Clean a down sleeping bag

[speed]

After several years of quality use I think its time to have my down bag cleaned. Its lost a bunch of its loft and has a "wonderful" aroma. I'm going to start loosing tent-buddies soon if I don't take care of it.

I'm looking for suggestion on places to get the bag cleaned. I know REI sells a special soap for down bags is this worth using or am I better off sending it out somewhere? I love the bag and want to take good care of it, so I don't mind spending a bit to get it cleaned properly.

speed

[philfort]

I used the down soap Feathered Friends gave me, and just washed it in a front loading washer, then put it in the dryer with a tennis ball. But I didn't have a tennis ball, so I used a climbing shoe, but it made too much noise, so then I didn't use anything. Still kind of worked, but I had to pull apart clumps of down. Didn't leave it in too long.

[Dru]

Tennis ball or other soft, round object is key to keep from clumping. Down soap ditto. Front loader works or you can wash it in your bathtub with a whole bunch of rinses. This is sorta like crushing grapes for wine, you got to knead the water in and out to really clean it and rinse 5 or 6 times to get the soap residue out, but its allegdly better for it than front washing. MEC used to have hand-washing info on their website somewhere - check the FAQ at www.mec.ca.

[David_Parker]

Call Feathered Friends and see what they recommend. I have washed mine. I usually go to the laundry matt and use the front loader and gentle cycle. The front loader spins out way more water. Then I bring it home and put it in my dryer with about 5 golf balls. It makes a hell of a racket, but the golf balls beat the bag and fluff it up again. A couple old tennis shoes work fine too, but don't use a stinky one!

[kevin]

I cleaned my bag in the bath tub once. That kneading process Dru was talking about works, but it takes hours, literally. I wasn't super impressed by the results I had either so I started taking it to the dry cleaners instead. THey did a far better job of restoring the loft. It comes back with a funky chemical smell, but it only last a few days. I think it usually cost about 20 bucks, though.

[johnny]

Do you play golf David? Hmmm, drops you down a notch or two in the karmic scale it does.....

They are all exactly right Speed. Good quality, gentle soap, the mondo front-loader at the local laundry-mat, and a tennis ball for drying. Shoes seem a bit too aggressive for me but if you have cushy feet.....I've found it easier to dedicate the time at the laundry-mat that to muck about at home trying to make do with a tub or smaller washer/dryer. Don't get in a hurry to dry it though, use a lower heat if you can get away with it, nylon melts pretty easily!!

Pleasant smelling dreams!

[David_Parker]

Golf is for fuckin' pussies! I like to hit golf balls AT people wearing plaid clothes. My friends got busted by a ranger smacking golf balls off the summit of Rainier! I have golf balls for one reason....drying my down bag and jacket!

[BigWallBigBallsRocky]

I have balls the size of PLANETS!! and I never usedtnem to dry a sleeping bag just some girls chins.

[Cpt.Caveman]

Nice sig bro, what next Power Puff Girls?

[willstrickland]

Dry cleaning is reportedly bad,apparently it strips the natural oils in the down contributing to long term loss of loft. (I don't have evidence for this, just heard it a few times)

I've used the REI down soap, and virtually any non-detergent style washing soap (woolite and such) works equally well. Front loader (double or triple capacity) on gentle is kind to the bag. For anti-clump I've used the tennis ball, but since only pussies play tennis I don't usually have them around. Only old wankers, and young rich kids play golf so I don't have those either (and I can only imagine what the woman would do when she heard the racket). I use several socks knotted into pairs...works well, very quiet, and easy on the bag.

[Dru]

Will I hear you can use knotted socks for other things than drying down??

As for tennis balls I used to steal them from dog walking yuppies in the park, or little kids going to tennis practice. But now Anna Kournikova gives me her used ones after every love tryst

[johnny]

Only pussies play tennis?? I bet Dru's Anna could kick all of your overblown testosterone laden asses (even if she never has won any major tourneys and makes more money than any female tennis player on earth right now)

Just shows you the TRUE value of a high quality, well marketed ass

She is a babe tho............

[David_Parker]

Well as an added dimension, its kinda fun to play on top of the dryer with your woman while all this is going on! I do play tennis by the way. I especially like mixed doubles in the nude. I also play womens doubles sometimes.

[Dru]

David having twosomes with the williams sisters, do they got extensions in ALL their hair or what??

I think we should ask POPE about having to clean sleeping bags, I hear he has dirtied a few and probably knows how to do it... pope!

[David_Parker]

I use two magnets to part the wire hair!

[haireball]

Speed,

wash your bag yourself - you'll pay more attention to it, and probably know more about how to do it than anyone you could pay to do it...

DONT get it dry-cleaned!!! Strickland is correct about dry-cleaning being death on down

do: use the largest capacity washer you can finddo: use the gentle "down soap" that you can find in most outdoor stores, or woolite works finedo: run the bag through a complete wash cycle without soap first - to thoroughly wet the bag.do: after one wash cycle with soap, run the bag through another entire wash cycle (or two) WITHOUT SOAP - this is critical, because the down must be THOROUGHLY RINSED if you want it to loft fully (soap residue will cause the down to want to clump...)do: be very cautious transferring the wet bag from the washer to the dryer - the down will hold an enormous tonnage of water, and it's altogether too easy to blow every baffle out of your bag just by lifting it incorrectly when its wet (I've seen it done...)gather the wet bag into a roll or wad, and support the entire bag from beneath during the transfer; any part of the bag dangling unsupported while wet is at risk for blowing baffles & seamsdo: plan on dumping a roll or two of quarters in the largest capacity dryer you can find - lowest heat setting available on the machine, "air fluff" (no heat, just forced air) if possible. Heat is another enemy of down. for fluffers, I use towels rolled into tight firm bundles & secured with string or rubber bands (gentler on your expensive bag than shoes or golf-balls) about four towels seems to work, and these have the added advantage of being absorbent, which I believe aids in the drying process.

if you take the time to rinse thoroughly and dry slowly/thoroughly, you may well find that your freshly-washed bag has more loft than when you bought it!!! (this has been my experience with several down bags over the years...)good luck!