Wine and down duvets don't mix, I guess?

April 17, 2016 12:07 PM

We just spilled a full bottle of red wine on a down duvet. How do we make it usable for tonight?

We just broke a full bottle of red wine on a down duvet. This down duvet needs to be service tonight for guests in about 5 hours. What is the best way to make it serviceable?

We are more concerned about it being dry and not gross than about the staining.

posted by just_ducky to Home & Garden (11 answers total)

If you have a washer and a dryer, you just wash it, not too hot, no enzymes in the detergent, gentlest centrifuge, and then dry it, also not too hot.
The washing cycle can be short, but the drying can take several hours, so get going now.
Have two tennis-balls in the dryer with the duvet.

If you know what the duvet is supposed to weigh, you can use that as an indicator of it's dryness.
posted by mumimor at 12:13 PM on April 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

Nthing that your big concern here is drying it. If you don't have tennis balls, try adding socks or something - the idea is just to balance the load.
posted by SMPA at 12:23 PM on April 17, 2016

Take it out of the dryer every 15-20 minutes, shake it, and put it back. This should level the down.
posted by Carol Anne at 12:27 PM on April 17, 2016 [3 favorites]

If it's bigger than twin and you don't have a huge washer, you might need to go to the laundromat.

Also agree that drying can be tricky. Tennis balls will help move things around, as will taking it out and shaking it.
posted by radioamy at 12:31 PM on April 17, 2016

if you can fit a couple dry towels in the dryer with it they will also help it dry faster
posted by nadawi at 12:37 PM on April 17, 2016

Nthing go to a laundry mat - use whatever jumbo-load washer they have, gentlest cycle and light detergent, and then use the jumbo driers there. You can get it most of the way dry and then take it home and finish it off in your own machine, but you really need something big to start with because wet down is heavy. And Nth tennis balls or clean shoes in on the dry cycles. Drying will take a really long time.
posted by handful of rain at 12:41 PM on April 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

I know you said you were less worried about staining, but food grade hydrogen peroxide is excellent for removing red wine stains. A spray works well, give it a few hours to work. Will not help with drying, obv.
posted by Segundus at 12:50 PM on April 17, 2016

I would go to a laundry mat and use one of their giant-sized dryers. Might be inconvenient, but those things are immensely powerful and could probably dry it out in under 40 minutes... like crispy-dry.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 1:10 PM on April 17, 2016

One of our cats went through a phase of peeing on the comforter and I have a lot of experience washing and drying comforters.

With that time constraint, you should go to the laundromat. Wash it and then put it in the big tumble dryer. If you can, run the spin cycle multiple times to remove as much water as possible before it hits the dryer. In a good, household dryer a king sized comforter takes nearly about 6 hours to fully dry - even with tennis balls and shaking it frequently. Laundromat is your best option unless it's a very small, lightweight/low fill comforter.
posted by 26.2 at 1:22 PM on April 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

You could also go to Target and get a comforter.
posted by amanda at 2:55 PM on April 17, 2016 [13 favorites]

Oxyclean the spot by mixing a table spoon of oxyclean with a cup of water and then a gentle low temperature wash. Long low temperature dry.
posted by waving at 11:48 AM on April 18, 2016