Secrets of washing down jacket in the washing machine

In our time, down jacket is considered the most comfortable, practical and warm outerwear. In terms of price and quality, down jackets are very different, but regardless of these characteristics, this thing requires careful maintenance and careful treatment. Even in winter, the weather often presents us with surprises in the form of mud and slush, the thing gets dirty easily and requires immediate purification. Here the inevitable question arises: how to wash a down jacket in a washing machine, so that later it looks like a new one, there are no stains from the outside, and there is no down inside? Here are some guidelines that should be guided when starting washing.

What you need to know

So, if you still decide to save your favorite thing from the accumulated dirt and eliminate the hated stains, you can do it in the following ways:

1. Handwash only. Given the rather large size of the down jacket, the process will be long and tedious. Hand wash, no doubt, very delicate, but totally unsuitable for large items of clothing. In addition, by erasing by hand, you can not calculate the amount of powder and as a result leave a lot of white marks on the fabric.
2. Dry cleaning of clothes. An option for those who do not want to spend time and energy on self-washing. However, such enterprises usually do not bear any responsibility for the result of cleaning. Therefore, it is likely to get back the down jacket in an unsightly form, and the money for the damaged thing is unlikely to be returned. And the prices for dry cleaning services today are high, and using them constantly will be a very expensive business.
3. Washing in the car. Many housewives consider this method unacceptable, arguing that after washing, a down jacket can completely lose its original appearance. In fact, it all depends on the quality of things and the requirements of the manufacturer. First of all, take a look at the label, where in the form of symbols recommendations are made for the care of clothing. If there is no sign that allows only hand washing, then the down jacket is suitable for washing in the machine.You will only find out, how to wash a down jacket in a washing machine correctly so that after the procedure there are no unpleasant consequences. For this there are a number of rules, and if you follow them, the thing will last a very long time, even with regular washing.

Prepare down jacket for washing

Washing a down jacket in a washing machine is specific in that you cannot influence the process when it is already running. Therefore, a big role is played by preparing the jacket for the procedure in advance. To do this, you should take a number of simple steps that will facilitate washing and further care of the jacket:

1. Detach the hood from the jacket with a fur part. Carefully check the contents of the pockets so that you do not accidentally wash your keys, money and other trifles with your clothes.
2. Pay attention to such parts of the jacket that are usually most quickly contaminated when wearing: the sleeves, the collar area, the pockets, the hem on the outside and the inside. If you find old stains in these places, then clean them manually using a stain remover or ordinary laundry soap.
3. Turn the thing on the wrong side and fasten all the existing locks, zippers and buttons so that they do not interfere in the drum of the machine.
4. Check for loose parts and loose seams.If there is a threat that the down jacket will break, carefully reinforce the weak points.
5. Load the jacket in the washing machine. Outerwear is not recommended to be washed together with other clothes or one more down-padded coat. So, for one cycle of the machine, you can clean only one down jacket.

We start the procedure of washing

First you need to select the program wash mode.

Keep in mind that for washing a down jacket in a washing machine it is better to use the most delicate mode that maintains a temperature of no more than 30-40 ° C.

If there is no such program, then adjust the temperature. manually.

Buy tennis balls at a sports store. Many housewives have long known the secret of washing a down jacket with balls: spinning in a drum with clothes, they do not let down the fluff and significantly improve the quality of washing. Just do not buy ping-pong balls, only for tennis! After all, they have a special fabric coating. Balls with such a coating can be safely loaded into the machine along with the jacket. Just do not buy bright colored balls, as well as poor quality: they can shed in the process and inadvertently paint the surface of your favorite warm jacket.

How to wash a down jacket in a washing machine with detergents? First of all, discard the usual powder. Today, the market of household chemicals presents a wide range of specialized detergents for washing clothes with downy filling or padding in a washing machine.

What is permissible to erase?

• Liquid products with gel consistency.
• Powders designed exclusively for washing down jackets.
• Capsules, tablets, pressed cubes.

Experienced housewives use ordinary shampoo and liquid soap instead of powder. This is really not prohibited, but there are no guarantees that such tools will perfectly wash the jacket and will not spoil the thing. It all depends on the brand, manufacturer and composition of the detergent.

Do not forget to include re-rinse function at the final stage of washing. This is done so that the detergent is completely removed from the fabric of the down jacket. Due to the large size of the item, the powder and the special agent linger both outside and inside the jacket, which is fraught with white spots and stains after drying.

In some models of washing machines there is a special program for washing outerwear.If there is no such mode available, use the recommendations given above.

Be sure to disable the spin function. It is at this stage that seams can often be torn, and tissue damage can occur. The danger of automatic spinning of the down jacket is that during twisting the filler itself may be unevenly distributed. As a result, after washing, you can get a jacket in a completely indecent form. Drying of a down-padded coat is a separate point in washing technology, and it must be approached responsibly and carefully.

How to dry

So, the car has completed its cycle, the rinsing is finished and you finally got your favorite winter thing out of the drum of the car. Now undo the zippers and buttons and straighten the down jacket, without twisting it on the front side.

It is best to dry the down jacket in a well-ventilated area or in the open air.

If it happens in winter, then it’s not worth drying a down jacket in the yard or on the unglazed balcony. Carefully hang the jacket on the hanger and make sure that in the room where it dries, there is free air circulation.

Leave the item to dry for a while (usually a day or two).As it dries, shake the jacket so that the filler is evenly distributed inside it. Do not use automated appliances - clothes dryers. They can spoil the appearance of things and violate the insulating properties of fluff.

What to do if you still lost the fluff?

1. Even before the final drying intensively beat the jacket, as if it were a pillow or dusty carpet. Ensure that the down does not clog around the corners of the sleeves, pockets and hem, but is evenly distributed under the lining.
2. If the fluff nevertheless gathered in careless lumps, and manually beating did not help, do the following. Take the tube of the vacuum cleaner hose without a nozzle, and at a low suction power, drive on the wrong side of the down jacket. Pay special attention to the thickened places (there is confused down). After finishing the procedure, hang the jacket down on the coat rack, carefully holding it by the hem.

Conclusion

Thus, the question of whether it is possible to wash the down jacket in a washing machine, the answer is clear: you can. All you need is to competently and wisely approach the technology of washing and follow all these recommendations. Then your jacket will delight you for more than one season and keep you warm even in the most severe frosts.