Washing Down Sleeping Bags

[MysticNacho]

Sweet mother of pearl! Talk about getting what you need to know fast! What a great site.

[MysticNacho]

Anybody have any clues on the best way to accomplish this amazing feat? I don't want to lose any precious feathers.

[Dru]

Ducks waterproof themselves with an oil from glands in their bills.

 

Humans can do the same trick (waterproof themselves) with an unwashed sleeping bag. Let the good oil seep into you...

[Crackbolter]

Cleaning instructions for down bags, comforters and jackets.

 

Down bags, comforters and jackets should be cleaned when they start to accumulate oils. If your bag has started to lose loft, or if the fabric is badly discolored, it is time for the bag to be washed. Body oils, hair oils, lotions and cosmetics all are acidic, and will slowly decompose down. The same goes for the cotton shells on down comforters. Oils also contaminate waterproof/breathable laminates, and heavy contamination seems to be a factor in delamination. The down in your sleeping was carefully processed to the correct oil/acid balance. We feel that either Thunder Down or Down Suds are the best soaps for restoring down to its optimum oil and acid level after use. It is essentially the same soap used by down processors with some added stain removers. Other down cleaning products on the market work fine, but cost much more per wash. Do not expect down suds to remove all the stains. You can spot treat stains soon after they occur with soap or cleaning solvent. After time, the stain bonds with the nylon and cannot be removed without causing damage to the down. You can use solvents to remove sap, tar, or concentrated oil and grease spots. Try to move the down away from the spot you are treating. Use an absorbent cloth on the reverse side, and use many small applications rather than flooding the area and spreading the stain. Waterproof/breathable laminates do not require different treatment than other fabrics, except that they make products harder to rinse and dry. Do not dry-clean your sleeping bag. Either wash the bag yourself by carefully following the detailed cleaning instructions, or have an experienced cleaner WASH your bag using a special down soap. Feathered Friends can wash your bag for you if there is no one in your area able to do the job properly.

 

FEATHERED FRIENDS CLEANING SERVICE

Abbreviated price list. Call 206-292-6292 or 206-292-2210 for details.

Sleeping bags. $14-$22, based on weight.

Goretex or Gore Dryloft or other PTFE 40% surcharge.

Bags requiring a double wash $5 extra.

Jackets vests, and parkas. $7 to $12 based on weight.

Heavily soiled or requiring special spot cleaning $5 extra

Down comforters. $15 to $35 based on weight and style.

It is necessary to remove down from some styles before cleaning to prevent baffle damage. Unless this is necessary, cleaning costs normally do not exceed $25.

 

Detailed cleaning instruction

 

Spot clean when possible. You can use stronger detergents or solvents to spot clean, even with Waterproof/breathable fabrics. Move the down aside as much as possible before spot cleaning.

Do not dry-clean. Dry-cleaning strips an excessive amount of oils from the down. In addition, dry-cleaning fluids remain in the bag for weeks. Breath tests can determine if someone has merely been inside a dry-cleaning shop weeks previously. We are sure you do not want to be zipped up inside a bag giving off carbon tetrachloride or perchlorethelene. And, this may surprise you, dry-cleaning usually does not even get the bag clean. The fluid is re-used many times. Exterior stains may be removed, but residue is left in the down. Dry-cleaning clogs pores in waterproof/breathable laminates.

In many cases, machine washing is possible. With jackets, small comforters and lightweight down bags machine washing is no problem at all. Use a specialized down soap in any machine. Apply the soap directly to stained or heavily soiled areas. Soak for 15 to 60 minutes. Run through a normal cycle. Goretex/Dryloft items will have to be positioned nylon side out in order to spin properly. It is important to have the load balanced.

For particularly soiled items, you may want to add more soap and run through another wash cycle before the rinsing starts.

When it is finished, if you can still squeeze out suds, rinse the item again.

For larger bags use a front loading machine, preferably a double or triple load commercial machine. Again, soak if possible. If not, plan on running through two complete cycles. Sleeping bags are tougher than you might expect. The tricot baffling we use is nearly as strong as the nylon shell. Problems in washing nearly always come from the shell catching in the machinery or seams raveling out. You should not have the latter problem with a Feathered Friends bag. To guard against snags monitor the wash closely.

Hand washing is safest of all. In fact it would be difficult to damage a bag in hand washing. It does require considerable effort. Use a large tub or bathtub. Soak for up to an hour, but not longer. You will need to work at getting all the down submerged. The nylon is so tight it traps air. Rinsing is more difficult by hand. Multiple rinses with a small amount of water are better than one big rinse. You will need to squeeze out most of the water each time. Except with the largest bags and quilts, you can extract most of the remaining water with the spin cycle of a washing machine.

