Some people refuse to purchase a down jacket, fearing that they will not be able to cope with its cleaning, which he will need after wearing it. Meanwhile, taking care of such a thing is completely easy, you just need to choose the correct washing mode and prevent the fluff from sticking together during drying.
Down is a unique material. Synthetics manufacturers have not managed to invent an analogue approaching it in properties, therefore, the collection of material for down jackets is carried out in the same way as many decades ago - fluff by fluff, each of which weighs from 0.001 to 0.002 grams. You can weigh your down jacket to at least roughly imagine how many downy "snowflakes" make up its filling. And each of them must restore its original shape after washing so that the down jacket does not lose its qualities that allow it to keep warm even in the most severe frosts. And you have to give them the maximum possible impact.
A down jacket for washing needs as much water and space as possible. Therefore, never put it in the washing machine along with other things, provide it with a “personal wash session”. If you decide to cope with this difficult process by hand, you will need a very large container, preferably a bathtub. The choice of detergent is also of great importance. If you managed to find a detergent for washing down on the market, it is ideal, but if not, you can pay attention to the care products for children's clothes. You can also use an adult "powder" labeled sensitiv. The word powder is put in quotation marks here, because free-flowing mixtures for washing do not completely dissolve in water, it is very difficult to rinse them out of the dense fabric of the jacket, and after drying, they will appear on the fabric in the form of whitish spots. To prevent this from happening, it is better to prefer the gel to the powder. And the choice of a baby product or a product intended for sensitive skin is explained by the fact that manufacturers do not add fabric softeners to these products, which act on conventional materials as expected, but the fluff under their influence will irreversibly stick together.
Wash the down jacket like a regular jacket, on a gentle cycle at a temperature not exceeding 40 ° C, be sure to add an additional rinse cycle to the program. It will be nice if at the end of all cycles you pass the down jacket through another rinse cycle or two. Do not forget about spinning. There is no need to be afraid of high revs, the fluff is not as fragile as it might seem at first glance. And the more carefully it is wrung out, the easier it will be to dry later.
When washing by hand, all the same rules apply: gentle wash, thorough rinse, good spin.
It is best to dry the down jacket in a special drying machine. Even if you do not own it, try to find an opportunity to do it: ask your friends, ask if you have laundries in the area that allow you to use drying units for a small fee. Trust me, it's worth it. But you won't be able to just throw the down jacket into the machine and wait until it somehow dries up there. Drying a down jacket consists not so much in removing water from the fabrics as in constantly beating the fluff so that the fluffs have the opportunity to accept their original state, to straighten out in all directions. So put some heavy balls in the drum along with your jacket. If you do not have a special ball for the tumble dryer, you can use regular tennis balls. It is they who, constantly rolling over, will fluff up the fluff and return the down jacket to its former shape.
If one drying cycle did not help achieve the ideal result, you can start the second one, after which the down jacket will definitely become dry and light.
But what about those who couldn't find a tumble dryer? There is only one option left - to dry the down jacket in the open air. It is best if you can place the jacket in a warm, ventilated place. In this case, it is necessary to come up almost every hour and carefully shake the thing with your hands, disassembling possible stuck together areas. Such drying will take quite a long time - sometimes it can take up to 2-3 days, but if you are not lazy and constantly beat the down jacket, the result will be no worse than when drying in a machine.