In today’s era of eco-friendly survival, the social outlook towards leading a modern and luxurious lifestyle has taken a new shape altogether. With the shift of the sustenance ideology to a nature-centered perspective, people have begun modifying their way of living in line with a natural aesthetic sense. The idea has successfully entered the home and bedroom interiors with people moving towards organic and naturally synthesized décor accessories and products.
When the talk is about your sleeping space, comfort takes the first priority, ahead of any other aspect. Styling comes at the second spot. As for the bedding utilities, you can experiment with a heap of ideas to mix and match comfort with style, but bamboo accessories, especially pillows are among the latest trends to bring comfort and luxury within the same space. For this new trend, you may have some questions, such as what is a bamboo pillow, or can bamboo pillows be washed in the washing machine? I suppose you will find the answers after reading this article.
- Part 1: What Is a Bamboo Pillow?
- Part 2: How to Wash a Bamboo Pillow?
- Part 3: Stepwise Instructions to Wash a Bamboo Pillow
- Part 4: FAQs
- Part 5: Conclusion
1.What Is a Bamboo Pillow?
Bamboo pillows have become the latest alternatives of style and class to spark up your bedroom interiors. These environment-friendly bedroom décor utilities are your lavish doorways to the most comforting and peaceful slumber. As of the fabrication and design constraints, bamboo pillows are a bamboo fiber product, whose casing material is prepared from an organically processed mixture of the bamboo plant’s trunk flesh and leaves. The material processing involves a crushing, treating and hardening of the mixture to obtain the casing material for the pillow.
As for the pillow filling, these headrests come with shredded memory foam stuffing to provide you with maximum sleeping comfort. Such a filling arrangement helps to maintain your body in the correct posture as you sleep; by catering to a perfect alignment of your head and neck with the spine. Choosing a bamboo pillow to complement your bedding spaces entitles you to a series of additional health benefits, thanks to the latter’s exquisite properties of moisture and heat wicking, soft and smooth texture, hypoallergenic and anti-bacterial characteristics and many more advantages.
2.How to Wash a Bamboo Pillow?
Experimenting with a variety of styling ideas to highlight your bedroom and home interiors is undoubtedly fascinating and creative at the same time. The real hustle however, lies in maintaining the accessories in the original shape and appearance, while retaining the affordable product quality with consistent and long-term usage. While most of us drop the idea of switching to new and different product ranges, you can conveniently drop the concerns of “are bamboo pillows machine washable?” when deciding on bringing home bamboo pillows to spark up your bedroom décor with novelty, style, freshness and comfort, all at the same time.
3.Stepwise Instructions to Wash a Bamboo Pillow
A lot is asked about can bamboo pillows be washed in the washing machine. Considering the fact that bamboo pillows have a different type of fabrication and filling, the instructions to care for and maintain the long-term usage quality of these bedding accessories are a bit different from the conventional ones. Bamboo pillows are the easiest to care for and maintain with the simplest cleaning instructions. Prepared from organically processed bamboo fiber extracts, the bamboo pillow cases are removable and friendly to a gentle machine wash. The shredded memory foam filling however is sensitive to machine cycles and is better with hand washing.
It is important to note that these are anyway the general wash and care instructions. You should be careful enough to look for any specific washing guidelines while making a purchase of bamboo pillows. Moving ahead with our discussion, here’s how to wash bamboo pillow in washing machine in what follows next:
Step 1: Wash the Pillowcases
You will have to begin with the obvious step of pulling off the pillowcases from the bolsters and subject them to a gentle machine wash cycle. Take caution to use lukewarm water for cleaning the pillow covers, ahead of cold hot water, lest you may end up with the ruins of your bamboo pillowcases. Washing bamboo fabrics at low or high temperatures causes the material to fall apart, while spreading the fibers. It is therefore advisable to clean them with lukewarm water in a gentle machine cycle.
Step 2: Dry the Pillowcases
When you are done washing the pillowcases, allow them to dry under the sun. You can spread the covers on a drying rack to let them naturally air dry. It is not a wise decision to subject these delicately manufactured covers to the machine dryer facility. Since the fabric is a light, fiber material, machine drying will expose the latter to intense blows of hot air, causing potential damage. A natural dry under the sun, on the other hand, will cause natural evaporation of the moisture content, causing the fabric strands to remain intact and consequently, the covers will have a longer life.
