Down mummy/sleeping bag cleaning questions

[Ματθιας]

I lent a buddy a down mummy bag* (an older military one piece) for hunting/camping a few weeks ago and I got it back with a strange smell. He says wasn't used and it's not dirty, just smelly. It smells like campfire, 90 weight oil/grease and something else.

Do you all have any recommendations on cleaning? Is this something I can clean myself in the washer or is this a job for a professional? I don't want to mess it up.

*the cleaning label was gone when I got it.

Thanks

 

[arjay]

We used to machine wash on gentle and run em through the dryer with a tennis shoe.Down is a bear to dry and get the loft back.

 

[Aticus]

We used to machine wash on gentle and run em through the dryer with a tennis shoe.Down is a bear to dry and get the loft back.

What he said!

 

[pawngal]

We used to machine wash on gentle and run em through the dryer with a tennis shoe.Down is a bear to dry and get the loft back.

Agree. And don't use fabric softener. Unless you have a large capacity washer you might have to go to a laundromat that does.

 

[eyegots2no]

See what happens when you lend something.

Give it to him for x mas---he won't need to borrow it again.

Cleaning down is a pain and it will take three months to dry.

 

[GatorFarmer]

If you call around, where whoever cleans quilts likely would do it.

 

[Double-O-Dave]

No good deed goes unpunished. That being said, here's what I found for you on Google with regards to the care and cleaning of the U.S. Army mummy-type sleeping bag:

http://www.trails.com/how_39759_mountain-regular-down-sleeping-bags.html

Best of luck,

Dave

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Proceed with caution! The really old ones are cotton.
Later ones are synthetic.
One time I had one of the cotton ones dry cleaned.
It came apart and the feathers flew. The cleaner dudes stuffed if back in and sewed up the rip.
The manager said something like it wasn't their fault and don't bring us any more of these!

 

[K.38]

Several years ago I bought a Korean War vintage sleeping bag from an older gentleman at a yard sale. It had a funky smell and he used it for years without cleaning. I took it to a dry cleaners near a military base and they were very familiar with the old bags. They cleaned it to perfection.

He even had the original USMC wool liner with it and they cleaned it as well.

 

[chief38]

I would not wet wash it because once you do it's never going to be the same. The down warmth factor will be shot. Dry Cleaning might be an option.

What I would do is first air it out for 8 hours or so on a nice sunny day. Then I'd open it up, sprinkle Baking Soda all over it and let it sit overnight. Then I'd vacuum it off and hopefully it will be back good as new.

If you have a steamer you could try steaming it if the steps above don't work well enough. Air it out again so the steam moisture drys thoroughly. If all that doesn't work you might want to consider a new bag. Personally, unless it's a family member I wouldn't lend a sleeping bag out.

 

[Nevada Ed]

You cleaned it........?? !!

You gave it out............!!

Mercy.

No buddy touches my Mummy bag.

Air dry and its good to go................
Two days if you ate beans.

 

[Ματθιας]

Thanks, everybody!
I'm going to let a professional clean it. That way, if it blows up, I'm not stuck with the mess!

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

I have had my Polarguard mummy sleeping bag since high school. Every so often I dry clean it.

 

[Peak53]

I've had pretty good luck with three methods:
1. Old school dry cleaner that specialized in quality fabrics. They've been gone over 25 years.
2. Hand wash in a bathtub with Woolite. Rinse thoroughly. Rinse again. Rinse again. Dry on "fluff" or whatever with tennis shoes (plural) for however long that takes. Little or no heat. You may need to periodically go in and separate masses of damp feathers through the nylon cover. Worked well on several 70's era Northface/Holubar bags. The loft may not ever quite recover it's original depth, but better than a smelly, dirty bag that spent a lot of nights cuddling a campfire in the dirt.
3. Buy a new one.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

At real camping stores there is a liquid additive for cleaning down vests, coats , pants, and sleeping bags. The additive is there to help the down fluff back up! the use of tennis shoes is highly recommended.

For winter backpacking, I have 2 zip together Hollo Fill II -5 degree bags, they get the same treatment. These two good bags zipped together with the wife and I in them and inside a tent have been used to 20 below Zero F with very favorable results. Some people prefer a cloth liner, but I found clean long johns (and clean wool socks!) to work better! Hers is a Large Long (4.5 pounds of fill), mine is a extra-large Long LEFT HANDED (5.0 pounds of fill) by Slumberjack. They were 2/3 thirds the price of down, but still insulate when damp (Down won't), and 20% heavier than down, but I believe in the "Prepare for the Worst" kind of equipment. I store them in large laundry bags inside a large coolers, so they stay fluffy! (and the mice can't find them!)

Around 1988, my wife loaned an light weight summer bag to a college age girl from church for a weekend backpacking trip. Mush-for-brains returned the bag covered in K-1 fuel!, and no apology. I had the bag cleaned and forbid the loaning of ANYTHING to her again. (Our Church did yearly camp outs, I had gear to outfit about 6 additional families and loaned it freely, it was always returned in clean and usable condition) 2 other guys had extra equipment to loan out, but they wouldn't loan equipment to people who mistreated it either!

Ivan

 

[mtgianni]

Open it as much as you can and leave it in direct sunlight for 12 hours. Repeat if needed before you decide to clean it with other methods.

 

[Jack Flash]

I would not wet wash it because once you do it's never going to be the same. The down warmth factor will be shot. Dry Cleaning might be an option.

What I would do is first air it out for 8 hours or so on a nice sunny day. Then I'd open it up, sprinkle Baking Soda all over it and let it sit overnight. Then I'd vacuum it off and hopefully it will be back good as new.

If you have a steamer you could try steaming it if the steps above don't work well enough. Air it out again so the steam moisture drys thoroughly. If all that doesn't work you might want to consider a new bag. Personally, unless it's a family member I wouldn't lend a sleeping bag out.

I like this idea a lot. I would open it up, turn it inside out, and hang it in the sun all day (make sure it's not going to rain). You may want to do this several times.

Then the baking soda, again probably several times. Vacuum it off every time. How much does baking soda cost anyways?

I'll bet that works. If not, you can always seek professional help.

 

[Steve912]

Dry clean, then let it air out for eight or ten hours--outdoors in the
shade, preferably. That's to be sure all the solvent is gone. You don't
want to be rolled up in it, breathing any of that stuff in.

 

[Abbynormal]

Have it dry cleaned. When you get it back, turn it inside out and let it hang for a week. After that, good to go.

Been there, done it, forgot to get the t-shirt

 

[Peak53]

I concur with the "air it out first" and "baking soda rules" responses as a first response. However, that ain't gonna do it with 1st degree embedded dirt, sweat, smoke and loss of loft. If you gotta get grease off, you gotta use soap, or something.