How to wash a body pillow cover (without wrecking it)

A body pillow lives on your bed, gets hugged every night, and travels to the couch for movie nights. It's going to need a wash eventually. Good news: if the cover comes off, it's genuinely easy. Here's how to do it without ending up with a matted, sad-looking pillow.

First: check if your cover is removable

This is the big one. A washable body pillow has a removable cover, usually with a zip, so you can take the outer layer off and wash just that, leaving the inner pillow alone. If your pillow is one sealed piece with no zip, washing gets a lot harder (and riskier). The Gooling has a removable cover with a hidden zip, so this whole process is simple.

Step by step: washing a removable cover

1. Unzip and remove the cover. Take the plush cover off the inner pillow completely. Set the inner pillow aside, it usually doesn't need washing anywhere near as often.
2. Check the care label. Always the first move. For most plush covers a gentle cold machine wash is fine, but the label is the boss.
3. Wash cold, gentle cycle. Cold water and a gentle or delicates cycle protects the plush. Use a mild detergent. Skip the fabric softener, it coats the fibres and makes them less fluffy over time.
4. Wash it inside out. If you want to be extra careful with the plush side. Zip it back up first so the zip doesn't snag anything.
5. Air dry, don't bake it. This is where most people go wrong. Hang it or lay it flat to dry. High heat can flatten or melt plush fibres. If you must use a dryer, tumble on low or no heat and take it out while slightly damp.
6. Give it a shake and a fluff. Once dry, shake the cover out and fluff the plush back to life with your hand. Pop it back on the inner pillow, zip up, done.

How often should you wash it?

Every few weeks is plenty for most people, more often if it lives on the couch or your pet has claimed it. Because only the cover goes in the wash, it's quick and you're not wrestling a giant pillow into the machine.

What about the inner pillow?

Mostly it just needs airing out, pop it near an open window now and then. Spot-clean any marks. You rarely need to wash the whole inner, which is exactly why a removable cover is worth having.