Tumble drying down jacket.

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 DancingOnRock 13 Jan 2020

My jacket says 4 hours tumble dry!

Madness. I hung it up this morning before work and it seems to be fairly dry. 
 

I mean ducks don’t tumble dry themselves after they’ve been in the water. Do they? 

 gravy 13 Jan 2020
In reply to DancingOnRock:

Yes but ducks aren't wrapped in plastic, haven't been soaked in detergent and spent hours preening...

 pec 13 Jan 2020
In reply to DancingOnRock:

I think the tumble drying is to restore loft to the down rather than just to dry it out.

Re ducks, the down is protected by the outer feathers which have an oily coating to prevent water ingress.

 Donotello 13 Jan 2020
In reply to DancingOnRock:

You 100000% need to tumble dry it to spread the down out or it just sticks together at the bottom of each cell! 
 

infact you need to use tennis balls in the dryer to bash the feathers around!

You can easily completely ruin a down jacket hanging it up as wet feathers can rot into a solid. 
 

why is this still news to people??

Post edited at 23:41
 marsbar 14 Jan 2020
In reply to DancingOnRock:

It takes a while to get through the wet down.  If you leave it damp it will go mouldy.  

Its possible to do it without a dryer but make sure its properly dry right through.  

 mutt 14 Jan 2020
In reply to DancingOnRock:

No need to try and reloft with s tumble dryer. I have wsshed mine a few times. It doesnt feel very dry after tumble drying but wesr it for a couple of days and the gentle heat of your body will restore it to full fluff.

3
OP DancingOnRock 14 Jan 2020
In reply to marsbar:

Yes. I was questioning 4 hours really. 
 

A day on the airer has got it there 90%. An hour in the dryer seems to have then mostly de-clumped it. Will give it another 30mins tonight. 
 

I just don’t remember using tumble dryer last time, certainly not for 4 hours. 

 marsbar 14 Jan 2020
In reply to DancingOnRock:

I agree I always hang mine before tumbling.  But if you put it in wet from the machine I think it would take ages.  

 afx22 14 Jan 2020
In reply to DancingOnRock:

Many years ago, i ruined a down jacket by washing it and then thinking I could air dry it effectively.  I couldn't get rid of all the clumps of down and it never lofted well again.  I tried for weeks and threw it away in the end.

I have mine cleaned professionally nowadays but I'd definately go with the repeated tumbledrying, with tennis balls method, in future - if I had a tumbledryer.

Rigid Raider 14 Jan 2020
In reply to DancingOnRock:

My experience was been better than others when I washed my down sleeping bag. Once I'd got it properly soaked I left it on a rack over the bath to drip but it didn't, it just sat there like a lump of wet bog paper for a day getting smelly. So in desperation and thinking it owed me nothing I put it on a 1500 spin. It came out almost dry, I hung it in up the warm sun and within an hour it had puffed up beautifully, completely rejuvenated. 

OP DancingOnRock 14 Jan 2020
In reply to Rigid Raider:

Yes. I think there’s a lot of overthinking combined with impatience going on.

I’m fairly sure last time I washed it i left it to drip dry then gave it a good pummelling every few days to get the life back into it. 
 

Having said that, just the hour in the tumble dryer made a huge difference. 
 

I did my Sleeping bag in the launderette. That did take a fair few 20p pieces and a few chapters of a good book if I remember rightly.

 Ciro 14 Jan 2020
In reply to DancingOnRock:

I do my down jackets at the launderette - never taken anything like 4 hours, but I'd imagine a) the large dryer creates better airflow through the jacket and b) the more often you take it out and break up the clumps the faster it'll be.

Worth a few 20p pieces to get a fully lofted jacket again!

 marsbar 14 Jan 2020
In reply to afx22:

Did you try beating it and pummeling it and generally being quite violent with it? That worked for me with one that clumped badly.

 olddirtydoggy 14 Jan 2020
In reply to DancingOnRock:

Tennis balls, 3 of them. Works best every time.

Rigid Raider 15 Jan 2020
In reply to DancingOnRock:

All of this while wearing only underpants, obviously?

 LastBoyScout 15 Jan 2020
In reply to Rigid Raider:

And drinking Carling Black Label?

Just done my sisters down jackets, although not at the laundrette. Wash, run on an extra spin cycle to get nearly dry, then hung over night before tumble drying. Sent home today for another round of tumble drying. The cheap Mountain Warehouse one was pretty much completely lofted, but the expensive North Face one needs a bit more breaking up.

OP DancingOnRock 15 Jan 2020
In reply to LastBoyScout:

Was going to say Levi Jeans but then remembered Carling. 
 

Good memory! 

 afx22 15 Jan 2020
In reply to marsbar:

I vaguely remember being pretty rough with it.  It was a long time ago but it put me off buying another down jacket for many years.  I can happily say that I got over that and love my current down jackets.


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