[pct-l] Down compression

[dude at fastmail.ca (dude)]

I have heard that you really can only clean down with water, then dry 
in an industrial size dryer and throw in a few tennis balls to de-
clump the down as it tumbles in the dryer.

I have heard that if you dry-clean down, or use certain soaps, it 
will strip the oil from the down, which will ruin it.

peace,
dude




> How do you clean it? Marsanne
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net
> [mailto:pct-l-bounces@mailman.backcountry.net]On Behalf Of Ron
> Moak Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2003 9:54 AM
> To: 'JD Schaefer'; 'Kurt P. Herzog'; jjolson@uwyo.edu
> Cc: 'PCT Mailing List'
> Subject: RE: [pct-l] Down compression
> 
> 
>>> I have a similar question.  I recently bought a Western
>>> Mountaineering
> Hilite and it came in a box less than 1/5 of the "stuff" bag size.
>  R Jardine warns against this in his PCT book and I've seen
> comments about it before.  The vendor has offered to replace the
> bag in a larger delivery box explaining that increased volume
> increases cost. <<
> 
> I'm not sure I buy into the argument that down looses much loft
> due to compression. While I'm sure it's true for synthetics, the
> properties of down are considerably different. With down you can
> easily restore the loft of an overly compressed sleeping bag by
> putting it in a dyer, on no heat, with a few tennis balls.
> 
> There maybe some effects of compression depending upon the quality
> of the down, ie some grades of down have more feathers than other
> grades, or on how clean the down is. As bags get use, oils and
> dirt will get into the down and affect their qualities. However,
> proper cleaning of the down bag should restore it to original
> condition.  I'm always amazed at how fluffy my bag is after
> returning from a thorough cleaning.
> 
> -- Fallingwater
> 
> 
> 
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