You can have a situation where your duvet is too big for your washer or even dryer. And you already know the detrimental effects of cramping clothes tightly in the confinement of the washer or dryer.
So whenever you have a duvet that is too big to be accommodated in your laundry machines, try washing it in the bathtub in cold water and gentle detergent, or take it to the laundromat and wash it there. You can also opt for dry cleaning which is the best way to clean duvet in the first place.
Below, we’ll discuss how to clean the duvet using the bathtub at home and also the laundromat.
What you shouldn’t do
Don’t force a “too big” duvet inside the washer or dryer! It won’t wash properly when it comes to the washer and may scorch and even burn in the dryer, plus, it may not even dry properly!
So when you’re faced with this kind of situation, how do you wash your duvet?
There are four ways you can achieve washing of a duvet when it’s too big for your washer. Let’s learn all of them below.
Can you wash the duvet by hand?
Do you know you can wash your duvet in the bathtub? It’s very easy, as you’ll rely mostly on soaking than scrubbing to remove soil and stain from the duvet.
To wash a duvet in the bathtub, fill water “two thirds” way up and then add an appropriate amount of liquid detergent. Swish and swirl to incorporate the detergent in the water, then proceed to soak the properly dusted duvet in the bathtub. You can dust a duvet using a vacuum cleaner or even by hand.
Now let the duvet soak in the water for an hour or more depending on the level of smell, soiling and stain on it. Soaking it for long helps the soils to release easily thereby eliminating the need to scrub the duvet by hand which is not only arduous but detrimental to the fillings inside.
After soaking, pull and plunge a part of the duvet from the wash water and plunge it back in with little force. Do so repeatedly to aid soil removal. You can also move the duvet around to aid with cleaning.
When you’re satisfied with the degree of cleaning you have, collect the duvet to one side of the bathtub and press out as much water as possible from it. Now drain the wash water and let the duvet fall flat. Add a new rinse water and clean the duvet again.
You can keep draining and rinsing until you’re really satisfied with the results you’re having. It’s important to get rid of soapy residue in the filling because any left over can coat them and cause the duvet to weigh down! So rinse properly and as many times as required.
After rinsing, put the duvet in the dryer machine and run three full cycles in there. Let the first be on medium and the rest on low heat. Make sure to take the duvet out between cycles and fluff it up using a badminton racket or your hands to prevent the filling inside from clumping, and also to facilitate moisture removal in hidden spots.
When you’re done, lay out the duvet flat on the bed and allow it to sit for some hours before using it. Make sure the room is well ventilated. This will promote drying of specific wet spots that may have persisted from the dryer.
If the duvet is too big for the dryer, air dry, but make sure to fluff it back up mid-way drying otherwise your duvet may dry into a cake.
Use the washers at the laundromat
Using the bathtub is a cheap option that can be very stressful.
If you hate the idea of washing a huge load like a duvet at home, and using the bathtub for that matter, you can opt for a more expensive option which is to use the services of a laundromat.
When using the laundromat, wash your duvet exactly the way you’re supposed to be washing them at home. But make sure to always inspect the washing machine to ensure there aren’t any products in them that can cause harm to your duvet.
Fabric softeners may have been used by the most recent customer, and running a cycle with remnants of that still in the washer will have them splatter all over your duvet which can penetrate down and cause the fillings to clump and weigh down the duvet. It can also reduce the breathability of your duvet!
Chlorine bleach may also have been used, and while that is sometimes recommended to be used on white duvets for disinfection, it still is not a one size fit all solution.
There are white duvets that cannot be bleached with chlorine because it will cause damage to their fibers, and colored duvets on the other hand should never be bleached in the first place. So check for bleach in the bleach dispenser and make sure to rinse it out well before running a cycle!
Which washer is best for washing the duvet?
When it comes to the best washer for a duvet, it’s the front loader. In top loaders, you’ll get air spots created inside the fabric when you try to submerge the entire duvet in the water, even when washing, and this can result in poor cleaning.
Another thing is that the agitators of the top loader can cause tearing of the delicate baffles inside of the duvet, which will ruin the entire construction.
In a front loader, these problems are easily managed and that makes it the best solution for washing large items like duvet!
Final Thoughts
If you have a duvet that is too big for your washer or dryer, then you always have other options to choose from. You can wash the duvet by hand using the bathtub, or you can take the duvet to the laundromat or dry cleaners for professional cleaning.
