I'm (not) down with that

One of the best presents I have ever received was my very first down comforter. If you don't have a real down comforter, you are missing out!

However, one setback to owning a down comforter is cleaning a down comforter. Technically, they are supposed to be dry clean only. All major down comforter makers vehemently caution against washing your down comforter yourself.

That being said, I think they are jerks. And quite frankly, I don't like the idea of being swathed in goodness-only-knows what kind of chemicals they use at the dry cleaners every night while I sleep. And paying for it to boot!

So I took the fate of my cherished down comforter into my own hands and began researching how to clean a down comforter at home. There is a whole community of anti-dry cleaning rebels out there who provided the necessary information for me to get started.

With a hope and quite a few prayers, I began.

Step 1: Buy tennis balls. I know this may seem strange, and I will fully admit that it took me awhile to figure out the logic behind this, but tennis balls help break up the wet pockets of down during the drying process. I have also read that you can use a (clean, obvs.) canvas tennis shoe. Who knew?

Step 2: Steal Borrow some white socks from your husband.
Stay with me here. I promise to explain why.

Step 3: Put the tennis balls into the socks and tie shut.
Lucky for me, my hubs wears a size 15, so I could easily tie the end in a knot.

Step 4: Load the comforter into the washer.
It is recommended that you wash a down comforter in a front-load washer. Something about it spinning all of the water out and agitators not being able to clean large things well. Whatevs. This is when I am thankful for a laundry room with 2 different types of washers.

Step 5: Shut the door, say a prayer, and step. away. from. the. machine.
This is where I started to panic. As I watched the door lock and the water pour over my precious comforter, the one that I spent all this time breaking in, the one that is the perfect size, and the keeps the perfect temperature, and holds countless memories of nights snuggled on the couch watching movies, I realized that there was a very real chance that this thing could burst at the seams and I'd have nothing left but a pile of feathers...and then I'd have to clean them out while drowning in my own tears. But I forced myself to step away and not come back until the cycle was done.

Step 6: If your comforter survived the washer, load it into the dryer.I don't technically have a picture of this because my building manager was in the laundry room and I'm sure she thought I was crazy enough carrying around socks with tennis balls in them, but you get the picture.

Be warned that the comforter WILL smell like a wet goose (use your imagination) when you take it out of the washer, but the smell goes away once it is completely dry.

Anywho, take those socked tennis balls (I used 3), and throw them in the dryer with the comforter. This task might be D near impossible if you don't have a commercial-sized dryer since there won't be enough room for the comforter to fluff and dry, but my building has one, so come use mine if you need to.

Step 7: Keep drying until COMPLETELY dry. You don't want to take the chance of sleeping with mildew wrapped around you. :::Barf::: Mine took about 45 minutes to dry.

Step 8: Remove your freshly cleaned down comforter and give it a welcome back hug.And don't forget to say a big 'Sorry, SUCKAHS!' to the dry cleaners of the world.