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Original poster

Help please North face puffer gone flat after washing

37 replies

kissmelittleass · 04/09/2022 15:51

As title says son asked me to wash his new north face puffer only a few weeks old cost a fair bit! I put in washing machine and it's gone flat and down is separated and clumpy I could cry!!
I don't have a drier any idea how I can restore it ?? I haven't told him yet he will be so upset
Help please!!!

OP posts:
ChairOfInvisibleStudies · 04/09/2022 15:52

Take it to a launderette and use a dryer there? Maybe with some of those drying balls to really help it fluff back up?

JaneJeffer · 04/09/2022 15:52

Can you get to a laundrette and put it in a dryer with a few tennis balls?

mrsbyers · 04/09/2022 15:53

You just need to give it a good battering if it’s down filled , drying with a tennis ball is what I usually do but without a dryer it should fluff up once dry and manually pummelled

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GoAround · 04/09/2022 15:54

Rewash and then use the tumble dryer on gentle with dryer/tennis balls. Use a friends or a laundrette as you don’t have your own.

pattihews · 04/09/2022 15:56

Did you follow the washing instructions?

I regularly wash down pillows and duvets. I wash them in the machine using the kind of clear washing liquid used for woollens and delicates. Did you use fabric softener? That won't help, I imagine.

IME down items go clumpy on their way to being fully dry, then fluff up naturally when they're really dry. It may take a couple of days in a warm house for it to really dry thoroughly. Give it time.

Gunpowder · 04/09/2022 15:57

You don’t need to re wash it, I reckon putting it back in the tumble dryer with dryer balls or tennis balls and a damp towel would do the trick.

Original poster
kissmelittleass · 04/09/2022 15:57

Thanks for replies I'm so upset with myself, there's a launderette about ten miles away I'll see if I can get there this evening in the meantime I've just put in lying flat out in the sun, I'll try the tennis balls when I go to the launderette hoping for a miracle thanks x

OP posts:
TheVanguardSix · 04/09/2022 16:01

This is totally normal OP.
Don’t do a thing. Let it fully dry on the clothes rack and then give it a good battering/plumping up.
If you do tumble dry it at a laundromat, stick a tennis ball in (with anything down-filled).
Always wash on a hand wash/extra gentle cycle too… just for future reference.
It will be absolutely fine!

TheVanguardSix · 04/09/2022 16:02

Oh sorry! 🎾 was already mentioned.

Original poster
kissmelittleass · 04/09/2022 16:15

@TheVanguardSix aw thank you 🙏🏻

OP posts:
Dogsgottabone · 04/09/2022 16:19

Yes just put in the dryer with a few clean tennis balls.

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 04/09/2022 17:03

The puffiness is air trapped by the down/feathers. If they are slightly damp, they won't fluff. You need to get them really dry to fluff up again - a really hot sunny day, a tumble drier, a radiator or a hair drier - or combination of them all will help. Then give the jacket a really good shake to redistribute the filling. You might need to massage out some clumps of wet feathers then dry/shake/massage/dry/repeat.

MogHog · 04/09/2022 17:27

Rather bizarre but I watched something earlier about this very thing. They buy and resell north face coats and said after washing they alway tumble dry with 3 tennis balls and it gets them as good as new. So those upthread who have already said this are spot on.

onmywayamarillo · 04/09/2022 17:29

I just sort of beat mine up a bit 🤣 and keep puffing it up like a cushion. Get the kids to help

user1469770863 · 04/09/2022 17:33

I dry mine ( from spin damp) with my hairdryer. Hang the jacket on a 'fat' coat hanger and blow on warm up the sleeves and then up the body, shaking it lots of times.

MeghansBitch · 04/09/2022 17:33

This exact thing happened to my daughter's NF jacket after I washed it.

Came on here for help and the tennis balls in the tumble was suggested to which I was a bit skeptical.

Anyway ordered a box off Amazon checked them with the jacket in the tumble ,think you need to use the low heat setting and hey presto puffiness completely back.

Soontobe60 · 04/09/2022 17:34

kissmelittleass · 04/09/2022 15:57

Thanks for replies I'm so upset with myself, there's a launderette about ten miles away I'll see if I can get there this evening in the meantime I've just put in lying flat out in the sun, I'll try the tennis balls when I go to the launderette hoping for a miracle thanks x

Hang it on the line, turn it several times. Once dry, give it a good bashing with a tennis racket or bat of some sort. I find rubbing the lumps of feathers together briskly also helps. Don’t worry, it will regain its plumpness!

onepieceoflollipop · 04/09/2022 17:37

I’d try the hairdryer trick first as mentioned by a pp.
I can laugh now but my dh had a similar cost - it was really puffy until I washed it and when it came out of the washer it was like a pancake I was really worried! Thankfully I have a tumble dryer

QuebecBagnet · 04/09/2022 17:38

I’ve done this to my Rab down jacket and not being able to recover it. I’ve tried the tennis ball trick. It’s like all the down has disappeared, doesn’t seem like there’s anything in it!

Mosso · 04/09/2022 17:39

I never ever wash NF jackets unless absolutely essential. It'll probably be okay but I ruined one once and they wouldn't replace it even though I followed instructions

HandbagAtDawn · 04/09/2022 17:40

It will be okay. Mine does this after I wash it. But after a few days it plumps back up again.

mumofthemonsters808 · 04/09/2022 17:40

I’ve just done exactly the same thing, it’s now in the dryer with the tennis balls banging away,.

MissRainbowBrite · 04/09/2022 17:40

DS has one which I wash fairly regularly. I get it mostly dry outside on a good day then in the dryer with 4/5 tennis balls on a low heat for about 45 mins. I sometimes alternate a spell in the dryer with an overnight in the airing cupboard then another tumble to get it really fluffy.

PizzaFunghi · 04/09/2022 17:47

Rewash it and make sure there's no fabric softener in there.

Then wash it with the down wash stuff.

The dry it with tennis balls or shoes or whatever.

Mine came back from clumps that I thought were there forever! It was the detergent and traces of fabric softener gumming it all up I think.

piano789 · 11/02/2023 17:53

I know this is an old post but just wondered if you managed to fix this. I’ve just washed my daughter’s North Face coat and it has come out of the washing machine completely flat!