Day 147: How to Wash & Whiten Yellowed Pillows (fail).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I have a front-loading washer, so I modified this pin based on the comments section below the original post; instead of soaking the pillows in the washing machine, I soaked them in our bathtub. 

A few of our pillows look like this (the sheet underneath is pure white, so you can see just how yellowed the pillow is):

I mixed together the following solution in our bathtub and soaked three pillows (FYI: it didn't say how long to soak them, and I think I may have overdone it, as the lining on two of the pillows started to disintegrate after soaking for 1/2 an hour on each side).

Mixture:
Hot water
1 cup of laundry detergent
1 cup powdered dishwasher detergent
1 cup bleach
1/2 cup borax

I then wrung the pillows out, transferred them to the washer and washed them in hot, hot water for two cycles.  It took 2+ dryer cycles to get them dry, plus lots of work to fluff out all the lumps.  In the end, I ruined two pillows (too lumpy to sleep on anymore and lining is ripped) and the remaining one isn't all that much whiter.  From here on out, I think I'll just run them through the washer -- 2 at a time -- with our regular laundry soap and bleach.  Most people don't see the yellowed pillows anyway with the pillowcases on!

 Verdict: FAIL.