A King size comforter is not the kind of dirty laundry to deal with on a weekly basis. But when the turn for the job comes, you pay a hefty price for the wait, comfort and warmth.
For starters, a typical king comforter is difficult to handle and wash because of the huge size and fluffiness. Secondly, unlike regular or fleece blankets, some comforters may fail to fit in a standard washer. And lastly, ultra-soft comforters may feature fabrics that are extremely sensitive for washers, dryers or even hand-washing.
What Size Washer for King Comforter?
If your king size comforter is machine washable, chose a washer that can handle laundry that weights way above 12 pounds. The weight of most king comforters ranges between 11 and 12 pounds. Machines rated 4.5 cubic feet are roomy enough for washing a king comforter thoroughly. However, you can even go for higher ratings such as 5 or 6.2 cubic feet. In addition, a slightly small machine can work but it is not the most appropriate for best results.
Determining the Right Method for Washing your King Comforter
Typically, before thinking of putting your comforter in a washer, determine whether it is machine washable in the first place. A machine washable comforter features the information in the care tag.
Manufacturers present the information in symbols that are common among all garments. Normally, the machine washing symbols feature a bucket or tub. The bucket can either be empty or feature a dot or numbers in degrees centigrade.
If the bucket is empty, it means that you can machine wash the comforter in cold water settings. If the bucket has one dot, you can wash the comforter in water that is 20 degrees hot. The water temperature increases with an increasing number of dots or as indicated in figures.
If your comforter is only suitable for handwashing, the care tag features a bucket with a hand. If is designed for professional care, then what you see in the care tag is a dry-cleaning symbol. It can either be an empty circle, or a circle with a letter inside.
Some easy to handle comforters can feature more than one symbol. Depending on the individual symbols, there could be a chance that you can wash them in more than one method.
It is also easy to tell whether you can throw your comforter in the dryer. Just like with washing, there are symbols for that. They are many as we explain in our tumble drying symbols article.
Determine the Suitability of Your Washer
After determining that your comforter is machine washable, the next thing is to know whether your washer is the right size. But really, is there a right-sized machine for a comforter?
Yes! A washer that can handle anywhere from 12 pounds of laundry comfortably is a good size for a king comforter (Most king comforters range from 11 to 12 pounds). This can even be a standard machine.
However, since you want your comforter to clean thoroughly, it is best to choose a machine that is well-sized in cubic feet. In their tests, the Consumer Reports discovered that it is best to wash a king comforter in a machine rated 4.5 cubic feet or more. If your machine is smaller or you do not have one, this is vital information to have when shopping around.
According to the Consumer Reports, small washers have the capacity to handle laundry between 12 to 14 pounds and they are rated 3.2 cubic feet. Medium sized washers have a slightly higher capacity (14-16 pounds) but they are much bigger in cubic feet (4.5). A large washer offers much more space because it can hold up to 25 pounds of laundry. Large washer are rated from 5 to 6.2 cubic feet.
In most cases, top loaders are smaller in capacity unless they are modern high efficiency machines.
Drying a King Comforter
If it is appropriate to tumble dry your comforter, it is best to use a dryer that is the same size or larger than the washer used to wash the comforter.
