How to Wash a Down Jacket in 4 Easy Steps

Learning how to wash a down jacket the right way is essential if you want it to maintain its insulating properties. Down insulation is the best when it comes to staying warm in cold climates, but over the years, natural down will lose some of its insulation. Mud, dirt, and body oils eventually work their way into the fibers and reduce the lofting ability of down. This is true with any down apparel, but you can take action to prevent this from happening so quickly. 

Properly cleaning your gear can help restore down’s superior insulating qualities. While cleaning your down is important, we recommend that you wash your down no more than two times per year. Keep reading if you want to learn how to safely wash a down jacket, down sleeping bag, or other down-insulated gear without ruining it.

What You Need to Wash a Down Jacket at Home

Down Wash

Using normal household cleaners and detergents can actually damage the delicate down feathers and remove the water repellent coating (if your jacket has that). That’s why you need a cleaning product specifically designed for natural down apparel and gear. Down wash is engineered to clean and preserve down feathers without damaging the structure of down. 

Camp Suds and other outdoor brands manufacture powerful down wash that will help increase the down’s lifespan while maintaining maximum water repellency and breathability. 

Front Loading Washer and Dryer 

The agitator in top-loading washers and dryers can damage the down permanently. To avoid this, use a front loader (or a top loader without an agitator).

Tennis Balls (Dryer Balls) 

Down has a tendency to clump together when wet and lose its loft. Add tennis balls or dryer balls to the front-loading dryer to help reduce clumping and keep the down fluffy while drying. Make sure you use clean or new tennis balls designated for laundry. Throwing used or dirty tennis balls into your freshly cleaned load is counterproductive. 

How to Wash a Down Jacket in 4 Easy Steps 

Before Washing 

Make sure the washing machine is clean from the last cycle. Scrub out or remove any leftover detergent or cleaning products before washing your down jacket. Then, check the detergent compartment if you have one and clean it as well. Also, wipe down your insulated jacket or sleeping bag to remove any built-up dirt or mud.

Washing Your Down Jacket

Follow the instructions on your apparel and down wash. Not all down garments have the same cleaning instructions, so make sure to double-check before plopping yours into the washer. Down cleaners will usually tell you how much cleaner to use for your specific load. If not, it generally will require cold water and a delicate wash setting.

How to Dry a Down Jacket

Don’t hang dry your down jacket or sleeping bag! Down tends to clump together when it is wet, so putting it through a good drying cycle is important to help unclump the down clusters and regain its loftiness. This is why clean tennis balls come in handy for the drying process.

Again, follow the instructions on your down jacket to know what settings to use for the dryer. Generally, a low tumble and low heat are required. If you don’t have tennis balls on hand, you can try removing the garment every 20 minutes or so and fluff it by hand. While this is a temporary solution, we highly recommend using the tennis ball method. 

How to Store a Down Jacket 

Down jackets and sleeping bags are designed to compress down to incredibly small sizes so that they can easily fit in your backpack. While this is perfectly fine for the duration of your backpacking trip, it is not ideal to keep down jackets and gear compressed in your pack for longer than a week, as they will take much longer to regain their loft. Store your down jacket and garments by hanging them up in a closet until you need them next.

Get Your Cleaning Habits Down Pat

Natural duck or goose-down jackets provide the most warmth and comfort for outdoor adventures, but they require a bit more upkeep than apparel made with synthetic insulation. While down garments can lose their insulating and lofting abilities over time, we learned that properly washing down garments is the best way to make them last longer. 

With just a front-loading washer and dryer, tennis balls, and down wash, you can clean your down jacket at home in just four simple steps. Knowing how to wash a down jacket is the best way to ensure it lasts for many adventures. Just remember to use cleaning products designed for down, follow all apparel and cleaning product instructions, use tennis balls while drying, and hang it up in a closet when you’re done. We hope this guide helped you clean your down jacket or sleeping bag. If you found this article a bit too late or are in the market for a new down jacket, check out our wide selection of casual down jackets, and make sure to follow these steps the next time you clean any item that has natural down insulation.