pillow

How to look after and clean pillows

Every night we put our heads on our pillows but do we actually ever thinking about cleaning them?

Here in the UK we have had the best summer on record for many years.  It has been really hot at night and our bedding has needed changing more often than usual.  But do you think to wash your pillows? I have covered mattress cleaning before so lets now talk pillows and give them a little TLC.

Here are a few ways to help keep your pillow clean and fresh

Always use good thick pillow protectors and wash these every time you change your bedding.

If you pillows are made from polyester then these can go into the washing machine on a low heat using your usual detergent although DON’T use fabric conditioner.  I would advise that you do a double rinse to get as much of the suds out as possible. For the second rinse you can also add a cap-ful of White Wine Vinegar which will help get rid of any nasty odours and those yellow patches.

Once washed tumble dry as you will want your pillows to be as dry as possible plus the heat from the tumble dryer will also aid in killing more germs.  Put them on a relatively low heat and add in a few tumble dryer balls. The tumble dryer balls will help them dry faster and keep them fluffy too.

If you want to give you pillows a quick freshen without washing just pop them in the tumble for 15 minutes as the heat will kill germs.

Foam pillows are not as easy to clean and require a little more attention.  If you do decide to give these a wash choose a warm breezy day as you need to relay on the weather as these pillows CAN NOT be tumble dried. As pillows are quite big wash them using your bath tub. Fill you bath tub a quarter full and add in your usual washing detergent and again DO NOT use Fabric conditioner but add in some White Wine Vinegar if you fill you need it.

Using a large sponge hand wash your pillow well. Give it a good scrub and focus on any sweat stains.  Once you are satisfied that your pillows are clean.  Change to clear product free water and rinse them thoroughly. You will probably need to repeat this process a few times.   Once you are happy don’t go squeezing your pillow to get all of the water out.  Cover in a large bath sheet and soak up as much as the water as possible.

For drying you need a clean flat surface outside and you will need to turn the pillow on a regular basis. So I do highly advise that on a day you decide to do this you are at home most of the day.

If this whole process seem a bit to much which if I am completely honest it’s not easy then look at investing in some new ones. There are some reasonably priced foam pillows that you can buy and if you are going to replace them a few times a year then you really don’t want to spend too much. These one I have linked here are great value. Foam Pillows

Don’t forget animal shelters will be grateful of your old pillows.

#queenofcleaneffect

As always thank you reading Lynsey Queen of Clean xoxo

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How to clean your Microwave

The Microwave is one of those kitchen appliances many of us put off cleaning.  Its one of those items that is out of sight out of mind and as long as the outside of the appliance is clean the inside can wait.

Inside the microwave there can be food splatters and food spillages and often a nasty unclean smell.

The microwave can also be an awkward appliances to clean that you need to get the plate out and get your arm right in to reach the sides and the ceiling of the appliance.  Food can often be stuck so after a little wiping many people will just give up.

But there is such a simple easy effective way to clean the microwave and here is how.

1 – Fill a microwave safe bowl with warm water and grab a lemon from the fruit bowl and cut this into 4 quarters.

2 – Pop the lemons in to the bowl of warm water and put the bowl into the microwave.

3 – Set the microwave to 5 minutes and start.

4 – The water should boil.

5 – Once the 5 minutes cycle has finished leave as it is for another 5 minutes and let the steam from the bowl along with the lemon do its job of dissolving the grease, spilled food and grim.

6 – Remove the bowl and dispose of the water and lemons. Take out the plate if you have one and wash this is warm soapy water and then with a clean damp cloth wipe the inside of the microwave and see the dirt and grim come away really easily.

7 – If you have some really tough old food stain add a little white wine vinegar to a cloth and then rub and this should then come away easily.

8 – Dry the plate and pop this back and you will have a very fresh clean smelling microwave the looks like new.

I hope this simple tip has helped you.

Thank you for reading.
Queen of Clean xoxoxo