Step 3: Wash the Pillows
Stuffed with delicate memory foam shreds, the bamboo pillows are a strict ‘No’ to machine washing. The underlying reason is, rigorous machine cycle will cause the filling shreds of the pillow to fall apart, leaving the latter into rugs. You, therefore, need to clean these headrests with your hands. To proceed with washing the pillows, start with preparing a washing solution by pouring some warm, preferably lukewarm water into a bucket or shut sink. The perfect temperature range would be between 90-110 degrees F.
Next, add around 3 tablespoons of the most gentle and mild, or better the mildest detergent powder. Proceed to drop in the pillows, followed by giving them a gentle squeeze with your hands, to let the detergent soak in. Work on the process for some minutes, so that the detergent solution gets completely absorbed into the pillow stuffing.
Step 4: Soak the Pillows
As far as soaking the memory foam bolsters into the detergent solution is concerned, there is no unified opinion on whether or not the step should be followed. While some users prefer to soak their pillows in the washing solution, while others go against the process. The ingenuity exists because of the fact that it is commonly believed that soaking the pillows may make it difficult for the memory foam to dry at a later stage. A few users, on the contrary, report the soaking activity to aid in a thorough dirt removal.
The step is hence, better left as optional in line with your specific cleaning preferences. In case your pillows need a thorough wash, there is no harm in soaking them in the detergent water for a few minutes. You should, however, keep in mind that this would cause the pillows to take more than twice the normal drying time. An additional factor that should not be forgotten here is that a longer soaking duration may cause the shredded memory foam to get ruined.
Step 5: Rinse the Pillows
When the pillows have rested in and evenly absorbed the detergent, you can move ahead to rinse them out of the washing solution. Prepare another bucket with clean and lukewarm water to proceed with the process. Rinse the pillows gently enough to remove all the soaked in detergent. Any left out traces of the same may render the memory foam filling to get spoiled. A good way to ensure this is by performing several rinses. Do take care to use freshly prepared lukewarm water, every time you proceed to rinse out the pillows.
Step 6: Drying the Pillows
Just like the bamboo pillowcases, it is advisable to dry the pillows on the drying rack. Using a specially designed hanger to dry the pillows is an even better option. Whatever arrangement you prefer, leave the same under the sun to let the pillows air dry naturally. Keep a check on the pillows at regular intervals and remove them from under the sun as soon as the moisture evaporates. Leaving the pillows in the sunlight for a longer duration could again, cause spoilage of the delicate memory foam stuffing.
If however, both the sunlight and drying rack are not available, you can proceed to dry the pillows in the interiors of your home. Place the pillows in a cool and dry space and keep flipping them over now and again to facilitate an evenly drying of both the pillow sides. It is again important to let the pillows dry out completely, without any traces of moisture. In an otherwise case, the moisture buildup will cause the development of mildew and mold on the pillow surfaces, which is in any case, not acceptable at all.
4.FAQs
1.How Often Should I Wash My Bamboo Pillows?
Taking enough care to maintain your bamboo bolsters in a good condition with long-term and consistent usage is necessary for everlasting comfort. Washing the pillows at regular intervals helps to improve the lifespan of these bedding utilities, so that they can adorn your bedroom interiors for longer durations. A periodic wash of the pillowcases further prevents the dwelling of dust mites and bed bugs on the pillow surface, making the latter unfit for use.
It is advisable to subject the bamboo pillowcases to a weekly wash so that the fluids soaked in body do not get a chance to build up. Subjecting your pillowcases to a minimum frequency of one wash per week is a good way to keep them free from the aforesaid nuisances. In comparison to the normal wash cycle of other pillowcase variants, bamboo pillow covers should be washed semi-regularly.
2.How Should I Take Care Of Bamboo Pillows?
Bamboo pillows are organically manufactured with the prospect of catering the maximum sleeping comfort. Their maintenance and care instructions are hence, quite different from the cotton or polyester alternatives. You can adhere to the following guidelines to maintain your bamboo pillows in an excellent state and have a longer life:
(1)Washing Prerequisites
Before addressing the concern of can you machine wash bamboo pillows, take care to follow the specific directions. Some of the initial ones include cover removal and color separation. This affordably means that you need to pull out the bamboo pillowcases and make separate sets of light and dark cover shades. It is not advisable to wash both variants together to avoid instances of color spillage.
