Longstanding customers of Allergy Best Buys will remember when we first offered Featherfresh Boilable Pillows in our catalogue. Until then, they had only been used by hospitals and other institutions because their specially treated goose feathers and down can be sterilised or autoclaved without the pillows becoming misshapen or lumpy.

The pillows became an instant hit with Allergy Best Buys customers, who buy more dustmite-proof FeatherFresh Boilable Pillows than any other hypoallergenic pillow.

But even though you can boil-wash your Featherfresh Pillows to keep them plump and allergen-free, there comes a time when even they  come to the end of their useful life.

What to do? Open them up and empty the feathers onto the compost heap!

Generally speaking you can divide compostable waste into two categories - browns and greens - and both are essential to good compost.

Browns are rich in carbon and include such things as garden clippings, dead leaves, paper and card and straw.

Greens are rich in nitrogen and include things like tea leaves, coffee grounds and vegetable peelings. Bird feathers are rich with keratin protein and a great source of nitrogen (14%), so the duck or goose feathers and down in your pillow make an excellent organic fertiliser that will increase the nitrogen content of your soil.

Bird feathers in compost break down quite easily and should degrade completely within just a few months. Although you won't have this problem with a lidded, dalek-style compost bin, if you have a traditional open compost heap, add your feathers to it on a day when there is little wind then cover them with some heavier material to keep them from blowing about. If you want you can soak the feathers in water beforehand. This will both weigh them down and accelerate the decomposing process. 

Find out more about FeatherFresh Pillows here.