feather mattress accident

[Ryanne]

I have a feather mattress topper that goes on top of my regular mattress in my guest bedroom. My 2 year old God-Daughter had an accident on it last night, and I am looking for the best way to clean up the mess. It's semi-dry at this point, and I'm trying to avoid having to take it to the dry-cleaners. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance, Ryanne [e-mail]

[Oldylocks]

All signs point to machine washing this on a gentle cycle with a bit of detergent and drying it in the dryer with med heat until dry. Put tennis balls in the dryer to help fluff and keep feathers from clumping.

I did a down throw this way and it turned out fine.

Read this, too

-Oldy

[Tom Miller]

I'd use a soap made especially for down, such as Downe Fabric Wash.

I would also wash the feather mattress in a large commercial machine in cold water on gentle cycle and dry it in a dryer using the "air dry" cycle (which takes forever but won't damage the feathers). The two things to watch our for are stripping the natural oils off the feathers by using too much detergent and ripping the covering or the baffles inside by too vigorous a washing.