How do I wash a comforter in a NYC apartment?

A queen or king comforter won't fit in a typical NYC apartment washer. The compact 24-inch machines in most buildings hold about 2 cubic feet, and a comforter needs a 4 cubic foot drum or bigger to get clean and rinse properly. You have two real options: take it to a laundromat with large front-loaders, or send it out. A twin comforter or a thin summer one will sometimes fit a full-size apartment machine, but if you have to stuff it in, it's too big.

Check the label first

Most comforters, including down and down-alternative, are machine washable. If the care label says dry clean only, stop here and send it to a dry cleaner. Look for any rips or loose seams too, because a tear will spill filling through the whole wash.

Washing it at a laundromat

Use the biggest front-loader available, usually marked 40 to 60 lb. Wash it alone. Use about half the detergent you'd use for a normal load, since a comforter holds suds and leftover soap makes the fill stiff. Pick a gentle or bulky cycle with warm water, or cold if the label says so, and run an extra rinse if the machine offers one.

Drying takes longer than you expect, often 60 to 90 minutes on low or medium heat. Toss in two or three clean tennis balls or dryer balls to break up clumps of filling. Pull it out every 20 minutes or so, shake it, and put it back. Before you leave, squeeze the thickest sections. If any spot feels cool or damp, it's not done, and a damp comforter folded in a closet will smell within a day.

Budget two to three hours and about $10 to $15 in quarters or card payments.

Sending it out

If you don't want to spend an afternoon at the laundromat, a wash and fold service will do it. Crisp Laundry cleans comforters for a flat $35 with free pickup and delivery anywhere in Manhattan below 110th Street, and every order is washed on its own, so your comforter never shares a machine with someone else's laundry. Turnaround is 24 to 48 hours. You can add it to a regular wash and fold pickup or schedule it alone at crisplaundry.com/order.

How often

Once or twice a year is enough if you use a duvet cover or a top sheet. Without a cover, every two to three months. Between washes, pull it off the bed and let it air out for a few hours when you change the sheets.