How To Clean A Patagonia Down Jacket

Like swarming schools of swallows or shimmering schools of tropical fish, our customers frequently come in with mysteriously synchronized questions and concerns, fueling a need for ready answers. At times like these, nothing is more helpful than magically transferring knowledge into the ether. Our very own Old School is here to do just that. He stepped back from the front lines to answer some of these more common questions.How to wash outerwear?Read more: How to make a harness out of a rope Perhaps due to all the warnings about the risk of getting wet, it seems that many people are afraid to wash their coats. Down is an extremely hard thing and although wet has almost no insulating properties, getting it wet at least doesn’t hurt it. Washing a denim jacket is not much more difficult than washing a pair of jeans. Although you can use regular detergents, they can strip away the natural oils inside and don’t always rinse well, so I recommend using a specially designed cleanser. for facial skin. I find NikWax® Down Wash really works well but there are several other effective cleaners on the market. Next, try to find a front-loading washing machine. If you can’t find one, a gentle cyclic toploader should suffice. We’ve heard of cases where even the gentle cycle rips fabric, so we recommend front-loading. If you are washing the Fitz Roy Down Hoody (available fall 11) or most any sleeping bag there is no other option, you must use the front loader. This is because most sleeping bags and many jackets use a box-wall construction (for a great explanation of different baffle designs, visit here) which is prone to tearing by the agitated action of those top person. If you’re looking to ruin your jacket or sleeping bag, improper washing is an easy way to go. . Use the fixed press cycle on the washing machine and add the appropriate amount of soap according to the instructions on the bottle. Don’t add more than necessary as the leftover soap completely prevents items from spilling. If your clothes are really dirty, you can also stop the washing machine halfway for an hour or so and let it soak. To make sure all remaining soap is rinsed out, run it through an additional wash cycle without soap at all. Drying is a slow process, so be prepared to spend some time at home. It’s also a delicate business, high heat can damage your outerwear but you need a little heat or the drying will take forever. On home dryers, low heat works best. Be extremely careful if you are at a laundromat! These dryers often get extremely hot even at low temperatures, so check the dryer carefully before putting your jacket on. Adding a few clean tennis balls will help break up the deposits and speed up the drying process. Even with tennis balls, it’s a good idea to periodically pull your jacket out of the dryer and manually pull each clump with your fingers. The entire baffle can be a block the size of a marble, so pulling them apart will dramatically increase the drying rate. If you don’t have a dryer and the dryer at your local laundromat seems hot enough to melt glass, you can always air-dry them. This process can take anywhere from a few days to more than a week, depending on the humidity, but it’s really the safest way to dry it. Let dry in the air, lay it flat on a towel in a warm dry place, out of direct sunlight. Just make sure to periodically pull the blocks out and flip it up from time to time, otherwise it will really take a long time. Mt Hood Above, Quilted Jackets (and jeans!) were also trending back in 1976. Old School & Jon Rose atop Mount Hood, OR Photo: Old School Read more: How to make a maternity cake with cream butter Whatever you choose to dry your garment, make sure it is completely dry before stuffing or packing. Because the lower layer of skin absorbs so much water, it looks dry long before it actually does. While it is never a good idea to store a stuffed product, it is doubly important not to store wet products. Wet stuffing is the perfect recipe for mold, giving you another great way to ruin both your shirt and jacket. Due to the harsh nature of dry cleaning chemicals, we do not recommend dry cleaning any of our products. In theory, underwear can be dry cleaned by a reputable dry cleaner with experience. I’m speaking in theory because I once took a sleeping bag to a dry cleaner and claimed it was “cleaned all the time”. My bag came back clean as a whistle and flat as a pancake. My advice: Wash it off yourself.What Can I Do If I Have a Small Hole in My Jacket?Sweaters and jackets are hugely popular pieces of insulation, and for good reason; they’re so warm and light and comfortable that you’ll almost forget you’re wearing one. Unfortunately, there is a downside (so to speak) to them being so light. Most sweaters and jackets use lightweight fabrics to keep the clothing light and easy to pack. They are designed to be worn around camp or around town but are not the best choice for activities like downhill skiing or hiking where there is a good chance of catching the jacket on something sharp. sharp. If you’re the type of person who likes to do that, I highly recommend wearing a shell over a jacket, especially if you’re hiking through the brush or skiing in the trees. Above: Dog sharp claws are another popular way to rip your sweater, Skeena & Old School, East Humboldts, NV. Photo: localcrew Even if you don’t choose to cross the snow, ready-to-wear clothes seem to have a preference for sharp things, so there is always a chance that you will get a small tear in the cover fabric. So what to do? While many dust bags proudly patch their clothes with duct tape, it’s not really the best option, especially if you want to fix it later (the leftover glue causes havoc with the sewing machine). . Instead, go to your local mountain store and pick up some nylon repair tape. Just about any store should have a choice with lots of beautiful colors. Pick the closest color and then cut a piece at least ½” larger than the hole around the hole, round the corners, peel off the backing and stick it on. That’s it. This adhesive tape is a pretty cool thing and it will last for years through multiple washes. Repair tape is a super easy fix for small holes in the case fabric but for larger tears it’s probably best to send it back to us for service. Life