the block every five minutes, the cover already does most of the work.

One safety rule, ahead of everything else. You never give a child back a pillow that is still damp, not even one that is still warm in the middle. A pillow must be dry and well aired before it goes back on the bed. It is better for the smell, better against dust mites, and healthier for your child.

And for the littlest ones, the reminder that counts: before 1 year, a baby sleeps flat, on their back, with no pillow and no cushion. So the question of washing a pillow does not arise before that age. If you have any doubt about your little one’s sleep, the best thing is still to talk to your paediatrician.