How To Wash Your Down Sleeping Bags & Jackets The RIGHT Way

Backpackers can spend a lot of money on their gear.

But what many don't realize is that they may be slowly ruining a lot of that expensive gear just by not cleaning it correctly.

Most people simply don't clean their gear enough because they are afraid of doing it wrong. Others may clean their sleeping bags and other items too often or not use the proper method.

To make it easier for you, we’ve made a step-by-step guide on how to clean your down products:

Machine-Washing Your Down

1. Only wash your down in a front-loading washer. It is not worth it to wash your products in a top-loading washer with an agitator. Even if you can turn your agitator off, what you’re washing can still get bound up around the agitator and do damage to your products. If you don’t have access to a front-loading washer, then hand-wash the item, or go to your nearest laundromat.
2. Collect the stuff that you want to wash: ONLY wash down with down. Never wash your down sleeping bag or jacket with other types of items. Washing with a pair of pants, for example, would create an excessive amount of compression and agitation to your down products.
3. Place items in the washer, and set the machine to the most delicate cycle possible with cold water.
4. Wash with a down wash detergent or a very mild detergent such as is used for baby clothes. Such as Nikwax Down Wash Direct.
5. Once the cycle is complete, if down is compressed and saturated, hang dry for 4-8 hours in an open area. This makes sure the dryer doesn't shift the down while it is wet and heavy. Once it’s done dripping or beading up when you compress it with your hands, move to the next step.
6. Dry in a machine dryer on a delicate low heat setting, with 2-3 dryer balls or clean tennis balls to break up any down clumps.
7. Repeat the dry cycle if it still feels damp.
8. It’s difficult to get a bag or jacket completely dry in a dryer, so hang dry in an open-air area for another 24+ hours to make sure it is 100% dry. Make sure it is totally dry to avoid the threat of growing mold.

Hand-Washing Your Down

1. Fill a bathtub up with 4-6 inches of warm water and mix the required amount of detergent into the tub (again, wash with a down wash detergent, like Nikwax Down Wash Direct).
2. Place the sleeping bag or jacket into the water and begin gently agitating with your hands (it’s a good idea to wear gloves during this part of the process). It might be required that you hold the bag under the surface and compress it in order to get water inside the shell and lining fabrics. However, when the bag is wet, it can create more pressure on the seams, so don’t compress it too fast. 
3. Drain the water from the tub and refill with clean water. Rinse the bag or jacket in clean water and repeat this step until you can no longer see detergent coming back out of the down sleeping bag or jacket.
4. Follow the same drying steps as you would if you machine-washed it:
5. Hang dry for 4-8 hours in an open area. Once it’s done dripping or beading up when you compress with your hands, move to the next step.
6. Dry in a machine dryer on a delicate low heat setting, with 2-3 dryer balls or clean tennis balls to break up any down clumps.
7. Repeat the dry cycle if it still feels damp.
8. It’s difficult to get a bag or jacket completely dry in a dryer, so hang dry in an open-air area for another 24+ hours to make sure it is 100% dry. Ensure your gear is totally dry to avoid the threat of growing mold.

No More Fear

There is a lot of fear around washing a sleeping bag or jacket and thinking that doing so will degrade the insulation.

The fact is that if you wash your down items correctly, this shouldn't happen.

By NOT washing your down & letting it gather dust, oils, and mold over time, it's very likely your increasingly dirty insulation is losing loft, and, therefore, warmth.

So, bookmark this page if you need to in order to use it as a reference the next time you have to wash your down, and check out the video we made below for more information about this topic:

Let Your Gear Take Care Of You

Sleeping bags & down jackets aren't the only gear items you need to take care of correctly. 

There is actually a right way to care for rain jackets, boots, backpacks, base layers, and more! 

Here's another article that will help you know how to care for these other items as well: Clean Your Backpacking Gear The Right Way