How often do you wash your pillows?

How often do you wash your pillows? This is the question one mum really wants to know the answer to, after she learnt that you're meant to clean more than just the pillow cases on a regular basis.

In a very honest post on a parenting forum, the unnamed woman confessed that she'd owned her pillows for roughly 10 years and hadn't washed them once in all that time.

Her partner is "horrified" by the discovery and now she's planning to purchase new pillows to rectify the situation.

Writing on Mumsnet, she said: 

In the last couple of years I have been getting spots on my face.

I bought new creams, drank more water, washed my pillow case more often... but today I realised that I have not washed my pillow once in the 10+ years since I bought it.

Anyway, I am off to buy a new pillow.

Partner is horrified and I feel very judged, but surely I am not alone in my slatternly ways?! How often do you wash your pillows?

Almost 100 people took the time to comment on her post debating the correct answer.

One person also confessed they'd never washed their pillows:

I've never washed a pillow either. We use pillow cases and thick pillow protectors which both get washed regularly.

However many were of the opinion that pillows should be washed once a year.

All our pillows have protectors, which I was every week/every other week - sniff test, posted someone else.

The pillows get washed at least every year or in between. The key to washing pillows and duvets is packing them tightly in the drum, then they don't lose their shape.

I can't imagine sleeping on an unwashed pillow for 10 years. It's a bit grim in my book.

I wash the actual pillow once a year in the summer, agreed a different mum.

A third added: 

About once a year, as it gets warm enough for them to dry.

Others thought pillows should be washed more frequently.

A third responded:

Buy new pillows - non feathered - frequently - much more frequently than every six months. It's basic hygiene.

One other mum said: 

Every six months? Mine are years old and look new.

So how often should you actually wash your pillows?