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Posted by Bill S on December 29, 2007 at 8:30:13 pm EST
In reply to Cleaning an Older Down Bag posted by mmmthmtskier on December 15, 2007 at 5:21:37 am EST

I bought my Bauer Karakoram in 1960, and have washed it many times. Originally, it was a -40 deg bag. I haven't used it much in the past 10 years or so (my Feathered Friends bag is much lighter at the same rating, but that's the difference between the Bauer 500-rated loft and the FF 800-rated loft, plus going from cotton duck outer shell to Pertex microfiber outer shell and a slimmer shape). Last time I used the Karakoram, it seemed more like a -20 to -30 deg bag. It has lost some fill (the fabrics were not as downproof then as now, plus the loss when I accidentally ripped it and didn't get the hole sewn closed soon enough). It was my primary bag for most of the first 30 years I had it, which meant 20 or more nights of use per year (I had other much lighter bags for summer use).

I used to use plain old laundry detergent, until in the 1990s when some of the good down washes became available. I use NikWax and McNett down washing products these days, in front-loading commercial-sized machines, as recommended by the manufacturers, for my sleeping bags, filled pants, and filled jackets, whether down or synthetic. The down products show little to no deterioration from the repeated washings, as is true for the Primaloft products so far, and slower deterioration for Polargard and Hollofill products than when I used regular detergent for those synthetics in the 1970s and 1980s.

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