…When it doesn’t fit in your washer…

If you’re anything like me, you despise laundry, but, even more, you despise spending money when it’s not necessary. This is one of those cases. We have a queen bed in our master bedroom but we have a king-sized comforter. (I actually highly recommend this. It goes lower to the ground and just makes for a higher luxe space.) So our comforter is not old and we do love it but I was not about to fork over $60 bucks to the local dry cleaner when I knew there had to be a way to wash it myself. It will not work in our top loader washer. I’ve tried … and failed. So here is how to wash your king-sized comforter at home.

Ugh…. can you see that yellow comforter above?! Wow! Our sheets are bright white and our comforter is supposed to be more of an ivory or cream, but this … I’m ashamed that I even put this out there for you to see. (Insert hands over face here.)

So if the washing machine didn’t work, what could I use? The bathtub!

What You’ll Need

• Comforter – I should make sure to mention mine is a cotton/poly blend. There is no down and I do NOT recommend this for down comforters. I would leave those up to the professionals.
• Laundry detergent – In this case Tide with Downy
• Oxi-Clean – Especially if you have stains like I did
• Bathtub
• Water (clearly…)
• A little patience
• Dryer with dryer balls

First, wash your tub. I would hope this would be an obvious step but I know that sometimes, we forget these important things, especially when you’re outnumbered by little munchkins. But please, do not attempt to clean your comforter in something dirty. You have to sleep with it. So, just like you’d prefer your partner to clean themselves, properly clean your comforter.

After the tub is nice and shiny, fill ‘er up with some hot water! I added one lid full of Tide as the water was going.

Next, I added some Oxi-Clean. Ok, this post is not sponsored but let’s take a moment to thank Oxi-Clean and whoever invented it. I use it almost daily! It has saved baby clothes from blowouts, removed grease stains from work pants, and now has helped get our comforter refreshingly clean. It is wonderful and closely follows my loves of coffee, margaritas, and tacos.

I added 3 scoops due to the size of the comforter and because of the stains.

Next, put that comforter in the water to restore it of its former glory. Try to immerse as much of it as you can in the water. I let mine soak for about 2 hours. This is where the patience comes in. Now listen, I have played a lot of roles in my life but this is the first time I’ve been an agitator. Well … now that I mention it, I’m sure I’ve agitated a person or two in my life.

Anyway, move that sucker around to really get the soap and Oxi-Clean to do its work. Let it soak for another 2 hours or so. If your comforter isn’t stained like mine, you could probably soak it for less but I was determined to get out that yellow.

Drain the tub and now get ready for your arm workout of the day. You need to wring it out. I did this by pushing down in different spots to release as much water as I could before transferring it to the dryer. You will notice that it is incredibly balled up and that it may have lost its shape. Take it to the dryer and add some dryer balls or tennis balls. You can add essential oils if you prefer. Let the dryer do its thing. Put back on your bed and enjoy how wonderfully clean it is.

Here are some super cute dryer balls, if you’re interested:

Although this took me about a day, it really wasn’t a ton of work. Most of the time was waiting while it soaked. So if you’re planning to do this, I would just start it that morning so that you have it clean for bed that evening. But let’s just take a minute to look at the before and after shall we?

Isn’t she lovely? Isn’t she beautiful? Oh man… I’m just so happy with how it turned out. I regret not trying this sooner but I am thrilled I didn’t have to fork out some money to the dry cleaners. If you try this and have success, please let me know!

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