How do you wash/dry your sleeping bag?

[slbirdnerd]

How do you wash and dry your sleeping bag at home, whether it is poly or down (please specify which)? Never had one I cared not to ruin before this year. My son's is poly, mine is down. His is just back from scout camp. Ick.

[snifur]

I wash my down filled bag only when it is absolutely needed. fill the tub 1/2 full with warm water. use a half cup of woolite into the tub. mix it good. then i begin with the foot of my bag and begin to gently wash it by hand working my way to the hood of the bag. once i have worked the entire bag lift the bag out and drain the tub. then i fill the tub to rinse the bag repeating the process without woolite. then i place the bag in the washing machine on the spin cycle to pull the excess water out of the bag. then i place the bag in the dryer on no heat air fluff for 30 minutes. once it comes out of the dryer i then shake the bag to disperse any down clumps and then hang it to air dry and storage. i have had the same down bag for 5 years and use it 10 or 12 times a year. have washed it 3 times. i have not lossed any fluff, or warmth from the bag.

[jeffmeh]

I do the woolite in the tub thing, but I never put the bag in the washing machine. I do gently wring as much of the moisture out of the bag as I can, then put it in the dryer on low with 2 or 3 tennis balls. The tennis balls "beat out" any clumps. Then into a large cotton laundry bag for storage.

Note that there are also products specifically made for washing down, and also that if your washing machine is the type without an agitator then it can be safe to use it. The agitator can destroy the bag.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Here is a link to the washing instructions on the western mountaineering website:

http://www.westernmountaineering.com/index.cfm?section=product-tips-and-care

[Zippy Morocco]

+1 on the Western Mountaineering site. I washed a 20 degree and 15 degree this way. Just know it takes forever to dry I think it took 6 hours to do the whole process. I was doing tech work at the time so 6 hours goes by pretty quick with my nose in a computer.

I forgot who said it but someone did. "Geese get wet, don't worry about washing your down". It really isn't that scary as long as you follow the directions and make sure it is dry before storing it.

[Rasty]

+1 on the Western Mountaineering site. I washed a 20 degree and 15 degree this way. Just know it takes forever to dry I think it took 6 hours to do the whole process. I was doing tech work at the time so 6 hours goes by pretty quick with my nose in a computer.

I forgot who said it but someone did. "Geese get wet, don't worry about washing your down". It really isn't that scary as long as you follow the directions and make sure it is dry before storing it.

Isn't the gentile part of the instructions for the uber-light baffle material not the down itself? That was my understanding at least.

[Just Bill]

Do not wring out a Down bag- especially a good one. Rasty is correct it is the shell, not the down that needs to be cared for. The baffles and stitching is usually minimal material to keep weight down. That's what gets damaged. I buy DownWash and use it for either type bag, same with the tennis ball trick on low heat- preferably I wait until mid summer and line dry them. As both types have synthetic material in the shell- you basically care for them the same. Feathers are tougher than synthetic fill. The shell is weaker than both. NEVER EVER wring or twist, and tie up your drawcords (pin them with a safety pin) so they don't get snagged in a top loading washing machine and wrap around the agitator (had three folks I know ruin bags that way) best way to squeeze out excess moisture is to stuff it into a stuff sack and sit on it or squeeze it.

[Meriadoc]

+1 on the Western Mountaineering site.
+1
I wash my down quilt in a front loading washing machine. It's been washed a number of times, has over 150 nights, and it's just fine. I'll be sleeping with it tonight.

[slbirdnerd]

Thanks, all. I have a new front loader so I think my bag on 'delicate' will be good there. But what about my scout's (really smelly!) synthetic bag? I don't want the fill to ball up, it's a nice Mountain Hardwear 20 degree bag.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Isn't the gentile part of the instructions for the uber-light baffle material not the down itself? That was my understanding at least.


That is correct. I have two older bags from my scout days, one is down one is synthetic and both are constructed with the heavier nylon that is similar to what they use in normal (casual/non-backpacking) down parkas. I've washed both of them in a regular drum/agitator washing machine many times and they were fine. (Disclaimer, try this at your own risk, I might just be lucky)

If I tried this with any of my modern lightweight sleeping bags it would rip the baffles apart and destroy the bags.

[JustaTouron]

From there website:

Sleeping Bags:
Zip up all zippers, attach all Velcro, and turn the bag inside out. Wash in a front-loading machine with cold water on the gentle or delicate setting. We recommend that you use the minimum amount of cleaning agent and scrub the head and foot sections before washingthe entire bag. Use at least two rinse cycles to get all of the soap out of the garment. For down, use a mild powder soap, or special down soap (available at outdoor product stores). For synthetic bags, use a mild powder soap or special synthetic cleaning product.
Lift bags by carefully carrying them from the bottom when transporting from washer to dryer. Tumble dry in a large commercial dryer on low heat; it's important that the dryer is large enough for the bag to flop freely around. Drying takes several hours, and you should check your bag often to ensure it's not overheated.
As a down bag dries, look for clumps of wet down and shake the bag gently to redistribute the down. Sometimes the down in the draft tube will need some gentle massaging during the drying cycle. As a synthetic bag dries, check for even distribution of fill material. Gently massage the bag if any bunching is detected.
Both our down and synthetic sleeping bags can be professionally washed. Check the yellow pages under camping, backpacking, or mountaineering equipment for folks who specialize in cleaning outdoor products. Your local retailer may also be able to refer you. Never dry clean a Mountain Hardwear sleeping bag - the chemicals used are harmful to the fabrics and filling and will severly reduce loft and thermal efficiency.
Here's a list of no-no's for cleaning your sleeping bag:


[*=1]Don't use a top-loading washing machine (agitator will destroy the baffles in the bag).
[*=1]Don't use liquid soap or detergent, or a very strong soap or detergent.
[*=1]Don't use your home dryer - they've been known to melt holes in fabric.
[*=1]Do not lift your bag from one end when wet (lift the entire bag all at once from underneath).
[*=1]Do not store in a stuff sack (use a larger storage sack which allows for air circulation).
[*=1]Do not dry in the sun (the UV will damage the nylon).

[shelterbuilder]

Many years ago, when drying a down bag that had successfully gone through the front-loading washer, I blew out some of the external stitching near the hood. Down ALL OVER the inside of the dryer! I scooped out the loose down (and as more appeared, collected that, too), and after the bag was dry, I took some adhesive-backed rip-stop nylon repair tape and taped the edges of the blow-out. (The stitching had pulled out of the fabric without breaking.) I stuffed the down back into the opened baffle and stitched the hole closed by hand. Then I put another piece of repair tape over the repair. Bag saved, although I hope that no one ever has to have the gut-wrenching experience of seeing a "snowstorm" in THEIR dryer!

[Sarcasm the elf]

Many years ago, when drying a down bag that had successfully gone through the front-loading washer, I blew out some of the external stitching near the hood. Down ALL OVER the inside of the dryer! I scooped out the loose down (and as more appeared, collected that, too), and after the bag was dry, I took some adhesive-backed rip-stop nylon repair tape and taped the edges of the blow-out. (The stitching had pulled out of the fabric without breaking.) I stuffed the down back into the opened baffle and stitched the hole closed by hand. Then I put another piece of repair tape over the repair. Bag saved, although I hope that no one ever has to have the gut-wrenching experience of seeing a "snowstorm" in THEIR dryer!

A coworker claims that he actually destroyed either a washer or dryer (I forget which one) by incorrectly washing a UL down bag and not checking on it. He said that the bag tore completely apart and the feathers and nylon got everywhere and ended up jamming the machine so badly that it broke.