Feather pillows are popularly used for their comfort and elegance. However, when using feather pillows, you need to clean them frequently to prevent them from not only dust, bacteria but also sweat and oils.
Drying is an important process, as dampness will lead to mildew or bacteria that can affect your health.
Many people used dryers to do this duty without knowing that the natural method is much better for your pillows. This article will show you how to dry feather pillows without a dryer.
Do not wait any longer. Let’s kick right in!

Table of Contents
How To Dry Feather Pillows Without A Dryer
Electric-drying can make the feathers denature due to degrading heat, interfering with their ability to recover to the original state. Besides, it also raises your electricity bill, and the drying machine pumps out a lot of CO2.
So why don’t we take advantage of the natural factors to naturally dry as it can lower your bill, maintain the feathers’ natural condition, and protect our earth? So, how to dry feather pillows without a dryer? Here are four steps for you to consider:
Air-drying or Sun

Choose a dry and sunny day, then place your wet pillow on a flat and clean surface hang it on the clothesline. This action will help your feather pillow evaporate any signs of moisture. But you must remember to distribute the mass evenly so as to prevent your item from lumping.
After a considerable amount of moisture is released, fluff it softly, and turn it over after each hour or two. While the sunlight acts as a bleach from nature and leaves an odorless scent, the heat will dry away the left moisture. It is the reason why sun-dried feather pillows smell much more comfortable than electric-dried ones.
Pillows have a better surface acreage – volume than feather blanket, so it takes only several hours to dry on a warm day.
Remove Mildew Scent
Over time, pillows sealed away in a waterproof, non-air-permeable medium such as cardboard or stored in a dark, non-lit atmosphere, may grow a musty smell. The bad smell points out that dampness or mold remains. A proper drying can reanimate freshness in order to help you sleep without inconvenience. So you can apply some tips below:
- On a damp-free and a little sunshine day, you should clip the feather pillows on a clothesline or place them against a surface for effective ventilation on all sides of the pillow.
- A clean mesh layer also allows air to pass through into the pillows’ underside.
- Hold the pillows outside as much as possible throughout the day, flipping them on an hourly basis.
Massage Those Lumps
Prevent Feather Pillow From Being Lumped
Like a lot of blocks, rough lumps rubs may cause you a headache, leading to your sleeplessness. With a modest everyday chore and extra maintenance, you will turn your feather pillow back into a friendly and relaxing shape.
- By squeezing the sides gently from both angles, fluff up the pillow regularly, steer the filling towards the center, and repeat the procedure a few times.
- On a non-damp and sunny day, lay down feather pillows outside to cheer them up by evaporating the trapped humidity. For airflow on both ends, rotate the pillows continuously arranged on a surface as a baking board.
Massage The Lumps
Due to the lightweight structure that breaks and clumps up under pressure, humidity, or transpiration, feather fillings remain vulnerable to lumping off.
Massaging the lumps will soften the pillow, producing additional air pockets that boost up the drying process. In fewer clumps, minimal moisture results. Not only does massaging with your fingertips remove lumps, but it also preserves the original form. Follow two steps below:
- To find clumps, pinch the filling among the thumb and forefinger, rub clumps sprinkled between your fingertips. Gently rub your outer shell till the unit melts free.
- After splitting up each lump, fluff the feather pillow by pushing together all the sides.
Capitalize On Sunshine For Pillow Drying

When it is sunny, drying the pillow by solar will infuse a heavenly fragrance, as it produces a natural bleaching aid against biological stains such as blood or bodily fluids.
- Thanks to the absence of laundry chemicals, the pillows dried in the sun smell much fresher than machine-dried ones.
- Wrinkle-free drying preserves the durability of natural feathers by putting them in the sunshine.
- Sunlight cleans and whitens the feather pillows by UV rays that exterminate biological toxins and create a non-moisture atmosphere.
- Like a silk glove, it feels soft when there is no tossing and tumbling in a system that creates wear and tear on fabrics as the outer shell is denatured by high heat.
How Long Does it Take to Dry Your Feather Pillow?
All the warmth and humidity that builds up during nights of use is going to evaporate by putting them in the sun on a sunny day and making them stay there for a time of 2 or 3 hours, and your pillows become fluffed up over the course of the day. If it is a non-sunny day, the necessary time can prolong to 4-5 hours.
When can you be certain your feather pillow is dry?
There are some signs that you can be certain your feather pillow is still not dry, clumping, or smelly. To avoid mold, you have to make sure that they are totally dry. Let’s try this Dry Test- In each loop, hand fluff the pillows. While they seem dry with the gentle touch, the pillows can still be moist inside.
Feather Pillows’ Drying Tips
- Especially with immune-suppressed sleepers, artificial laundry purifiers for laundry detergent or shampoos cause health problems due to scents or colorings in soaps or dryer items.
- You may replace direct sunlight with a shaded area by exposing participants to UV light to prevent colorful objects from fading.
- Before squeezing the pillows in the sunlight, do not wring them as you may shatter delicate feathers.
- When the sun punches bacterial attackers in the guts, placing them in the air restores a new scent and removes slight stains such as transpiration or bloodstains. So If the feather pillows remain musty and wet, even those that used the dryer ought to turn to the heat again.
- You can dry your feather pillow both outdoors or indoors. Indoors, you should place it in front of one of your windows which gets a lot of sunlight. Remember to move electronics. Water and electricity can react with each other!
The Final Verdict
The article above has provided you with ways on how to dry feather pillows without a dryer.
Feather pillows face the challenges of degradation, and shrinkage, while crucial oils that lend them special natural durability, scrunching, and thermal quality are eaten away by repeated washing.
While it takes much time, drying with a natural method will help you much with your energy bill, your health, also the environment. It’s worth the wait.
We hope that the tips we gave you are effective. Do not forget to leave a comment about the result. Good luck!