How to Wash Crochet Pillow Covers to Preserve Them

Hi guys! I share a lot of crochet pillow covers on the blog, but I’ve never talked about proper care instructions. Crocheting a pillow cover takes time, money, and lots of love; so it’s important that we wash these pillow covers correctly, in order to keep them looking nice as long as possible. In this post, you will learn an easy way to wash crochet pillow covers, so they maintain their shape, look and feel. Whose ready to dive in?

Learning from my Experience/Mistake

When I first started crocheting pillow covers, I thought that I could just pop them in the washing machine, throw them in the dryer, and they would come out clean and perfect. Bless my naivete. The thing about crochet pillows is that they lose their shape, colour, and polished appearance when they go through the washing machine and dryer. You can see the result down below. The first picture shows my newly crocheted Simple Texture Pillow; and the second picture shows the same pillow cover after a wash! The pillow cover has stretched, and no longer conforms to the shape of the pillow insert.

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What You’ll Need:

• Soap (Laundry Detergent, Bar soap, or Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap)
• Water
• Tub, Sink, or Large Container
• Drying Rack (optional)

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Hand Wash Your Pillow Covers and Lay Flat to Dry

If there are two things to take away from this post, it’s that you should wash your pillow covers by hand, and always lay them flat to dry. Washing your pillows by hand ensures that the cover is cleaned gently; while laying it flat to dry stops the cover from stretching in the heat and pull of the dryer. This process is a little more time consuming than just popping your pillow covers in the washer and dryer, but I promise that it is worth the extra time. You will thank yourself later when your pillow cover is clean, conforms to its pillow insert, and looks brand new.

Tip: NEVER hang a wet pillow cover from a clothes line because the weight of the water will cause the ends of the pillow cover to stretch. Instead, lay the cover on a flat surface like a table, flat drying rack, or open/slatted metal shelf. This ensures that the water is evenly distributed throughout the pillow cover, so it maintains its shape as it dries.

6 Free Crochet Pillow Patterns You’ll Love:

If you are interested in adding some coziness to your space, try one of the pillow covers linked below. They are all so fun and easy to make!

• Simple Texture Pillow
• Whimsical Stripes Pillow
• Burst of Sunshine Pillow
• Retro Velvet Pillow
• Halloween Striped Pillow
• That 70’s Pillow

How to Wash Crochet Pillow Covers Tutorial

Wash with Soap

• Remove your pillow cover from the pillow insert.
• Zip up the zipper, or do up the buttons, so that the shape of the pillow stays intact.
• Fill a laundry tub (sink, large container, or bath tub) with lukewarm water and some soap. I used a plain bar of soap, and let it sit in the tub, while the water was running to get it sudsy.
• Place your pillow cover in the water and let it soak for 1 minute. Gently run your hands over the pillow cover to clean it. Flip it over, and do the same to the other side.

Rinse Cycle

• Empty the soapy water. You may notice some soap residue remaining on the pillow cover, but don’t worry!
• Fill the tub (sink, large container, or bath tub) with clean lukewarm water. Do not add any soap to the tub this time!
• Gently run your hands over the pillow cover to get rid of any remaining soap residue. Flip it over, and do the same to the other side.
• Empty the tub, but do not move your pillow cover.

Removing Excess Water

• Gently press down on the pillow cover with your hands or fist to squeeze out the water. Do this across the entire pillow cover, before flipping it over and repeating it on the other side. Tip: DO NOT ring out your pillow cover. This will stretch and twist the fabric, causing it to lose it’s shape.
• Once you’ve got as much water from the pillow cover as you can, place it on top of a dry towel.
• Place a second towel over top of the pillow cover. The pillow cover should be tucked inside of the two towels.
• Slowly roll up the two towels to get rid of any excess water. Unroll the towels, and place the pillow cover at the other end between the two towels. Repeat the process of rolling and unrolling!

Lay Flat to Dry

• At this point, most of the water should be gone, so your pillow cover can dry normally. Place the pillow cover on a flat surface like a table, drying rack, or open/slatted metal shelf.
• Let the pillow cover dry for a day or more, and occasionally flip it over. When it is completely dry, place it back on your pillow insert!

Check out some more fun and budget-friendly crochet patterns on this blog.

Thank you all for following along, and I hope this tutorial helps you preserve your crochet pillows for as long as possible.

Love, Dayna