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Last updated on July 5th, 2024 at 01:02 pm
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Before I go any further I will admit I tried this at my own risk. I was worried I’d ruin my pillow but I still decided to try it. This was also the second attempt since the first attempt worked fine.
So just a fair warning if you try this I can’t guarantee the same results.
A few years ago I was gifted a Sleep Number Comfortfit pillow on behalf of Smiley 360 and Sleep Number. Well, I’d always been wary of memory foam pillows because, to be honest, you can’t really wash them.
General overview
You can read my initial thoughts on the pillow here. Sleep Number suggest you spot clean the pillow. I for one was spraying it with a little rubbing alcohol weekly. I would also place it outside on warmer days to help freshen the pillow. Well even after doing all of this I started to notice that the pillow wasn’t as fluffy as it had been when it first arrived. It’s been nearly two years of nightly use so it’s a given it will flatten out a bit. I can say that even after all this use it’s still holding up well. The memory foam interior still seems to be holding its shape. It’s hasn’t become misshapen or settled to one side of the pillow. This being said I started to notice that even with my attempt to keep my pillow clean it started to have a bit of a scent to it. It also was starting to flatten out a bit as I mentioned before.
A lightbulb moment
My washer and dryer have a steam function. Well, the idea struck me to try this experiment out. My dryer has a spot clean and a stam fresh setting. It also has a removable water tank that you fill for these settings.
The experiment
With the above thought in mind I opted to try to refresh my Sleep Number pillow with steam. Of course I knew i couldn’t wash the pillow in the washing matching but I figured how bad can the steam be. Well I put my Sleep Number pillow in with my general polyfill pillow in the dryer. I filled the water tank with bottled water. It states you can use filtered water but I find bottled water does the trick. I set the dryer first to spot clean.
I did this just to see what the real difference was between the settings. I was also hoping it would help remove some spots on my pillow as well. Well, I muttered a silent prayer that i wouldn’t ruin my pillow and turned on the dryer. Upon the Spot clean setting being finished I checked on my pillows. Well to my utter surprise my pillow had fluffed up. The spots had lessened a bit.
Seeing that this setting worked I figured I’d try the steam fresh setting to see how that worked. I again refilled the water tank and set the dryer. Like the spot clean setting stream fresh worked even better. It really fluffed up my pillow even more. Both pillows weren’t damp or even very moist when I removed them from the dryer.
Final thoughts
I was so happy that this experiment/idea worked that I tried it on a set of pillows i have in my living room. They had the same result. None of them faded or bleed. They did look a bit fluffier and fuller. When I used it that night I didn’t notice any changes in the comfort or support function. My head was still cradled. The pillow also didn’t seem to be as heavy as it once was either.
This idea may be something you might like to try. Again as I mentioned at the start this was something I tried at my own risk but I’m happy I did. Hopefully, this will allow me to have my pillow for many more years to come.
Have you tried a similar experiment? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