In warm sunny weather you can dry the bag outdoors if you have room to spread it out. This will cause the least wear on the down and fabric. A final fluff cycle in a dryer will re-loft the down. Warning. Excessive sun drying can fade and weaken nylon. The sun drying option is given with the assumption that you are washing your bag infrequently. Tumble drying is a dryer will take hours. You need moderate heat. Most home dryers will not get too hot. Laundromat dryers often get hot enough to melt the nylon. Be sure to check, especially when the bag starts to fluff enough to fill the dryer. If the fabric or zipper is too hot to touch, you need to lower the temperature setting.

Make sure the end bag is really dry and free of clumps before you store it. If down is left wet it support growth of bacteria or mildew. If you notice any off smell, wash the bag again immediately, and get it really dry.

We have washed our rental bags 10 to 30 times, and the down seem no worse for it. Do not believe anyone who says that cleaning hurts the down.

 

More....

 

DETAILED CLEANING INSTRUCTIONS

 

Local Stains

You can spot treat stains soon after they occur with soap or cleaning solvent. After time, stains will bond with the nylon and cannot be removed without causing damage to the down. You can use solvents to remove sap or tar. Try to move the down away from the spot you are treating. Use an absorbent cloth on the reverse side, and use many small applications rather than flooding the area and spreading the stain. DryLoft and Gore-Tex do not require different treatment than other fabrics.

 

Dry-Cleaning Warning

At the risk of repeating ourselves, DO NOT DRY-CLEAN! Dry-cleaning strips an excessive amount of oils from the down, and down will not fully recover its loft after even one trip through the dry-cleaners. In addition, dry-cleaning fluids remain in the bag for weeks; breath tests can determine if someone has merely been inside a dry-cleaning shop in the last week! We are sure you do not want to be zipped inside a bag giving off carbon tetrachloride or perchlorethelene. And worse, dry-cleaning usually does not even get the bag clean. Exterior stains may be removed, but residue is left in the down. Dry-cleaning clogs PTFE laminate pores and renders them non-breathable.

 

Machine Washing

With down jackets or the Rock Wren liner bag, machine washing at home is possible. Use Down Suds or Thunder Down in any machine. Use no bleach or fabric softeners. Apply the soap directly to stained or heavily soiled areas. Soak for 15 to 60 minutes, then run through a normal cycle on gentle, with cold water. PTFE-laminate items will have to be positioned nylon-side out in order to spin properly. It is important to have the load balanced. When it is finished, if you can squeeze out suds, rinse again. For larger bags, use a font loading machine, preferably a double or triple load commercial machine in a Laundromat. Again, soak if possible. Plan on running through two complete cycles, the second time without soap to thoroughly rinse all suds out of the bag.

 

Hand Washing

Hand Washing is the safest of all. It would be difficult to damage a bag in hand washing. However, it does require considerable time and effort. Use a large tub or bathtub. Soak for up to an hour, but not longer. You will have to work at getting all the down submerged, since the weave of our nylon is so tight that it traps air. Gently knead the bag from one end to the other, to ensure that all the down is thoroughly exposed to the soap. Rinse several times in cold water, then wring out all the excess water.

 

Drying

Once the bag is cleaned, it is time to dry it. Wring all excess water out of the bag. Use care when moving as soaked sleeping bag, as the down weighing against the baffles is at its heaviest. It is safe to put a PTFE-laminate bag into a large commercial dryer set on permanent press or air fluff. The danger is too much heat. If you feel the shell is getting hot, either select a lower temperature or air dry the bag.

During washing, the down will collect in clumps. Periodically during the drying process (at the end of each drying cycle or every few hours if air drying) it is important to go through the entire bag and pull apart these down clumps, distributing the down more or less evenly through the bag. This only takes a few seconds, and will ensure that the down dries quickly and evenly.

Feathered Friends sleeping bags are tougher than you might expect. The tricot baffling we use is nearly as strong as the nylon shell; and we use stronger but more time consuming tuck-stitch construction. Problems in washing nearly always come from the shell catching in the machinery or seams raveling out. You should not have the latter problem with a Feathered Friends bag. To guard against snags, monitor the wash closely.

Washing a sleeping bag is a somewhat time-consuming, though not particularly difficult process. It is the most important element in bag longevity. With regular washing, you can expect many years of service from your Feathered Friends sleeping bag.

 

That is all I have in my files.

 

CB-