Down jacket in the washing machine - clumpy!

[Doireallyneedaname]

A bird shat all over a £300 down feather Parker jacket today, so I went against manufacturers advise and washed it in the wash using fabric softener.

It’s come out and all the feathers have clumped together, so after a bit of Googling I’m now going against manufacturers instructions again and tumble drying it on a low heat, taking it out every 10 min or so to fluff it up & check it’s still in one piece.

Is it doomed or has anyone managed to resurrect these before?

That is what wet down does! Tumble dry snd then leave on a hot radiator and it will be as before

Pop it in the washing machine with some tennis balls! That’s what I do with my sleeping bags anyway.

Tumble dryer with a few tennis balls and it ought to come out like new.

I washed my down coat in the washer. It was starting to smell, not BO or anything, just not very fresh. I did lots of googling and on a reputable brands website they actually say you can wash and tumble dry them. I dried it on low heat with 2 of those dryer balls in to fluff it up and it came out perfect!

Yeah, it needs dryer balls/tennis balls to help redistribute the down. It'll be fine!

Mine was horrendous but I brought it back to life! Throw in tennis or dryer balls. When you get it out every 10 mins really get into the feathers with your fingers to separate the clumps. Takes ages and you think it will never recover but persevere and it will.

Thanks all! Looks like there is hope!

I washed my down coat last month and dried in in the dryer on a medium setting with the dryer balls. It took about 3 hours to dry but came out fine in the end. I did wonder if it was a good idea at the start !

Curious to know why you washed it with fabric conditioner? Hopefully that won't have affected the feathers and after tumble drying with tennis balls they fluff up well.

@brokenspoon

Pop it in the washing machine with some tennis balls! That’s what I do with my sleeping bags anyway.

Exactly this. I rescued my beloved coat this way

I saw some down wash detergent in go outdoors today which came with the tumble dryer balls. Think it was £8. Mine will need a wash soon and I'm nervous about it!

I had a down jacket setting on my last machine...cannot remember what it did, but I have washed several to no ill effect. Even in the new machine which has no special programme

cool wash, absolute bare minimum of detergent, high spin and then all the shaking. I did hang the first one on the line but it dried all puckery and as if the down was solid, but I put it in the dryer with a heavy towel and it came out like new, so now I don't even bother with the line.

Yep, tennis balls and low and slow and all will be fine!

oooh ...low heat in the dryer, forgot to say that.

@DietrichandDiMaggio Stressful day and foolishly decided I’d risk it for the scent.

Regretting it now.