How to wash a sleeping bag.

Every hiker should know how to wash a sleeping bag properly in order to sustain the life of the bag. After all, they are a vital part of your gear and they can be expensive. Every bag should be cleaned every so often, depending on how often and how you use the bag. If you sleep on the ground, then naturally you should wash it more often than if you use it in a tent. Body oils and odors along with trail dust and dirt can and will decrease the effectiveness of your bag over time.

Before you start please read the tag on the bag and follow the manufactures instructions. If there is no tag left, then go the manufactures website and get the instructions there.

Here are some general rules when you wash a sleeping bag:
Sleeping bags should be machine-washed but can be hand washed. Hand washing is a lot more work but you can save a few bucks doing it this way, you also get the satisfaction of doing it by yourself. We'll start with machine washing.

Machine wash:

All bags should be washed in a large front loading washer, never in an agitator machine.

Down bags :
Your best bet is to send it to a cleaner that has experience and will guarantee their work. If you want to do it yourself use a mild detergent, Dawn or Woolite work well for this, and wash on gentle cycle in cool water. Rinse repeatedly to make sure all the suds are out. When you're positive all the soap is out drip dry it or dry at a low heat setting. Drying should take a couple of hours. Keep in mind that nylon bags will melt if you use too high a heat setting. Another tip is throwing a couple of tennis balls in with it, these will break up the clumps and help regain the loft your bag needs. DO NOT press, steam or iron your bag. Don't know why you would want to anyway.

Synthetic bags :
Again, wash a sleeping bag in cool water and on gentle cycle with a mild detergent.. Don't forget: front loading only, no agitators. To dry the bag use a low heat setting again and check it often to make sure you don't get "hot spot" areas where the bag stays compacted and the air doesn't circulate. These areas can melt the sleeping bag. There is no need for tennis balls when drying synthetic bags since the fibers won't clump like down will.

Hand washing:

Use a mild detergent again, shampoo also works well. Use your bathtub or big sink and soak the bag for an hour or so. The longer- the more dirt and grime you will get out of it. Soaking the bag can be the hard part, especially if you applied a water repellant such as DWR on the bag. If you did, you can soak the bag by putting it in the stuff-sack and then pulling the bag out while it is underwater, working the soap into the bag at the same time. When you are ready to remove the bag from the water, after rinsing it several times, be very careful. Try to pick it up length-wise or with two arms underneath it to support the whole bag. The fibers and baffles can tear from all the water weight, dry it like you would when machine washing it or lay it out flat on a picnic table or something that will support all of the weight at the same time. Do not line dry unless you can hang it from the end of the bag. Hanging by the side or just draping it over the line can tear the fibers and baffles.

Once again, knowing how to wash a sleeping bag can save you lot of expense down the road. Just make sure you do it as the manufacturer suggests.

Also See:

Sleeping Bag: Synthetic or Down
Finding the best sleeping bag
Water Purifier vs Filter

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