I’m not doing that again

I prefer a very firm feather pillow—I’m a side sleeper so I want my neck in a straight line. I don’t care for foam or those weird memory foam pillow, I’m Team Feather all the way.

Unfortunately, I appear to be in the minority in terms of how firm I like my pillow. I’ve found exactly one pillow that was firm enough from the start; I bought it in Boston in 2008 and could not believe how perfect it was. Over the years, of course, it compressed and got flatter, so I sewed a seam about four inches in from the end so that the feathers got mooshed together more. Finally, though, I admitted defeat and gave the pillow to Kent (who likes firmer pillows but not as firm as I do).

I’ve looked ever since, tried a few that didn't work and ended up as pillows in the guest room. I finally ended up with IKEA’s version of a firm down pillow. It wasn’t firm enough, so I started with the sewn seam trick, and it did OK.

But I’ve always wondered if I could take feathers from one pillow and overstuff another one to get the pillow I really want.

Today, I gave it a try.

If you've ever worked with feathers, I'm sure you are already shaking your head and saying "oh no." I haven't worked with down or feathers before, and I’m confident I probably never will again. That down went everywhere! I’d started the pillow stuffing process in the house but pretty quickly moved to the garage because feathers and down were flying everywhere!

I got it done (I didn't want to have made that giant mess for nothing), and I've got a firmer pillow, although I haven’t tried sleeping with it yet. I sure hope this worked, although I’m not sure what I’ll do next time.

DIY

Got three do-it-yourself remedies to share:

DIY weed killer: in a 32 ounce spray bottle, combine 1/2 C salt, a squirt of dishwashing detergent and fill nearly to the top with vinegar. Shake very gently to combine. Always shake before using and store in a cool, dark place. This weed killer is an indiscriminate plant killer so spray with care. It works best in full sun.

Odor destroyer: Put cheap vodka in a spray bottle. Spray the smelly spots on your work out clothes and wash normally. I am amazed how well this one works.

Castile soap mixture (in the blue bottle): Mostly fill a spray bottle with water and add a squirt of liquid castile soap. Anything that can be cleaned with water can be cleaned with this mixture. We use it on our wood floors to clean up cat gak.

L to R: weed killer, odor destroyer
& castile soap mixture

What do-it-yourself recipes do you have? Share with me, please!