Time Zone
06-21-2020, 12:33
I've had a down bag for 15 years without ever washing it. I'm usually pretty fastidious about getting my face clean before bed, I wear a hat, and have either used a bag liner (old days) or wore PJs, effectively a form-fitting liner. So I feel my bag is pretty clean ... at least, for its age. But I got to the point that I wanted to wash it anyway, and at 15 yrs old I didn't think I had much to lose.
This was before REI reopened, and I did some reading that suggested that, aside from specially-formulated down wash liquid, real soap flakes were the way to go, as opposed to any detergent. So I went to the local Walmart in search of Ivory or Dreft, in flakes/powder, and to see if they were labeled soap or detergent.
I only found those brands in liquid form, but I noticed some other products on the shelf that were unfamiliar to me. One of them came in flakes and was labeled soap ... and it was right next to a large (14.1 oz) bar of the same stuff. [Funny: the box of flakes actually had an image of the soap bar being shaved off to make the flakes. From that I inferred the bar was the same stuff.] It's called Zote, made in Mexico, and the bar cost all of $1.12 + tax. I looked at each and thought, why not try the bar. Again, not much to lose.
46559
Well, Zote really smells nice, so I filled a tub with warm water while sprinkling in some grated Zote. Before long, it all dissolved, and I hand-washed the down bag in there.
I did 2 rinses, and what I found remarkable was that the stuff rinsed out very thoroughly. The second rinse just felt like normal water, not slippery like soapy water. On a slightly sad note, it rinsed so well the nice Zote bar fragrance was almost entirely gone. Probably for the best anyway. The bag didn't smell "laundry fresh" anymore, but neither did it smell stale. Just neutral.
From there I carefully moved it to a basket, and brought it down to our fearsome/irksome top loader (I hate it; it gets unbalanced if you just THINK about it). I spread it evenly around the spindle and chose "drain and spin". It worked like a charm! The bag was no longer wet, just damp, and I could move it to the dryer on low, with 3 tennis balls. A couple of 30 min rounds on low got most of it. I then laid it out for the night, and topped up another 10-15 min on low the next morning.
Result? Fluff city! Wow.
Well, this appears to have worked well for me; YMMV.
Though I'm over 50, as best I recall, bar laundry soap wasn't really used in my household growing up. Yet there still may be a role for such products. I'm curious to learn if anyone uses anything like this stuff for their gear, whether it be Zote, Fels-Naptha, Borax, or any other old fashioned stuff.
This was before REI reopened, and I did some reading that suggested that, aside from specially-formulated down wash liquid, real soap flakes were the way to go, as opposed to any detergent. So I went to the local Walmart in search of Ivory or Dreft, in flakes/powder, and to see if they were labeled soap or detergent.
I only found those brands in liquid form, but I noticed some other products on the shelf that were unfamiliar to me. One of them came in flakes and was labeled soap ... and it was right next to a large (14.1 oz) bar of the same stuff. [Funny: the box of flakes actually had an image of the soap bar being shaved off to make the flakes. From that I inferred the bar was the same stuff.] It's called Zote, made in Mexico, and the bar cost all of $1.12 + tax. I looked at each and thought, why not try the bar. Again, not much to lose.
46559
Well, Zote really smells nice, so I filled a tub with warm water while sprinkling in some grated Zote. Before long, it all dissolved, and I hand-washed the down bag in there.
I did 2 rinses, and what I found remarkable was that the stuff rinsed out very thoroughly. The second rinse just felt like normal water, not slippery like soapy water. On a slightly sad note, it rinsed so well the nice Zote bar fragrance was almost entirely gone. Probably for the best anyway. The bag didn't smell "laundry fresh" anymore, but neither did it smell stale. Just neutral.
From there I carefully moved it to a basket, and brought it down to our fearsome/irksome top loader (I hate it; it gets unbalanced if you just THINK about it). I spread it evenly around the spindle and chose "drain and spin". It worked like a charm! The bag was no longer wet, just damp, and I could move it to the dryer on low, with 3 tennis balls. A couple of 30 min rounds on low got most of it. I then laid it out for the night, and topped up another 10-15 min on low the next morning.
Result? Fluff city! Wow.
Well, this appears to have worked well for me; YMMV.
Though I'm over 50, as best I recall, bar laundry soap wasn't really used in my household growing up. Yet there still may be a role for such products. I'm curious to learn if anyone uses anything like this stuff for their gear, whether it be Zote, Fels-Naptha, Borax, or any other old fashioned stuff.