Cleaning a Mongolian Sheepskin Throw Pillow

So today, just for fun I went to the nearby thrift store, and found an awesome sheepskin throw pillow! It was Mongolian, so the pile was about 4" long. Of course, I had needed to clean and disinfect it... So I did a little bit of research on long pile sheepskin care. Not much luck. So, I've decided to wing it a little bit. I really love the curls that come with the long pile, so I wanted to keep them in their beautiful wringlets. But in order to do that, I couldn't brush them out. So, I'd need to condition the crap out of that pillow after washing.

Here's couple of photos of the pillow before cleaning. It was kind of in yucky shape, it had a big mat in the middle, with some dirt and grime here and there.

Here's a close-up of the big mat. Gross, right?

So I've decided to just dive in. I wanted to retain the condition of the leather, because the sheepskin can dry out and harden after washing.

First, I removed the stuffing. It looked like a cheap synthetic pillow insert, which I removed. I later stuffed the pillow cover with organic wool roving, so it is wool all around.

For the washing, I've opted for human shampoo and conditioner - I used my doTERRA brand shampoo and conditioner, since they're really nourishing. I hand shampooed, rinsed, and conditioned just as I would my own hair. I let the conditioner sit for about 5 minutes on the wool, since there was a large knot. As I was rinsing, I ran my fingers through the wool till the knot was gone.

I laid it flat to dry overnight, parting it near the top so that the pile would look better once dried. Super easy, much more so than I thought! I occasionally went over to check on how it was drying, and ran my fingers through the pile to dry it out, or if I was really bored I'd pick it up and gently shake it to distribute the water.

Here's a picture of what it looks like after drying and restuffing. Gorgeous! To top it off, I added a couple of Breathe blend of essential oils by doTERRA when I was stuffing. Now it smells, feels and looks great in the space.