Refilling old primaloft jacket?

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 jamieevans 27 Mar 2020

Started doing a bit of sewing and mending recently and looking for a new challenge. 

I have an old Rab xenon that is six years old. The outer material, zips , cords etc are still mint. The filling however has packed down and lost most of its warmth.

Has anyone ever dismantled a synthetic jacket and replaced the fill? 

In its heyday it worked nicely as a Scottish belay jacket. 

I've found a company in the US who sell primaloft gold by the yard. £40 Inc postage for 2mt by 1.5mt! 

And its 80gsm so an upgrade on the xenon's original 60gsm.

Any tips or previous experience would be greatly appreciated. 

 Mr Lopez 27 Mar 2020
In reply to jamieevans:

I looked into doing it but the amount of work and cost required meant i decided it was not worth it. However as a diy project for the lockdown it could be entertaining i guess.

Best approach from what i worked out was to open the jacket by removing the zip to access the internals. If the jacket is baffled then you got a choice to just fill them with strips (easier but you get gaps which will get bigger over time as the filling packs in), or rip the stitching of the baffles, fill with a sheet, then stitch them again. (Loads of work and you get thread tension problems when stitching through the 'foam').

For an unbaffled jacket you have to somehow keep the filling in place which you can achieve by tailoring the filling like a poncho, fiddle it in place and then tack it down by hand sewing through the lining.

 marsbar 27 Mar 2020
In reply to jamieevans:

I've never done this but I think if I did I would try to avoid dismantling the entire jacket as there is potential for damage. 

I think I'd consider working from the inside (I assume its lined)  and so any damage would only be to the lining not the outside.

I'd either cut away the old lining and keep it to make a pattern. Leave enough edges  of the old lining to make it possible to join the new lining in.  Cut away and remove the old filling.  Quilt the new lining and filling in pieces (back, front left, front right, sleeves.)  Attach each piece to old lining edges.  You may need to quilt through the shell to keep the lining in place.  

Alternatively you might be able to cut flaps in the old lining and swap the filling without a new lining and then repair the flaps. 

Good luck.   

OP jamieevans 27 Mar 2020
In reply to marsbar:

Primaloft comes as a sheet, and the xenon isn't quilted. I'm hoping I won't have to quilt as it'll effect the excellent wind resistance. Plan A is to pick a seam apart, probably the hem, then dismantle the lining into sheets I can use as a template.

The lining and outers are only attached in a few small places by the arm pits and each hem so hoping to replicate that.

Might need a sewing machine. 

Post edited at 16:20
 marsbar 27 Mar 2020
In reply to jamieevans:

Fair enough

Good luck

 Rick Graham 27 Mar 2020
In reply to jamieevans:

> Primaloft comes as a sheet, and the xenon isn't quilted. I'm hoping I won't have to quilt as it'll effect the excellent wind resistance. Plan A is to pick a seam apart, probably the hem, then dismantle the lining into sheets I can use as a template.

> The lining and outers are only attached in a few small places by the arm pits and each hem so hoping to replicate that.

> Might need a sewing machine.

Most synthetic filling comes as a sheet, often held together by a light  layer of glue until it is stitched into the garment. The glue will decompose after use or washing but the quilting should keep it in place.

If it is continuous fibre filament they are nominally parallel and do not rely on the glue or much stitching to hold them in place , you should get some manufacturers  recommendation on minimum quilting required.

Random fibres need more quilting.

 Dave Cundy 27 Mar 2020
In reply to jamieevans:

I replaced the main and pocket zips on my RAb Photon last year.  It was a bit of a faff, unpicking the stitching bit by bit to reveal the separate parts.  Took me an evening to dismantle it and another to put it back together.  Based on that, i'd say it might take you three or four days, working part time.  It'll give you a better appreciation of how much work goes into it.

Go on and do it. Sounds like an excellent project for the days when its raining (which it surely will, once lockdown looks like it might be ending...)

In reply to jamieevans:

Currently modifying an old Alpkit Heiko by cutting off the arms and moving the insulation from the arms to the core. So it's now more of a "belay gilet."

As mentioned above the primaloft is formed in sheets (removing it from the arms by unpicking all the stitching holding it in place was tedious to say the least!) Once removed it's quite easy to work with - I cut open the liner at the hem, slid the sheet of primaloft in and tacked it in place.

The Xenon differs from the Heiko in that the primaloft is stitched to the inner whereas the in the Heiko it's stitched to the outer (you can see the external stitching in photos) I would assume this helps with the weather resistance of the Xenon and it also means any stitching you do will be hidden - definitely a good thing if your sewing is as untidy as mine!

I would say that its MUCH easier not to remove the old primaloft, instead just sew your new sheets directly on top. Also the hardest part will probably be replacing the insulation in the sleeves - I suspect the easiest way would be to cut the liner around the armpit and try to fiddle the new sheet of primaloft in there before tacking it in.

I have some photos of what I did, can send them to you if that would be useful. (Managed to do it all by hand, sewing machine not required but would definitely speed things up)

Let us know how it goes.


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