Another good round of tips there Will. Very useful! I'm set to overhaul a fair bit of gear and you're motivating me. Thanks mate. The run looked pretty reasonable. Mark
So... are you saying I'd need to wash my down jacket twice? Once with the Nikwax detergent and then again just using the proofer to retain the waterproofing? GREAT video tutorial. Cheers.
Hi Simon. If your jacket is pretty old, then yes I'd use both as it's likely the water repellent layer has diminished. If you have a new jacket, you should only need to use the down wash (green bottle) as it most likely won't need any re-proofing. Washing it with the green bottle will make sure none of the DWR is washed out. Will
Having washed a few down jackets in my time, with mixed results, I go against perceived wisdom and use a detergent every time. I've found Nikwax cleaning products and pure soap flakes are not effective enough, even after repeating the wash. When I switched to Ariel I found the down de-clumped a lot quicker and lofted beautifully, probably because I had stripped the oils away. I also found that you do not always need a proofer (I prefer Grangers to Nikwax) if you use a tumble drier as the heat re-activates the DWR, even after using a detergent. I think the the "do not use detergent" advice is overblown and maybe rooted in the past when they were harsher. I would also add that there's a reason they were invented and that is because they work better than pure soap.
@@KimoKimochii I found that a gentle spin helped. It will only get rid of a little bit of water and the clumps of down will retain a lot. Then I would try and break up the clumps by hand which releases some water. Then a low heat tumble dry. You will probably still have to break up the clumps again by hand and then let the jacket dry naturally or repeat the tumble dry. Every jacket is a bit different and I found it is a case of assessing after each stage.
Another good round of tips there Will. Very useful! I'm set to overhaul a fair bit of gear and you're motivating me. Thanks mate. The run looked pretty reasonable. Mark
Love tiny home living, so innovative to be washing your jacket in the kitchen!
Great video. Only point of contention is Rab recommend spin speed of 1100 v's your low speed of 400.
So... are you saying I'd need to wash my down jacket twice? Once with the Nikwax detergent and then again just using the proofer to retain the waterproofing? GREAT video tutorial. Cheers.
Hi Simon. If your jacket is pretty old, then yes I'd use both as it's likely the water repellent layer has diminished. If you have a new jacket, you should only need to use the down wash (green bottle) as it most likely won't need any re-proofing. Washing it with the green bottle will make sure none of the DWR is washed out. Will
Having washed a few down jackets in my time, with mixed results, I go against perceived wisdom and use a detergent every time.
I've found Nikwax cleaning products and pure soap flakes are not effective enough, even after repeating the wash.
When I switched to Ariel I found the down de-clumped a lot quicker and lofted beautifully, probably because I had stripped the oils away.
I also found that you do not always need a proofer (I prefer Grangers to Nikwax) if you use a tumble drier as the heat re-activates the DWR, even after using a detergent.
I think the the "do not use detergent" advice is overblown and maybe rooted in the past when they were harsher. I would also add that there's a reason they were invented and that is because they work better than pure soap.
are you supposed to spin or not in the washing machine?
@@KimoKimochii I found that a gentle spin helped. It will only get rid of a little bit of water and the clumps of down will retain a lot. Then I would try and break up the clumps by hand which releases some water. Then a low heat tumble dry.
You will probably still have to break up the clumps again by hand and then let the jacket dry naturally or repeat the tumble dry.
Every jacket is a bit different and I found it is a case of assessing after each stage.
@@UnknownUser-rb9pd thanks for the reply, did you use tennis balls to help with the unclump in the dryer?
@@KimoKimochii I tried for one jacket but it didn't seem to make much difference. I think breaking up the clumps by hand is a better option.
Are there alternatives to the down detergent you mentioned? In India there aren't down detergents. Do eco friendly, liquid detergents work?
If you have access to pure soap flakes (preferably a ready made solution), that would be better than non-bio washing detergents, in my opinion.
I'd zip up all zippers and close the jacket to not get any rifts.