Caring for Your Duvets, Pillows and Mattress Toppers

Caring for your duvets and pillows

The great news is that all of our duvets and pillows are machine washable, and you should only need to wash your duvet every 4 or 5 years. If you spill a cuppa on your duvet, we advise you to spot clean that patch with a damp cloth and some warm soapy water, rather than wash the whole thing. Make sure you dry the area thoroughly with a cool hair dryer before you use it again, or allow it to dry naturally outside.

If you feel that your duvet needs a good wash, then follow these instructions (most local dry cleaners will provide this service for you):

Feather and down fillings

If you’ve chosen a natural filling, we recommend you air the duvet for 24 hours before you use it. As the filling is natural, there may be a slight odour on arrival, which will quickly disappear with airing. When you come to wash your bedding, we strongly advise that you take it to a specialist cleaner. Although you can wash it yourself at home, making sure the item is completely dry is so important. If you don’t dry your natural duvet or pillow completely, the feather/down will break down, creating a noticeable odour, and no one wants that. Washing should be done on a gentle cycle at 40 degrees, and tumble dry on a low heat until thoroughly dry. It is critical that commercial laundries follow the wash instructions exactly, as using too high a temperature for washing and drying will damage the item. Don't worry, we've popped all the instructions on the labels too.

If you choose to wash your bedding yourself, drying on a sunny day and a washing line will be fine, but try to hang the duvet in the shade to air. Direct sunlight tends to make the down or feathers sweat, which could also produce an odour. Airing or drying in a shady area or a well-ventilated room is always best.



Even when a feather/down duvet feels dry to touch, there can be moisture left in the fibres – it is important to make sure the core of your item is fully dried allowing the fibres to separate and re-loft fully. Natural products should not be left damp at any stage of the laundering process as this can cause the down clusters to break down and decompose. Once a feather/down filled item is damaged like this, you may find that there is an unwanted smell that will be hard to get rid of. If drying in a dryer, we always recommend checking the down clusters inside, making sure they feel fully dried to prevent any clumping and unpleasant odours developing.

If in any doubt, take it to your local experts for washing. That’s what we do.

Synthetic fillings

The easiest to wash, all of our synthetic filled items can be machine washed at 40 degrees. You can dry your hollowfibre duvet and pillows in a tumble dryer on a low heat, or outside in the breeze. If you choose the tumble dryer, take it out every now and then, and give it a shake. Most importantly, please don’t dry clean these items, as this could cause damage. You can however take them to be washed by a local expert; the machines might be a little bigger than yours.

Wool fillings

Wool is as clean as a sheepdog whistle. Dirt won’t get into the fibres of wool; it sits on top which makes it super easy to clean and get rid of any dust or dirt. We recommend that you dry clean our Baa Baa bedtime range. This doesn’t need to happen very often, but is the best way to clean it. You can spot clean to remove any small marks with a damp cloth.

Our Baa Baa Bedtime Wool pillows are a fabulous choice, for both comfort and their sustainability credentials, but they will need a little bit of love and care if you would like to keep them in tip top, good as new condition. Here are our tips for a happy wool pillow and your good night’s sleep...

Wool will ‘felt’ over time with compression (from your head night after night) and moisture. We recommend daily plumping, and that will keep your pillow nice and lofty. By following our easy and quick tips below, you will ensure that air gaps between the wonderful wool layers are maintained.

Each day, hold the pillow with a hand on both the top and bottom and gently pull the fibres apart. Do this across the length of the pillow.

As and when you can, a regular dose of sunshine will do your pillow a world of good – UV light is antibacterial and the heat will remove any moisture within your pillow. Pop it out for a sunbathe in the garden or on a balcony. It will do it the world of good.

Caring for Your Mattress Topper

Keeping your mattress topper as comfy and clean as the day you bought it is similar to caring for your mattress. We recommend rotating your mattress topper regularly to keep the fillings evening distributed.  Covering the topper with a mattress protector is the best way to stop spills, stains and general wear and tear, while spot cleaning using hot soapy water can help remove any surface marks. Remember though, similar to caring for your duvets and pillows, make sure you dry your toppers thoroughly and never leave them wet. We wouldn't advise dry cleaning either, as the chemicals used in this process can permanently damage the product.

Our Top Tips

  • Air your bedding regularly – this will help to lift any moisture and allow the filling to re-loft and breathe ready to be put back on your bed.
  • No-no to using any deodorizing sprays on the surface as these can damage your bedding.
  • Always follow our recommended aftercare on the label on each individual item.
  • To clean and dry your duvet or pillow there needs to be plenty of room for it to move so a large drum is always recommended. It needs about 50% space around for it to allow to move freely in the drum when washing and 60% when wet for best drying.
  • Remove excess water with the washing machine's spin cycle.
  • Be super careful when removing any bedding from the machine to ensure the product isn’t damaged. Please do not pull or tug as this can damage the baffle walls which are an integral part of our product – damage to the walls can cause the filling to move from chamber to chamber and become uneven.
  • Pillows can be laundered exactly as duvets – ideally washing only one at a time dependent on the machine size. There must be enough room to let the pillow move freely.
  • Using a pillow protector is recommended to minimise the need for laundering and prolong your pillow's life.
  • Dryer balls or tennis balls can be added to the dryer to help the pillow to move freely in the machine, and to enable fibres to separate and re-loft beautifully.
  • Remove all bedding immediately from the machine when the cycle is finished to prevent any damage from the hot walls of the drier.
  • Don’t worry, all of this is simple and you shouldn’t need to wash your bedding often at all. Now relax and take a nap.