Down Wash

I hand washed a down vest I got used - one oz Nikwax wash in a large 1gal mixing bowl. The vest had some serious BO from the previous wearer. The Nikwax wash completely removed the BO, and the vest appears and feels much better than the condition I received it in. While I could smell the Nikwax wash while I was doing the washing, there is no odor after rinsing.

Works great! I used the recommended amount, 3 oz., plus some for localized treatment -cuffs, chin, pocket edges. I’ve tried to wash that old (maybe 45 years old) parka a few times. Never looked clean. It came out CLEAN. It looked presentable, instead of looking like a 40 year old back packing garment. Fluffy , too. My vest went in , too. Both garments fluffed up in the neck area. That area, gets a lot of body oil. The stuff is expensive, but a new mountain parka is serious $.

Used it twice cleaning a down comforter in a front loading LG washing machine. The second time my daughter threw up all over it - it was gross. Threw it in the washer the next morning with the detergent and it came out clean with no odor. FYI the dry cleaner wanted around $70 to wash the comforter, which is around what we paid for it, so this is much much cheaper alternative and actually easier - no dropping it off or picking it back up. The packaging says to hand wash a comforter in a bathtub, but we are lazy and figured if it didn't work, we were no worse off and would purchase a new one. The down comforter was washed in cold water, gentle cycle, slow spin speed and an extra rinse cycle. NOTE: it does take a while to dry a comforter in the dryer. You have to take it out and shake it a few times. It also help if you have several of the wool dryer balls in there to keep it from bunching up. We have around 10 or so that we threw in the dryer with the comforter and it took a couple of hours to dry, but we had it on a low / gentle heat and not the high heat to not damage it.

Works well for washing down jackets. Wish I heeded other user’s advice to pre-treat stains around the sleeve hems before washing. Give it an extra rinse and toss in dryer on delicate or low heat with a bunch of dryer balls to expedite re-puffing. The parka’s smell is odd post-wash and the biggest con.

It was washed very clean!

Washed my TNF 1996 Retro Nuptse down jacket perfectly and fluffed out like new after drying with wool dryer balls. Did cause my jacket to have an odd gamy smell afterwards but nothing too strong or serious and it seemed to clear out after a few wears. But that could’ve been caused by the dryer balls, they may have had a little bit of lanolin still in them, but the detergent also had a weird Sheepy smell to it. Very slight.

I’ve owned my Canada Goose parka for a couple years. I knew going into it that having an expensive, Dry Clean Only white coat would be stressful, but I found an irresistible deal and decided to take a chance. Plus, I do think the white looks very stylish. Spot cleaning worked okay for a while, but over time certain areas built up grime that I just couldn’t remove. There is no dry cleaner anywhere near me that specializes in Canada Goose, so I was afraid I’d have to accept a dingy coat until I could afford a different color. But I kept wondering “what if” and the internet convinced me I could probably wash my coat. I know it’s quite privileged to be able to experiment with a Canada Goose and risk ruining it, but it was heading toward ruination anyway in my mind. I decided to try Nikwax because it was most commonly recommended. I used two capfuls and followed their recommendation to use a slow spin and extra rinse. I was thrilled to see that there was no color bleed whatsoever from the black trim or the patch! All of the dinginess washed right out! I popped it in the dryer with some dryer balls and ran several 60-minute sessions on the lowest heat setting. It puffed up nicely with only a few clumps that I broke up by hands. I didn’t have any issues with greasy looking spots or stains that others have reported. Some minor things to be aware of: - the fleece lining of the pockets pilled up a bit and feels less velvety soft. A bummer, but it’s not seen and a small price to pay for a clean coat - I stupidly did not think to button up the flap that covers the zipper, and there’s some very minor chipping of paint from the zips clinking around in the dryer - You’ll void the warranty if you machine wash, but my coat didn’t have a warranty anyway (as far as I know) since I bought it used. Overall I’m beyond pleased with this product, and the knowledge that I can stress less about keeping my coat pristine each winter. Kicking myself for not taking “before” pictures, but the after pics show that it emerged unscathed.

I have a full size down comforter and a new, extra large, top loading LG HE washer. This product did a fine job gently and thoroughly cleaning my comforter, leaving behind no scents to bother me, but as we know a lot of patience and human interaction is the key to success. Below is my top loading success story. Commercial front loading is so much easier, but wasn't an option. I didn't have a duvet cover for a while. So my comforter was dirty. My tub will fill with 40 gal, so I chose to use 250 ml of Nikwax. I suspected that wasn't enough soap, which is judged by when the water starts to feel slippery. But it was more than the max fill of my dispenser. So I backed off to 200 ml and chose the Bedding cycle. After letting it fill and do its thing for 5min, it's time to pause it and get busy squeezing out the air. In a top loader, you'll never wash your down comforter if it's floating above the water. It's like a life jacket, and that's impressive. If there's ever a flash flood, grab your comforter. So you squeeze and squeeze and work around this heavy thing, which is really hard to do. If you get exhausted, try a different technique. You may have success with a vertical drop and a horizontal tug. You've got to get that air out, but it doesn't have be perfect. Just make progress. Next resume the cycle, and then 5min later pause, squeeze, and resume. Your final goal is to get 90% of the air out, but you won't get there in one wash usually, because the washing part of the cycle is only 20min. What happens is during the spin, the weight of the comforter will push out more air, leaving it like Ken after Barbie left, somewhat deflated. I repeated washed my comforter on Bedding cycle a total of 3 times, using 200 ml, 250 ml, and 300 ml of Nikwax. The final wash it was a tiny little thing with at the bottom of the tub with all of the air pretty much out. It took all day. Then it's on to drying with six wool dryer balls on the lowest heat setting, slow and steady, adjusting things often to avoid hot spots when the comforter expands and blocks the holes. Okay have fun!