Just a general heads up.
This applies to all down bags. I managed to get an eco-dry cleaner to do my pattern 58 bag. Mine was made in 1972, apart from being well aired and stored open it had never been cleaned. I purchased it as unused about 2 years ago. The dry cleaner was reluctant to try becasue of the base being a bit sticky and that there is no cleaning instructions inside.
The bag cleaned up well the stickyness on the waterproof base has gone, and it smells nice (i.e. not of sweaty bushcrafter
). The difference in the warmth is amazing, now the feathers are all refluffed its got better heat retention and loft.
The dry cleaner remaked that it had good feather quality and that if I cleaned it once a year it would last for ever.
Basically if you dont do a proper cleaning the feathers compress and lock, they form a kind of 'feather felt' which does not hold air volume or act as an insulator. Beyond a certain point you cant bring the feathers back. He remarked this was common with duvets as well and that in some places where its dam cold they clean once a year by taking the feathers out and replacing damaged ones.
He gave me a couple of rules for all down bags:
Clean once a year
Clean immediatly if it gets wet or mouldy smelling
Drape a sheet over the bag and hang it up in the loft or store it in the bag its returned in ( a special beathable mesh hold all)
Cleaning will kill off bugs and small critters that live on you or the feathers or both.
Some older down bags cannot be 'tech water washed' due to internal construction and or age of feathers.
The same principle applies to a synthetic bag as well.
So if you have a mil spec or down bag bag that is not as warm as it could be, consider dry cleaning it before you throw it away!
At £18 I consider it well worth it, makes sense as we maintain our knives, water proof our gear how often do we thing of cleaning our sleeping bags.
I have reproofed the base with a Nik Wax spray and now its off to the woods.
Sandsnakes
This applies to all down bags. I managed to get an eco-dry cleaner to do my pattern 58 bag. Mine was made in 1972, apart from being well aired and stored open it had never been cleaned. I purchased it as unused about 2 years ago. The dry cleaner was reluctant to try becasue of the base being a bit sticky and that there is no cleaning instructions inside.
The bag cleaned up well the stickyness on the waterproof base has gone, and it smells nice (i.e. not of sweaty bushcrafter
). The difference in the warmth is amazing, now the feathers are all refluffed its got better heat retention and loft.The dry cleaner remaked that it had good feather quality and that if I cleaned it once a year it would last for ever.
Basically if you dont do a proper cleaning the feathers compress and lock, they form a kind of 'feather felt' which does not hold air volume or act as an insulator. Beyond a certain point you cant bring the feathers back. He remarked this was common with duvets as well and that in some places where its dam cold they clean once a year by taking the feathers out and replacing damaged ones.
He gave me a couple of rules for all down bags:
Clean once a year
Clean immediatly if it gets wet or mouldy smelling
Drape a sheet over the bag and hang it up in the loft or store it in the bag its returned in ( a special beathable mesh hold all)
Cleaning will kill off bugs and small critters that live on you or the feathers or both.
Some older down bags cannot be 'tech water washed' due to internal construction and or age of feathers.
The same principle applies to a synthetic bag as well.
So if you have a mil spec or down bag bag that is not as warm as it could be, consider dry cleaning it before you throw it away!
At £18 I consider it well worth it, makes sense as we maintain our knives, water proof our gear how often do we thing of cleaning our sleeping bags.
I have reproofed the base with a Nik Wax spray and now its off to the woods.
Sandsnakes
