How to Whiten Yellow Pillows {In Only 3 Steps!}

It is completely normal for pillows to yellow over time due to normal body temperature maintenance while you sleep. During sleep, your body can sweat, and sweat causes the yellowing of your pillow. Even with a pillow cover on, this yellowing still occurs. Since you can’t really prevent it from happening, how do you get rid of it short of buying new pillows every so often?

The good news is you CAN get rid of those disgusting yellow stains! Here’s what you need:

HOT water

1 cup of your favorite laundry detergent

1 cup powdered dishwasher detergent

1 cup of bleach

1/2 cup of Borax

Add all of the ingredients to the washing machine and fill part way with hot water. Allow your machine to agitate to dissolve all the detergent. Once the detergent dissolves, add the pillows. Typically, you can wash two pillows at a time, one on each side. Fill the machine the rest of the way with hot water.

The trick is to let the machine agitate for several minutes, then turn the pillows over and allow the machine to agitate for several more minutes. This way you are sure to equally clean both sides of the pillows. Set your machine to do a 2nd rinse.

When your pillows are done washing, dry them in the dryer. If your pillows are synthetic, you can safely use the low heat setting. For down pillows, use the air fluff setting {no heat}. To help fluff up the pillows while they dry, toss in a couple of tennis balls along with your dryer sheet. Once dry, admire your no-longer-yellow pillows!