Caring for a Sleeping Bag
Sleeping bags nowadays are built for resiliency,
designed and manufactured to be your faithful companion for all sorts of
outdoor adventures, but they are far from invulnerable.
Even the sturdiest sleeping bag, if you don't take care of it, will
slowly deteriorate into a dirty, ragged mess of material that will one day
fall apart on you when you least expect it.
To avoid this fate and extend the longevity of your bag so that it
continues to serve you for many years of camping trips and expeditions to
come, you would do well to give it regular maintenance, and clean it
properly.
Preventive Maintenance
·
In the first place, a sleeping bag shouldn’t
be washed more than a couple of times or so during its lifetime.
Take preventive steps to keep your sleeping bag clean.
If you won’t be sleeping in a tent with waterproof flooring, consider
picking up a mat, or use a cut garbage bag as a last resort.
·
Consider also investing in a liner for your
bag for absorbing dirt coming from your body, so that you just need to wash
the liner instead of the bag.
·
Air out your bag the morning after, in the
sun if possible. Dew and
perspiration can interfere with the warmth retention properties of the
insulation.
·
Use a cloth bag to carry your sleeping bag
around, instead of plastic.
Also, throw in some moth balls to keep away
·
Store your bag either by folding it loosely
or letting it hang in your closet.
If it is too tightly packed, the insulation fibers may deteriorate.
Washing
·
When the time comes that you absolutely must
toss it into the wash, make sure you follow the manufacturer’s instructions
strictly. Ideally, a
front-loaded tumble washer and dryer of the oversized, commercial sort
should be used. Home washing
machines are simply too small to allow for sufficient fluffing of the bag.
Top loading washers will end up tearing the baffles or the bag
itself.
·
Use as little detergent as possible, and lay
off on the bleach.
·
When you lift the bag out of the washer, you
should take it from below so that the heavy soaked insulation does not end
up tearing the bag with its weight.
·
If your bag has down filling, make sure it is
dried thoroughly, at a medium heat setting.
Down is quite susceptible to dampness, so wait about two to three
hours to ensure that it gets completely dry.
At periodic intervals, pull out the bag and separate the wet clumps
so that they dry more rapidly, but be careful not to destroy the down.
·
Synthetic fill doesn’t clump together, so you
can leave the bag to dry at a low heat setting.
If you want, you may add fabric softener, which preserves the look of
the synthetic fibers.
·
Do not dry clean your sleeping bag, ever.
With the correct sleeping bag care regimen, your
favorite sleeping bag can continue to provide you with quality outdoor
slumber for years, or even decades, to come.
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