Guest Author - Jill Florio
If you find a great blanket, quilt or down comforter at a garage sale or thrift shop, you can probably get it quite clean once you get home.
I would use a cold wash to remove any possible previous protein-based spills or stains (heat might 'set' them). You can follow up with a warm or hot wash afterward, if you are still paranoid about getting the item really clean. Wash your bedding on a delicate setting (never agitate - they might rip).
It's best to line-dry blankets or cotton-batting comforters, or you can run them in a large dryer on low or no heat.
For down comforters, you need to decide if you want to clean it yourself or take it for dry-cleaning. I don't like dry-cleaning - it puts toxic chemicals into bedding that I might be breathing in all night.
To hand wash a down comforter, place the item in a bathtub filled with cold water and a TINY amount of liquid detergent - something like 1/8 or even 1/16 of a cup. Otherwise you will never get the soap out. Gently hand-agitate the comforter for five or ten minutes and drain the water. Refill with clean cold water to remove the suds and drain again.
Do not wring! You can squeeze water out (like a toothpaste tube, from one end to the other), and place your wet comforter over the backs of chairs until dry. It will be heavy. Be careful to protect the down batting while drying, so it doesn't all collect at one end (which will render your comforter useless).
For handmade quilts that you intend to use, you can follow the same instructions as for down comforters, being careful to protect the stitchery. You can probably tell if the quilt has been washed before. For really delicate quilts, or ones where you fear the colors will run, contact a dry-cleaners and get their opinion on whether it can be washed at all.
I would not wash used afghans if you wish to preserve their "newness" - ie, ones for display. Many nice thrift shop afghans have only been set out as a sofa throw. For afghans that have obviously been around the block, you can try a delicate cycle with cold water and line dry. Try using a Woolite-type detergent, which is more gentle with fabrics than most detergents.
Living Simply articles on Buying Used
