Yes, You Can Wash Your Puffer Jacket - Here's How

Puffer jackets have become an essential cool climate fashion staple and a must have for your outdoor adventures. But many people are afraid to wash a down puffer jacket because they think they will ruin it. That’s actually not true.

You can and should wash your puffer jackets regularly plus your sleeping bags too. The main factor is that when down gets wet it can clump together and lose its loft and end up performing poorly. But if you take the right steps to wash your jacket regularly your beloved travel partner can last for ages and keep you toasty warm when you need it most.

Here’s an easy “how-to” guide to help you properly wash, dry and preserve your puffer jacket:

1. Remove any visible dirt with a quick wipe-down. For any stubborn stains, use Stain Savvy with damp cloth.
2. Close all the zips. Turn it inside out. Wash separately.
3. Use ‘down friendly laundry liquid’ in your washing machine. It’s super important to use a laundry liquid that contains no synthetic bleach, fragrances or softeners, is ph neutral and will be highly effective in neutralising odours and removing stains but will be gentle enough to carefully cleanse the down filling without damaging it or leaving residue, all this while maintaining the integrity of the existing water repellent finish of the jacket. Our Signature Laundry Liquid ticks all these boxes and is perfect for the job. Frankly, any of the laundry liquids in our range also fulfill these key requirements and will work just as well.
4. Set your washing machine to a low water temperature and on the delicate cycle. Many of the Outdoor Apparel manufacturers recommend a temperature of 30 degrees. If you can, also set it to do an extra rinse. Finally, and this is important, do not use the spin cycle as this could damage your jacket.
5. Take your jacket out of the washing machine carefully as a wet down jacket is really heavy! Lay it out flat, ideally on a clothes airer for added air flow, somewhere with some sunlight. Don’t hang it as the weight of the wet filling will pull and misshape the jacket. Keep checking on it as it dries – fluffing the filling as you go will speed this part up. It’s going to take a good while.
6. Once it’s nearly dry, put it in your dryer on a low heat.  You may wish to pop in a couple of new, clean tennis balls (if you don’t have dryer balls) – the extra agitation will help fluff and plump the filling. When your jacket is all dry, take it out, turn it right side out. And it’s all ready.

 Things to AVOID when washing your puffer jacket:

• The Dry Cleaner – the harsh chemicals may damage the filling and the outer.
• Fabric Softener – this will make your filling gluggy and harder to fluff when dry. Stick to a specific, gentle liquid (Signature Laundry Liquid) for the best results. Also, don’t use a laundry powder – it can be really detrimental to the down and leave more residue.
• Wringing – this will squash the filling and make it more difficult to fluff back to its normal shape.
• Storing when wet or damp – this can make the garment mouldy and both of you smelly. 

 Follow these easy steps and in no time you will be looking at your favourite travel puffer jacket and saying: