The older I get, the higher the thread count on my sheets. Bed, Bath and Beyond is where I got our pillows, plus the special cover, and they are divine. Ross and Tuesday Morning have high thread count sheets for great prices.

I miss my bed already.

Oh for God's sake.

What are we, a bunch of germ-o-phobes? I've slept on the exact same pillow with the exact same cover for years and not once has anything negative come of it. This smells like a scam to me. I'll bet this study was commissioned by the pillow lobby or something.

I try to wash our feather pillows at least once a year. Even if it doesn't wipe out all of the nasty things living in them, the dryer fluffs them up nicely.

Don't these morons realize that pillows, sheets, blankets, comforters, etc. (yes, even down and feather products) can be WASHED?

These items are usually too big for home washing machines, so I have to take myself off to a laundromat to do it, because that's where they have the humongous washing machines.

I have extra-big comforters. Over 10 years ago, one of my cats peed on my prized down comforter. That's when I found out, by having the thing professionally washed and dried (not dry cleaned) that yes, down and feather items can be washed if you're careful.

The tricky part comes when you go to dry these kinds of items. You must put something in the dryer which will beat the item up and fluff it up... like a bunch of tennis balls! Works for me, and also amuses me to watch them tennis balls tumbling around inside the dryer. (I'm easily amused and bored when at a laundromat.)

And if you're really worried about micro-organisms, dust mites, and/or lingering cat pee or puke odors, there are products like "Odo-Ban" which you can put in the rinse water to kill ooglies and freshen up the smell.

Oh No! My girlfriend was just talking about this. She was pleased that I had fairly new pillows (less than 2 months old) when we made the bed the other morning. She has a real pillow germ phobia (well, actually a cootie phobia period, but particularly a thing about pillows).

She was trying to talk me into buying some kind of waterproof covers for them, but I said I would rather replace them every few months than sleep on some kind of plasticized cover between the pillowslip and the pillow.

See Rachel, you can even make a topic like this one exciting and enjoyable......OK, maybe that's overstating it a little :-)

Oxy-Clean and a little bleach will kill anything in the Laundry, so buying pillows every two years sounds stupid to me. If you buy a high quality pillow and wash it periodically it will last for years.

Bring on the allergens I say. More for my immune system to get used to rather than downing pounds of anti-histamines.

Huh? Pillows are "expensive"? Have these people never heard of Target, where you can get a decent pillow for about $25?

TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS!?!

Thank you Elijah! My point exactly. My house is one big germ. And I'm pretty healthy...haven't had a cold or flu in years. I think it's because my immune system is pretty used to fighting off bugs and very strong because of it! I hate anti-bacterial soap because it kills the good ones with the bad and then the bad ones get stronger and take over.

I don't think we've washed any of our pillows...ever...except when they've been doggified. But even then they usually end up AS doggy pillows.

I am SO not a germ a phobe...I'm an anti-phobe in this case. I tell my mom (who is a nurse!) that the germ theory is JUST a theory! :)

When I was a kid, we couldn't afford pillows.

We used burlap sacks filled with thistles and sticks.

Sure, they would pack down and get flat in a few days and lose their raison (not raisin. That would be stupid) d'etre, as it were.

One time, Timothy "Li'l Timmy" Timkins poked his eye out rolling over. I believe it was his left eye, but that's not germane (or especially relevant) to the narrative."

"Yup, I sure did! Poked it out real good, too."

And once (or maybe it was twice), Granny Suggins set her head on fire smoking in bed.

"Yup, I sure did. Burned real good, too."

But we were tough back then. Not like today, where folks need FLUUUUfffYYY pillows. Johnny-Edwards-Sissy-pants--pillow-lovers.

"Ooooo, let's go to Target or K Mart and get fresh pillows."

"MMmmmm, fresh pillowsssss."

Oughta be usin' your M1 Garand for a pillow.

http://www.memorableplaces.com/m1garand/

If all of the microbes in the world were to suddenly disappear, mankind wouldn't be far behind. All agriculture and digestion would come to a halt. Didn't I read not to long ago that kids that ate their own boogers (!) had more robust immune systems than those who didn't? The germ that doesn't kill you makes you stronger! LOL

Didn't I read not to long ago that kids that ate their own boogers (!) had more robust immune systems than those who didn't?

I heard recently that doctors managed to trace the lineage of several people back to the Europeans who managed to survive the Black Plague and found that they have incredibly strong immune systems. Supposedly they literally injected AIDS into them and the virus was completely gone within weeks.

When I was a kid growing up in Uremia, Ohio, we couldn't afford boogers.

Only the rich could afford boogers.

Like the family that owned the Lucas Pillow Factory and Catheter Emporium.

"Our motto.

If you need a good reaming.
Stop your danged dreaming.
Get a Lucas.
It's a pretty good catheter."

Sure it doesn't rhyme. But we were too poor to afford rhymes.

And don't think them fancy Lucases didn't show off every chance they got.

Why, that little Lucas girl.

What an attention seeker.

"Lookee, everybody. I gotta boogers!"

Kid was slow on grammar.

That child had boogers from hither to thither--not to be confused with zither, as in the movie, The Third Man.

We were so ashamed of our poverty that we would shove thistles and sticks up our noses to simulate boogers.

"Look. Ma. I got boogers, too! Like that Lucas girl!"

"Yes, L'il Timmy, but you're still blind in one eye."

In a week or two, we would use 'em to make pillows.

Screw that rich Lucas family and their booger-conspicuous little girl.

"This smells like a scam to me. I'll bet this study was commissioned by the pillow lobby or something."

Only the enlightened know this, but Big Pillow has been spreading this disinformation for years. I hear they also has significant pull in convincing the Chimperor to invade Iraq, because after all, what are the first thing free Iraqis are going to want? That's right, pillows.

This is why I sleep sitting down at the computer with my eyes open, typing...oh wait, heh, that's work.

I think you'll find that 4 * 2 * 25 is more like $200 than $100.

Me, I don't care if my pillows have mites and microorganisms and bits of skin in them - I have those on my skin anyway, like all the rest of us filthy monkeys.

Sigivald - yes it's $200 but for every TWO years, hence $100 per year.

:-)

Lance you are a fuckin' genius.

Yep them little nasties are in your pillows, and your mattress, carpet, upholstery, clothes, teddy bears... even the little dust bunnies under your bed.

Don't shop at Target. Target is a liberal commie store, owned by Senator Dayton, that won't sell hunting or fishing gear in its sporting goods section. Their profits go to fund people like DailyKOS.

Shop at WAL-MART. Same stuff. Same prices. Pisses off liberals.

You people are all missing the point. Rupert has "giant fluffy pillows". I have literally never heard that said about a guy before. It disturbs me a bit.

Actually the last time I heard the term "giant fluffy pillows" it was being uttered by Fat Bastard in one of the Austin Powers movies in regards to himself. I think I just threw up a lil in my mouth at the thought.

That notwithstanding, just for your edification Rach, although bamboo cotton might be swell for when you are slumming it, and you know whatever you are doing in bed is going to result in the linens being pitched in the trash afterwards rather than washed, I personally find that Birch Sheets are in fact the cat's pajamas. That and of course high threadcount Eygptian Cotton.

As for the germs thing, well I hate to break it to you germophobes out there, but I also heard on average you come in contact with millions of fecal bacteria every day, in of all places...the bathroom. You know where you store your toothbrush? Imagine that huh? Suddenly whatever is on your pillow doesn't sound so bad does it?

Have fun ;)!

Holy sheep shit. I could only pray a pillow would last two years. I go though pillows like every six months. Sometimes quicker.

I have a whole corner in my bedroom filled with the trail of broken pillows. And it isn't because I'm afraid of some festering butt blister bacteria.

It's because I toss and turn all night, and no matter how much I spend I can't get a pillow to hold the shape as when I bought it. It sucks. Believe me.

Doesn't pay to be a germophobe.

The human body has about 1 billion cells per gram of tissue. That's a US billion -
1,000,000,000.

A Kilogram of tissue, therefore, has about one (US) trillion cells -
1,000,000,000,000

And those of us slugs who mass around 100 kg have, of course, about
100,000,000,000,000 cells.

It has been calculated that the normal human houses about 10E12 [1,000,000,000,000] bacteria on the skin, 10E10 [10,000,000,000] in the mouth, and 10E14 [100,000,000,000,000] in the gastrointestinal tract.

More than most people could possibly want to know about your very own colonized self at this link. Lots of pretty pictures, if you're into such things.

Wash your hands.

After getting enough microbiology under my belt, I had two available Life Attitude options:

1)I am absolutely surrounded at all times with bacteria, often pathogenic bacteria. LYSOL IS MY BEST FRIEND. WASH YOUR HANDS, DAMMIT.

2)I am absolutely surrounded at all times with bacteria, often pathogenic bacteria. Yet I don't get sick that often. My immune system must be buff. I should let it get even stronger.

I went with option two. It's the one that lets me eat the most stuff.

Mightysamurai: Interesting. Did they mention the incidence of autoimmune disorders in those families, by any chance?

When I was a kid growing up in Sclerotic, PA, we were so poor we couldn't afford bacteria.

We had to dig around in the trash of the rich people to find bits of necrotic tissue to line our chaps.

Lance,
If your feeling that bacteria deprived you could come to my place and clean the litter box. ;-)

Our choco-Lab's Sleep Number is 45.

What's a clean pillow?

I've had my pillows for 20 years. I probably washed them 2 years ago and, strangely, I'm never sick.

Ever notice how germaphobes are sick more often than non-germaphobes?

That reminds me of a song I used to sing as a kid.

Old man Lucas
had alot of mucous
comin right out of his
head!!!!

Any family members come to mind Rachel????

When I was a kid growing up in Bad Gas, New York, we couldn't afford mucous.

Not after Pop de Boyle's business failed.

Pop useta sell Chiquita bananas on the street.

