Clean Pillows

Good morning, world! I hope everybody's day is going well. Mine is, but I just woke up. I got a much needed 10 hours of sleep last night. Can't remember the last time that happened. Not to mention that The Husband surprised me with some Yoohoo and I'm eating Lucky Charms. You just can't beat a morning like this, I tell you what.

With packing and moving, I've been trying to ensure everything is clean beforehand so I don't have to clean it while I'm trying to set up the new house. Some things I noticed I've never cleaned that were really disgusting looking? My pillows. I wash my pillowcases at least once a month, but I've never paid attention to the pillows themselves.

8 months of not washing our pillows looks pretty gross doesn't it? I searched online, but only found  instructions that contain bleach, which I really didn't want to do.

This is what I did do, though:
1.) Put two pillows in my washing machine, on their sides, so that it would keep the balance (I have a top loader not a front loader).
2.) Poured in a capfull of our liquid laundry detergent and sprinkled  approximately 1/4 cup of borax on the pillows.
3.) Turned the water temperature to the hottest it would go and turned my washer on.
4.) During the rise cycle, I added a few tablespoons of white vinegar to help sanitize the pillows.
5.) Ran an extra rinse cycle to get rid of the vinegar smell.
6.) Popped my pillows in the dryer (with my wool dryer balls I made here).

Really made a difference, didn't it? It's kind of hard to see just how much of a difference washing them actually made, but I didn't want to edit the picture any. You can tell there's no more yellow or sweat spots, though.  I'm definitely going to start washing my pillows every 4-6 months to try to ensure they never look that gross again.

Thief Thursday: Dryer Wool Balls

Starting this week, I will begin doing posts called Thief Thursday every other week, which is just when I steal (and credit) projects from other blogs and try to do them myself. Some work out, some don't. You guys get to see both.

Today's post is DIY Wool Dryer Balls, which I got from here. I've wanted to make our house some of these for a while now, but never really got around to it. Well, while going through my Pinterest boards the other day, I found a pin for them. Upon further investigation, I realized how easy they would be to make! And guess what just happened to be on sale at Hobby Lobby the other day? Yarn!

Materials Needed:
-100% Wool Yarn
-An old pair of pantyhose, thigh highs, etc.
-Scissors

I started off by wrapping the yarn around my fingers 15-20 times:

Next, I slid it off my fingers and wrapped my yarn around the middle a few times:

Then, I continued to go around until I formed a ball the size I was happy with, cut the yarn, and tucked in the end:

Then, I tied them in an old pair of thigh highs I had:

Last, I dropped them in my washer on my hottest setting and then dried them on my hottest setting, too. This causes them to felt, which is what everybody keeps telling me I want. To happen.

These are 3 of my 7 finished balls:

And, let me say, they DO work like a charm. Last night, I used them to fluff up some pillows and then to quicken the drying process of a load of towels. It didn't save a ton of time, but in the end, every ten minutes saved is more money in our pockets.

P.S.- Make sure to wrap the balls tightly, or you will end up with a 20 minute mess that looks like this: