UKC

Long story but used my down sleeping bag last night and have managed to get the foot end covered in shampoo. I'm away for 10 days next Sunday an NEED the bag.

Does anyone know of a cleaner in the London area that can clean down professionally?
Thanks

In reply to Indy:

No - after looking for someone who had any idea what they were doing, I sent mine off up north. It took a couple of weeks, but it is transformed.

In reply to nniff:

Google is showing NOTHING!

If push comes to shove can anyone recommend anywhere 'up north'? Info is a bit patchy.

Looked into doing it myself but have been told that it takes 'hours' in the dryer. Local laundrette charges 20p per 3 minutes but more importantly if I screw it up I won't be able to afford to replace it anytime soon.

In reply to Indy: These guys are your best bet: http://www.mountaineering-designs.co.uk/

In reply to Jon Wickham:
Thanks... thats the first website I went to from google. The reason I use patchy is because it (like others) doesn't give any information on turnaround times and cost is "£35 per item" so the same cost for a small down jacket as a polar arctic -80 sleeping bag????

They also talk about option 1, 2, 3 without explaining what they are.

I'll give them a call on Monday.
Thanks

In reply to Indy: Will shampoo do any harm ?

I'd just sponge it off and dry the bag on a radiator.

Andy

In reply to Andy Manthorpe:

Seriously?

In reply to Indy: Yes. Use a damp, not soaking wet cloth or sponge. Dry it and then if neccessary manipulate the down where it has clumped, to seperate the feathers.

Andy

In reply to Indy:

I sent a big sleeping bag to mountaineering designs. It cost their fee and £10 in postage, but it has transformed the bag. It was away for about 2 weeks in total.

Shampoo on a sleeping bag isn't good - it will clean all the oil out of the down. Patch washing it might work, but I've only been successful washing a bag twice - once where I had access to a huge tumble drier and a top loading spin drier, and once where I had access to 'desert-grade sunshine' and a clean dustbin to wash it in. The tricky part is twofold - washing it in water and down cleaner without tearing any of the internal baffles, and secondly drying it, even with a tumble drier and spin drier.

In reply to nniff: Ah, but it will only take the oil out of the down while it is wet. During the process of washing the bag, the shampoo would be washing a larger section of the bag than that it was spilt on surely, as the shampoo would mix with the soap.

Andy

In reply to Andy Manthorpe:

Maybe - al rather depends how much shampoo is on the bag and how minging the bag is in the first place! Add a dollop of lard perhaps



Anyway, my first down sleeping bag barely survived dry cleaning after getting soaked in mud and water, and didnt't survive a second dry cleaning after someone threw up on it (depsite the best efforts of a dog to clean up). When we were very young......

In reply to nniff:

Am in a quandry.... the shampoo was the cheapo kind so very watery so I'm sure its got into the feathers. I've dried it out and there doesn't seem to be anything noticeable i.e. stains or clumbing etc. The bags outer has a water repellant coating.

Nobody wants to lend me a bag without a "wash it before you give it back" sort of restriction and to be honest I'm not sure I would want to use anybody else's bag before it was washed anyway.

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to if using it for a week is likely to do any lasting damage to it?
Cheers

In reply to Indy:

I've use the phone to talk to either the people who make your bag or the company linked to above who could wash it for you and get something approaching a definitive answer on:

1 - Will shampoo have hurt your bag?
2 - If you do need it cleaned, can it be fast-tracked for you?

It'll probably be quicker than waiting for someone from Rab/ME/Alpkit to notice this thread and respond.

In reply to Indy:

IN which case, I'd be inclined to wash to off as best you can - hand held shower over the bath would be my preference. Try and wash as much 'off' as you can . At least shampoo isn't a detergent as far as I am aware so you'll probably be OK. then dry it throughly. Lots of shaking and shoogling to get the lumps out. I'd avoid trying to wash the whole thing. Be very careful when you're handling soaking wet bits - it'll get very heavy and there is a danger that you'll tear the baffles. Try and squeeze as much water out as you can. A hair drier will help. Be patient.
It'll probably be fine. Air it as much as you can too - boiler/airing cupbaord too.

In reply to hindu:

Thanks Hindu, past experience has taught me that a manufacturer is on to a hiding to nothing with a question like this so will ALWAYS say 'get it cleaned'. What cleaning service provider in the current climate is going to turn business away?

The reason I asked on this forum is because there are large number of outdoors people here who might have had a similar experience and could say yup happened to me "get it cleaned ASAP" or "will be o.k for a week but get it cleaned as soon as you get back" etc.