But one day---I believe it was St. Crispian's Day--- Chiquita had had her fill of bananas, and Pop de Boyle [Yup, still funny.] was out of work.

Of course, those rich Lucases, who owned the local Ball Mart....

"Our motto:
If you don't have the balls, we do."

...had plenty of mucous to go around.

You shoulda seen that little Lucas girl.

Covered with mucous from her white barette to her size 13 Mary Janes.

Called her "Big Foot," they did.

Always clomping around town in them big shoes and all that mucous.

Maybe she's changed now, but I doubt it.

When I was a kid growing up in Bad Gas, New York, we couldn't afford mucous.

Not after Pop de Boyle's business failed.

Pop useta sell Chiquita bananas on the street.

But one day---I believe it was St. Crispian's Day--- Chiquita had had her fill of bananas, and Pop de Boyle [Yup, still funny.] was out of work.

Of course, those rich Lucases, who owned the local Ball Mart....

"Our motto:
If you don't have the balls, we do."

...had plenty of mucous to go around.

You shoulda seen that little Lucas girl.

Covered with mucous from her white barette to her size 13 Mary Janes.

Called her "Big Foot," they did.

Always clomping around town in them big shoes and all that mucous.

Maybe she's changed now, but I doubt it.

Mightysamurai: Interesting. Did they mention the incidence of autoimmune disorders in those families, by any chance?

I wouldn't know. Keep in mind that this is "I heard it from a friend of a friend" stuff we're talking about here. I haven't actually seen any credible sources supporting this claim, and I am entirely too lazy to find out.

Most. Boring. Post. Ever.

Nah, just kidding. You know I love you.

And $25 for a pillow is stinking expensive! I usually spend about $13 (at Target, yo), and I'm still not happy spending that. Only wonderful feather pillows should ever cost more than $5.

I must be spoiled, because I once did tempwork at Pillowtex, and I got a ton of free pillows.

Hey Lance - was the reason you didn't post a favourite sandwich because you were so poor? I mean, you could have posted air sandwich - or salt and pepper sandwich?

BTW, I haven't read the comments (too much reading!), but just in case no one has made this joke:

If you use a down pillow, your pillow is foWl. Hahahahaha. I love puns.

Those pillow covers (which go on between the pillow and the pillowcase) are rumored to be feather-proof but really aren't... they merely slow down the leakage of the feathers and/or down. But they probably do extend the length of time before the pillow itself must be washed.

Oh yeah, and I have seen decent feather pillows as low as $10 if you have a place like Anna's Linens nearby (especially when on sale); in California, Anna's Linens is a chain; don't know if they're national.

You can also get them through "The Company Store" catalog (google them). They sell all grades of pillows; you can spend a lot there if you want to. Their basic feather pillows are now probably close to $20.

I got my supersized comforters through them (also covers) because they sell stuff that is bigger than average, and I am bigger than average and love to wrap myself in a down comforter in cold weather.

They also have at least one sale per year, so you don't have to pay full price. If you get a good comforter, it will last literally decades... I have one that I've had for nearly 15 years and it's still going strong.

As for boogers... one of my sisters, when she was small, didn't eat them, but she smeared them on the wall of her bedroom. I don't know if that helped her immune system or not, but it was disgusting!!

Keerist, $25 for a piller. I can get a previously enjoyed piller down at the Salvation Army store for $2. And the big hefty woman in the smock told me all the cooties and shit is scraped off before they put'm out for sale. Jes sayin'.

When I was a kid, we had these feather pillows that were made with canvas. The feathers could not break through the canvas. And they were stuffed with a density roughly equivalent to lead. We called them "rock pillows." They were heavy, and hard, and we loved them. They were infinately malleable. You could shape one to fit your head perfectly. And you could also grab the open end of the pillowcase, and give about 3 or 4 shakes, and then that pillow inside took on the consistency of a boulder inside a burlap bag.

The term "pillow fight," in most houses, meant something fairly benign. But trust me, our pillow fights were like the WWE. My older brother Ray hit me in the side of the head with his rock one time and my head was ringing for two days. I threw a pillow at my younger brother and he ducked and it smashed the window behind him. The pillow fights we had left us looking like Private Pyle after his Soap Party in Full Metal Jacket. I even got a black eye from a pillow.

When I moved out of the house, for about 5 years I still had my rock pillow. One day I went to Wal Mart and thought, hey, it'd be cool to have a soft pillow for a change. So I bought this nice soft pillow. And now I sleep on that thing and it's very very comfortable. I can't sleep on those rocks anymore. I buy new pillows about once every 5 years or so.

In the meantime, my mom threw out all the old rock pillows and bought linen-lined pillows with feathers in them. The ends of the feathers poke through the linen and stab your hand if you hold your hand under your head (as I do). They'll poke you in the eye or side of the head as well. I think it's her subliminal way of making sure we don't stay over too many nights in a row. I dread sleeping at home now. I'd rather sleep in my own bed with my nice soft pillow than a lumpy piece of linen that doesn't support my head and pokes my face.

In fact, I'm quite certain I'd rather have a Rock again.