Washing a duvet cover in a washing machine
Often the bedding in the drum turns into a large lump - the linen “clogs” into the duvet cover and becomes crumpled when rotated. Everything would be fine, but there is one “but”: crumpled laundry washes worse and threatens the machine with imbalance. To prevent this outcome, you need to apply several life hacks. We suggest you learn how to wash a duvet cover in an automatic washing machine. We will provide step-by-step instructions and useful recommendations.
Easy preparation of a duvet cover
If things get stuffed into the duvet cover slot, then our main task is to deprive them of this opportunity. Sometimes the bedding has special zippers, but more often you have to use your wits. In the latter case, we proceed like this:
- take the duvet cover by the slot and stretch it;
- use your fingers to assemble the edges of the hole like an accordion;
- We fix the resulting “flower” with a bow using an old sewing elastic band (a rope or a hair band will also work);
- turn the duvet cover inside out (the bow should be inside);
- fold the laundry into a sloppy pile and load it into the drum;
- We distribute the item along the wall, and place a folded sheet, pillowcase or towel on top.
Before washing, read the label with the manufacturer's recommendations!
It is important to fold the slit so that the bow does not come undone during washing. But you also don’t need to tighten it too much, otherwise you’ll have to cut the tie. There is another option - to quickly sweep away the edges of the slot, “sewing up” the hole itself. This is longer and more difficult, but after washing the duvet cover will not be wrinkled, like after a bow and an elastic band.
Selecting the appropriate mode
After loading the duvet cover into the drum, you can begin setting up the washing machine. First, we decide on the washing mode, focusing on the color, type of fabric and soiling of the laundry. As a rule, you need to choose from the “Cotton”, “Delicate”, “Cotton Quick” and “Synthetics” programs.
- “Cotton, 60 or 90 degrees” - suitable for heavily and moderately soiled bedding made of satin, chintz, jacquard, calico and cotton.
- “Cotton, 40 degrees” – for natural colored fabrics.
- “Cotton, 30 degrees” is the optimal program for cleansing bedding with a 3D, 5D and 7D pattern.
- “Cotton fast” – selected for lightly soiled items made from natural fibers.
- “Delicate wash” – will ensure gentle washing of silk and satin.
- “Synthetics” – for the type of fabric of the same name (by the way, it is not recommended to buy bedding made from synthetic materials).
Colored cotton bedding is washed at 30-40 degrees, white - at 60-90 degrees.
A correctly selected program will remove dirt without damaging the fabric of the duvet cover. It is important to look at the set spin speed - both natural and synthetic fabrics are advised to spin at a minimum, reducing the parameter to 800-1000. When washing satin and silk linen, it is better to avoid auto-spin altogether.
High temperature wash
If the bedding is heavily soiled, you want to boil it. This is permitted as long as the duvet cover is white and made of cotton, linen or other similar materials. Delicate and synthetic fabrics cannot tolerate high temperatures! When washing by hand, boiling is carried out according to a simple scheme.
- A white rag is placed on the bottom of a pan that is the size of the duvet cover.
- Mix a soap solution of powder and water.
- Existing stains are cleaned with soap or stain remover.
- A duvet cover is loaded into the pan and filled with soapy water.
- The laundry is boiled over high heat for an hour with regular stirring.
High-temperature programs are used only for natural cotton, chintz and linen bedding - silk, satin, and synthetics are prohibited from overheating!
Nowadays it is much easier to bleach things by boiling using a washing machine. Here everything happens in automatic mode: the “Cotton” program is selected, the maximum heating is set and the cycle starts.
What if the duvet cover is new?
A new bedding set can be washed regardless of where it was purchased or the price. In expensive salons, as well as in the textile market, linen is treated with special impregnations before sale, allowing the fabric to look presentable for a long time. Don’t forget that when left in a warehouse for a long time, fibers collect dust and odors.
The first wash will not only clean the new bedding from dust, dirt and odors, but will also remove excess factory paint. Laying unwashed linen is unhygienic and hazardous to health.
When washed in hot water, the duvet cover may shrink slightly - this is normal!
When washing clothes for the first time, you need to set the temperature to the highest possible temperature. Each type and color of fabric has its own maximum, which is written on the package or label. Other recommendations from the manufacturer will also be given here: drying method, spin speed and admissibility of dry cleaning with bleaching.
Interesting:
1 reader comment
Didn’t answer the main question: how to wash a duvet cover so that it doesn’t wrinkle? You wash one duvet cover, there are no other things in the drum and it just crumples, does not wash properly and does not spin out. You take it out of the drum and water pours out of it.