Down jacket disaster

[chimichangaz]

My adult son's down jacket needed cleaning, so it was washed at 40deg and 1000 spin. Obviously the down has now clumped together and it looks awful.

Is there a way this can be recovered from?

Tumble dry it with some tennis balls.

Is it dry yet? It'll probably be ok when it's properly dry and had a really good shake...

Tumble dry it with a tennis ball is a tip I have seen before when I looked, which didn't help me as I don't have tumble dryer! Good luck!

Try sticking it in the tumble dryer on low with a couple of tennis balls. Sounds odd but should fluff it back up again 😀

They need tumble drying. They can't really be washed without one, always look like they're ruined when they come out of the washer, but tumble drying is like magic.

Don't have a down jacket , but I've heard after washing they need tumble drying with a couple of tennis balls ( or dryer balls ) in the machine to fluff them back up.

I let mine get to the stage it is pretty much dry then start rubbing the clumps so they separate. Mine can also go into the tumble drier on a low heat for a few minutes with some tennis balls to break the clumps up.

This happened to mine,thought was ruined
Keep shaking it and turning it on the line and it was absolutely fine

Tumble dry if you can - it fluffs it up and makes it look like new

If you don't have a tumble dryer, you need to hang it up and then scrunch / fluff up the down every half hour for at least 5 hours. Tedious, but it does work.

Tumble dry, the down will fluff out again

Fuck! i threw away a lovely Down Gillet after washing it, as i thought i'd ruined it :(

Wow. I thought it was ruined but will definitely give the tumble drying a go!! It's dry, so will maybe give it a rinse in the washing machine then low tumble with a couple of balls (will pop to b and m this week)

Thanks all!

If it's a mess, take it to a dry cleaner. We take ours there now and they come back plump.

Don't let those feathers sit there damp and in clumps for a few days, it'll start to rot.

I COLD tumble dried mine and it was fab. Not hot.

I washed my son's North Face down jacket last week. Definitely tumble dry with two tennis balls on a lowish setting, I used the synthetics programme on my dryer. It took several cycles, and a bit of manipulating any clumps that I could feel in between tumblings ( armpits and shoulders mostly ) but it was perfect when completely dry.

As others have said, you need to get it really dry to allow the feathers go fluff up again. Tumble dryer, radiator, hair dryer. Shake it out, tennis balls in dryer. Might take several rounds of dry/shake/dry/shake but it will revive. Don't leave it damp though!!

DO NOT LEAVE IT DAMP! tumble dry now with tennis balls.

For future you can get down ask which usually comes with balls to lob in drier.

I have had several down jackets and all been ok

If all the advice above does not work try a long slow wash and long cool tumble dry with a down wash. Or send it to a specialist down cleaning service.
I used Alpkit for my sleeping bags and they came back super fluffy
alpkit.com/pages/down-wash

Having said that I have had a badly washed and dried sleeping bag gifted to me and nothing saved it.

I also thought I'd ruined mine with washing. Was going to take it to the textile recycling place! Left it in the boot of my car for about a year and took it out and it was absolutely fine. Been wearing it all winter

I didn't tumble mine, which is probably where I went wrong.

Tumble dry it on a low heat. Stick a damp tea towel in there with it if it's dry, save washing it again.

Loads of tennis balls in the dryer, works brilliantly

Bought 4 dryer balls, re washed it, shook it well, tumbled it a couple of times on synthetic setting and.......

It worked!!!! Looks as good as new - thanks all 💐