The next thing you should do is, zip close the pillowcase before taking them for a machine wash. Take care to use the mildest of detergents for soaking the covers, while strictly refraining from using fabric conditioners and bleaches on these delicate fiber coverings. Such chemicals and solutions can damage the natural bamboo fibers and also reduce the latter’s moisture-wicking capacities.
Check for some additional washing instructions by the manufacturers and finally subject the pillowcases to a gentle machine cycle. As for cleaning the pillow, wash the same with your hands instead of the machine, lest the rigorous motion may damage the shredded memory foam filling. Let the pillow absorb the lukewarm detergent water by soaking in the pillows for a few minutes, followed by rinsing multiple times with clean and warm water.
(2))Drying Instructions
Drying is equally important as washing to maintain your bamboo pillows in an affordable condition. While a wet pillow surface welcomes the thriving of bacteria, the latter becomes more pronounced if your pillow is both, wet and warm. Owing to the above, it is of great significance to regularly wash and completely dry your bamboo bolsters before you land on them to enjoy a comfortable sleep.
When you have properly washed the pillows and the covers, proceed to dry them under natural sunlight, preferably on a drying rack. If that is not possible, you can go for tumble drying under low heat. Do not keep the pillows in the sun for longer periods, lest the memory foam filling might get damaged.
3.Can you put bamboo pillows in the dryer?
It is generally not advisable to put bamboo pillows in the dryer, because the hot air blows can damage the shredded memory foam filling and the delicate bamboo fibers. If at all you need to take up the idea, prefer a low-heat tumble dry and do not leave the pillows in the dryer for longer than necessary.
4.Can bamboo pillows be washed in the washing machine?
The removable covers of a bamboo pillow can be subjected to a gentle machine wash cycle, followed by a low-heat tumble dry. The pillows, however, should advisably be washed with hands and left to dry naturally under the sun. Drying racks and interior spaces can also be used as convenient alternatives.
5.When Should I Get A New Bamboo Pillow?
Like the other bolster alternatives, bamboo pillows do require replacements. This is because the shredded memory foam filling tends to absorb body fluids, which invites dust mites to harbor. You should, therefore, replace these pillows once every 2-3 years to keep enjoying the sleeping and health benefits.
As of the correct time to change pillows, it is when you notice any of the following:
(1)Less Support
If you observe that your bamboo pillow is no longer helpful in extending enough support to your back, neck, and spine, or does not relieve you from the stiffness and pain in these areas, you should perhaps look forward to replacing the same with a new one.
(2)Lump Formation
If the memory foam filling of your bamboo pillow has begun to allow lump formation, this is a convenient sign that the stuffing has lost its softness and comfort. This is the perfect time to switch to a new pillow, lest you might have a sleeping discomfort. Those already suffering from back and neck pain, need to be extra careful to avoid increased distress.
(3)Flattened Surface
If your pillow tends to retain a flat surface, that is, the latter fails to regain its original shape after being pressed, this can be a reminder to change your bamboo bolster. Remember, you can make a bamboo pillow fluffy again, but cannot remove its flatness.
(4)Giving Bad Smell
While smelly pillows can be a washing alarm in the first place, but if the foul odor is retained even after periodic washing and frequent cleaning, this is perhaps a signal to bring home a new set of bamboo pillows for your bedding arrangement.
5.Conclusion
Unlike the conventional pillow fabrics, the bamboo-based alternatives have pretty sensitive maintenance criteria. The instructions though a bit specific, are easy enough to conveniently address the washing and drying concerns. While the removable bamboo fabric covers can be machine washed in lukewarm water and mild detergent solution, the pillows with shredded memory foam filling are better suited to a hand wash.
As far as drying these bedding accessories is concerned; both the pillows and the covers should be left for natural drying under the sun. Alternatives to conventional drying are low heat, tumble dry facility and interior space drying. If you are sticking to the former choice, make sure that the pillows are not left in the drier for longer than the required durations. You can follow these instructions for a longer life of the bamboo pillows, but make sure to replace them when the essentials of quality and comfort are not met.
