Clothing Care
Look after your clothing and it will look after you!
Always refer to the manufacturers garment cleaning guidelines and the cleaning product guidelines. Always clean your washing machine of normal household detergents before using specialist outdoor detergents.
Down Products
Washing down products yourself is a difficult and long winded job. There is a risk of damaging baffles and the down in the process. Professional cleaning is a far better option resulting in a better clean and less chance of damaging your garment or sleeping bag.
We recommend:
Elite Cleaning Services (Rotherham), 01709 833189
Chevin View Laundry (Otley), 01943 461306
VERY IMPORTANT - Do not, under any circumstances, dry clean your down sleeping bag or jacket. The chemicals used will linger and, in the confines of a tent or bivi, can be extremely dangerous.
Washing Down
If you want to do your own washing then set aside the best part of a day and follow the instructions below:
Hand wash the item in warm water (30-40°C) with a specialist Down Wash from Nikwax or Grangers (do not use normal washing detergent).
Gently hand rinse until there is no Down Wash left in the item. This can take some time.
VERY IMPORTANT - When transferring the down item from the sink to the washing machine it is liable to be damaged. A saturated down sleeping bag is heavy. If picked up by the hood the baffles within the bag may tear. It is advisable to put a towel into the sink and lift out the bag using this. By cradling the bag in this way you greatly reduce the likelihood that baffles will break. Remove as much water as possible gently by hand and then put the item in a washing machine. Run the most delicate spin program that the machine offers.
Drying Down
Tumble dry the item in a big commercial (the kind you'd find in a laundrette) drier on the coolest setting, the smaller home tumble driers are often not big enough. Turn the item inside out, during drying repeatedly 'fluff' it gently so it dries more evenly.
The amount of time an item should be tumble dried depends on the item size, drying should continue for some time after the outer fabric has dried, because the down inside will still be damp long after the outer fabric has dried.
Tumble drying can take anything from a couple of hours to almost all day, once finished the item should be stored in a cool dry place, uncompressed and allowed to air for 2-3 days before use.
TOP TIP - If your jacket is held together with gaffa tape, DO NOT put it in the washing machine unless you want to get feathers all over the next six hundred loads of washing you do. Although it will get you out of doing any washing in the future.
Waterproof Breathable Fabrics
Read the label on your jacket or refer to the manufacturer's website, don't use detergents or softeners, these can damage the jackets breathable membrane.
We recommend using a specialist cleaners from Nikwax or Grangers.
Use Nikwax tech wash to clean and reactivate the DWR (Durable Water Repellent) on your jacket: Follow the same cleaning steps as above but instead of drip drying, tumble dry or iron on a very cool setting (always check on jacket care label for this).
In time all breathable waterproof jackets start to lose their ability to shed water, this is not a sign of a faulty jacket! The DWR outer which makes water bead up and roll off wears out and needs reactivating. If the water does not run off the breath-ability of the jacket is compromised and the jacket can feel like it is leaking due to body moisture not escaping ('wetting out').
Use Nikwax 300tx if you want to totally re proof your jacket because cleaning and tumble drying are no longer reactivating the DWR: Follow the same cleaning steps as above but before putting in the tumble drier spray with Grangers XT proofer or alternatively wash again with Nikwax TX Direct and then tumble dry.
Soft shell fabrics
Use Nikwax down wash If you want to clean and re-invigorate the water repellency of your garment: Use the appropriate Nikwax or Grangers wash, in a machine wash and then tumble dry (this will help rejuvenate the DWR finish). Don’t use standard household detergents.
Fleece
If you want to increase the warmth of your fleece by maintaining the air gap between the knit and the weave and reduce the speed with which your fleece absorbs water use Nikwax polar proof: Clean with an appropriate cleaner (Nikwax Tech Wash) and then machine wash with the most suitable Grangers or Nikwax product. Tumble dry on a low setting referring to the care setting.
Synthetic insulated clothing
Regularly cleaning synthetically insulated jacket with Nikwax tech wash, this will slow the speed that the insulation absorbs water and increase the water repellency of the jackets outer. Wash with a specialist cleaning product (Nikwax Tech Wash) at 30°C. Many technical artificial insulation (like Primaloft) has a silicon coating that reduces water absorption. Detergents damage this silicon coating.