UKC

My summer down sleeping bag now reaks after a month and a halfs solid use and no amount of airing will get rid of the pong.

I've been on Rab's website and they recomend dry cleaning, called local cleaners (who are very good) and they said they wouldn't do it as the chemical used is oily and sticks in the wick of the feather and can produce oily blotches on the bag months after its been "dried".

Instructions say to hand wash, but i vaguely remember seeing somehting about putting tennis balls in a washing machine with the bag. Has anyone done this or have any advice on washing and drying down bags?

In reply to birdman:
Get some of that Nikwax downwash and wash your bag in the bath then tumble dry (if it's just a light summer down bag a normal household tumble drier will do, bigger bags will need an industrial laundrette sized one).
Success seems to hinge on lots of rinsing after washing and lots of tumble drying (on lowish heat) to bring back the loft. I tumble dried mine for about 10 hours before i was happy with it.

In reply to birdman:

I washed my Mountain Equipment bag a few years ago. Before I started I spoke to the owner of a local Laundrette about using their Tumble Dryer without actually washing the bag their. Some Laundrettes do not let you use the Tumble Dryer alone.

Once I got the approval to use the Oversized tumble dryer I washed my bag in the bath using pure soap flakes from the local Spar type shop. I then took the bag to the Laundrette and used their Spin Dryer to get rid of some excess water.

After I got rid of the excess water I fed the Tumble Dryer with countless fifty pence pieces untill I had a fluffy bag. I also placed a couple of training shoes into the Tumble Dryer as well to help stop the frathers clumping together.

On the whole I was pleased with the end results however the whole process still had a few clumps of feathers which over the years mostly broke apart.

If you do wash your bag in the bath may I sugest that you carefully move the bag ic case you tear the stitching of the baffels.

In reply to birdman:

You really need an industrial drier to do it properly - best place to get it done is www.franklinsgroup.co.uk

In reply to birdman:
Andy Kirkpatrick claims that it is much easier if you let a professional company do it for you. take a look on psychovertical.com for his article.

In reply to jeni222uk:

Any ideas on how much franklins charge for cleaning down bags?

Bob

In reply to bob champion:> Any ideas on how much franklins charge for cleaning down bags?


It was about £20ish + postage last autumn. I got 5 done & they did another one for free. They charge per article - so Duvet jackets cost the same. Great results - better than new.

Parsley

In reply to Parsley Briscoe:

At that price I don't think I'd mess around washing it at home.

Time for a spring clean I think.

Thanks,

Bob