North Face Greenland

how to wash/dry a down jacket?

I washed and dried my First Down jacket yesterday and it lost a lot of its fluffiness. The down seems like it's clumping inside. I washed it gently and dried it with towels and a tennis ball. What can I do to make my jacket puffy again?

Public Comments

1. You should never wash down. You need to dry clean it.
2. The down may be clumping because it is still damp. I would try going to a commercial laundromat and use their large dryer on air fluff. (You can try the tennis balls or a clean sneaker as well) Think about the down on a duck and how it is waterproof until it gets waterlogged. It takes a while to dry out.
3. You most certainly can wash down items. I do all the time- jackets, pillows, blankets. Are you sure the down is completely dry inside? Oftentimes it takes a few hours in the dryer before it's completely finished. I would bet it's still a little damp and that's why it's clumped. Throw a clean running shoe or a few tennis balls in with it in the dryer (but nothing else as it will need a lot of room to tumble around) and just let it go til it's got it's fluffiness back.