Sleeping in a sleeping bag means that the oils and salts from your perspiration, plus grime from the outside world (including fine grained sand) can get stuck inside the bag and compromise the insulation and leave it smelling unfresh.
How to wash a down or synthetic sleeping bag?
Washing your sleeping bag, be it down or synthetic, will actually prolong its life and make sleep more pleasant, which is why Sea to Summit has drawn up a handbook on what you need to know when washing your sleeping bag .
How often do you wash your sleeping bag?
If you wait until the point where dirt, grime and dust are evident, you will already be at the stage where oils and salts stick the plumes or synthetic insulating fibers together, reducing the insulating power. Dirt of this type shows up first around the hood and neck area, but the effect on the insulation is invisible inside the sleeping bag.
Down sleeping bags: never dry clean them!
Dry cleaning chemicals can remove the oils in down and prevent it from insulating properly.
Use soap specifically formulated for down: a product to maintain the hydrophobic performance of the treated down (perhaps also using special pellets to be used in the dryer that work better than tennis balls to lift the down). Conventional laundry detergents also strip oils from down.
For both synthetic and down sleeping bags, use a non-detergent soap. In fact, conventional laundry detergent contains bleaches and fillers that can adhere to polyester fibers and reduce insulation.
Do not use a top-loading washing machine as the mechanical action of the drum (the plastic spiral in the drum) is too violent for a sleeping bag.
Use a front-loading washing machine on a gentle cycle or hand wash your sleeping bag, especially down sleeping bags. In fact, if your washing machine doesn’t have a washing cycle for woolen garments, don’t try! Better wash it by hand. While a synthetic sleeping bag can safely be washed on a normal gentle cycle.
Hand wash instructions
If you plan to wash your sleeping bag in the bath, make sure the tub is clean first. Turn the sleeping bag inside out, place it in the tub, and add warm water (enough to cover the bag) and the recommended amount of appropriate soap. Gently knead the sleeping bag to force the water/soap through it (rolling up your pants and pretending to be pressing grapes is both effective and therapeutic).
If it’s been a long time since you last cleaned your sleeping bag, you may need to repeat the washing process above to get all the dirt out.
Do not collect the bag during this process – the weight of the water in the insulation can tear the baffles of a down bag or the seams that secure the insulation in a synthetic bag, or cause the down to shift or “migrate” from a room to another. In a synthetic sleeping bag, it could tear the seams that anchor the insulation. When the sleeping bag looks clean, empty the tub and then roll it up carefully to release the water. Fill the tub with clean water and knead the sleeping bag to force the clean water through it – continue until there is no more suds. Carefully roll up the sleeping bag again to squeeze out the water. At this point you can turn the sleeping bag inside out.
Machine wash instructions
Close all zips before placing the sleeping bag in the washing machine. Select a delicate wash cycle (the wool one would be ideal) with a temperature setting no higher than 40°C and with an extra rinse cycle. Select a faster/longer spin cycle: it is important that as much water as possible is spun out of the sleeping bag before attempting to remove it from the drum.
How to dry?
Once the water has been gently squeezed out of the sleeping bag, carefully place it in a large laundry bag before placing it in the dryer.
For sleeping bags with very lightweight lining/lining materials, the protection afforded by a large cotton bag during the drying process is invaluable. Set the dryer on a low or “delicate” setting and run a full cycle – if you use a laundromat dryer, remember that their thermostats are often inaccurate, so err on the side of caution and use a higher cycle. Freddo.
Do not use “dryer sheets” for this process, as they can affect the water-repellent finishes of the shell and reduce the wicking performance of the lining fabrics.
Remove the sleeping bag into the laundry bag and turn the sleeping bag inside out. Put the sleeping bag back in the laundry bag and put it back in the dryer. If you’re drying down, place a couple of clean ball or tennis balls in the basket with your sleeping bag—they’ll help break up the lumps of down.
Repeat these drying cycles until you are absolutely sure that the insulation is completely dry: if the sleeping bag is stored even slightly damp, mold or mildew can form. If you can feel the lumps of down in a sleeping bag, the down is not yet dry.
Air the sleeping bag before storing it
Hang the sleeping bag in a dry place where it can air before placing it in its bag. Following these instructions will allow you to wash your sleeping bag while preserving its quality and warmth. If all of this sounds awfully complicated, one solution is to invest in a sleeping bag. This way you won’t need to wash your sleeping bag so often.
READ ALSO: Sleeping bag: tips for choosing it
Sea to Summit, born in 1991 in Western Australia from the passion of Roland Tyson, invents equipment that allows freedom and self-determination in any environment. In Italy it is distributed by Panorama Sports Diffusion.
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