What's the best way to clean down and down alternative blankets?

What do the cleaning instructions on the duvet and blanket tags say to do? Also, do you use a duvet cover or just the duvet?

I’m sorry to hear about your allergies. Down comforters are completely washable. I recommend a very large machine and low sudsing detergent. Dry it in a large machine on very low heat. This works best on comforters that have what’s called a box-stitch design. That way the down will not shift very much. If the comforter is any type of stitch design other than that one, be prepared to have to shake the down back into place.

While you’re at the laundromat, you can wash the blankets as well.

that’s a good question @Pied_Pfeffer, down alternative says front loading machine, cold water, run through a few cycles without soap after to ensure that there’s no residue. i just thought bringing it to the cleaner’s would make it cleaner (just me being crazy). i guess i could bring it to a place with bigger machines. for the duvet, i don’t know what the difference is but it’s a duvet cover… with buttons, separate from the blanket that is inside it.

@hawaii_jake : what’s a low sudsing detergent? like woolite? i want to make sure they get super clean.

Yes, detergent for baby’s things is low sudsing. I think one of the brands in the US is Dreft.

I use my home washing machine, but in your circumstances I’d go to a laundromat and use their oversized machine. If you can, definitely run an extra spin cycle at the end. Dry in your dryer with a few tennis balls thrown in.

If it doesn’t require dry-cleaning, I vote for doing it yourself if you want to make sure it gets cleaned properly. That way, you can be sure that the instructions are followed and use your own choice of detergent. Since my washing machine is top load, I used to take mine to a laundry mat with front load (and larger) machines so that there was more room for it to get thoroughly clean.

A comforter and duvet are different in size and materials. Comforters hang low enough on each side of the bed to cover the mattress and have a man-made fill. Duvets cover the top of the bed and are typically made with down/feathers. A duvet cover looks like a pillow case for the duvet with a way to close it (like your buttons). Normally, a duvet cover is cotton or synthetic and can be thrown in the washing machine.