One of the most important pieces in your outdoor gear collection, your sleeping bag takes a lot of abuse. From dirty feet to getting in after along day of hiking and no shower. You can bet if your bag gets used, it gets dirty. Leaving you with one important question, how to wash a sleeping bag?
Proper care can add years of life to a quality sleeping bag. Saving you money in the long run. So let’s take a look at the best way to clean and care for your cleaning bag.
How to Wash a Sleeping Bag
Below is a quick outline of the proper steps to clean your sleeping bag. Please review all of them before starting.
1. The first step in cleaning is to read the tag. The tag will provide valuable information on how to properly clean your bags specific materials. You can read our quick tag guide here.
2. Lay out your bag and examine it for stains and rips. You can mark these with a small piece of masking tape as you examine the entire bag inside and out.
3. Spot treat any stains and repair any tares before washing.
4. Fill bathtub with warm (not hot) water and soap. This is where reading your tag is important. knowing if you bag is down or synthetic makes a difference. You can get detergents specifically for down and synthetic. But using a gental laundry detergent is generally safe.
5. Lay out bag into the tub and gently agitate the soap and water into the bag. Unzipping and turning the bag inside out.
6. Empty the soapy water and fill the tub with warm water, no soap. Do this at least 2 times.
7. To ring out your bag, just roll the bag as if you are rolling the bag up for storage. Do not ring or twist your sleeping bag.
8. Let your sleeping bag air dry in a safe place.
Machine Washing your Sleeping Bag
You can wash your sleeping bag in your washing machine but this can cause more wear and tear down the line if not done correctly. Before washing always make sure to read the tag. You will also want to only wash your bag in a front load or wash with no center agitator. Wash your bag on a the delicate cycle and hang dry your bag in a safe place.
Caution: Many dryers are too hot for sleeping bags and can melt the material.
Sleeping Bag General Care
1. Sleep in clean clothes if you can. Try and avoid getting in your sleeping bag in dirty clother of what you have been wearing all day while outside.
2. Protect your bag from the ground while sleeping more comfortably. Consider using a sleeping pad between your sleeping bag and ground.
3. Roll your bag properly when putting it away. Rolling the bag in the correct directions will actually help the bag last longer.
4. Air out your sleeping bag. Make sure after you use your bag to air it out once you get back to the house. This will help dry out any moisture left in the bag before storage.
Let us do the cleaning for you:
If your favorite sleeping bag is in need of a cleaning, let the pro handle it. Our team of professional cleaners can help mend and tears or rips and get your sleeping bag feeling like new again. Please contact us with any questions you may have or send us a message my clicking here!