Let me start with the conclusion. If you can wash it by hand, wash it by hand. After checking the clothes tag, light down with a down content of less than 200g can be washed. If it is more than 200g, try to wash it by hand. It is only recommended to use a drum washing machine.
1. Why can’t the down jacket be machine washed?
The laundry label it comes with says that it cannot be machine washed or dry cleaned, and can only be hand washed in warm water. I want to know if it really cannot be machine washed? What are the consequences?
First explain why some cannot be machine washed, because the rubbing force of the washing machine is very strong. The down in the down jacket is actually the same as the dandelions on the roadside. Similarly, if the washing power is strong, the fluff on it will break away from the velvet (equivalent to the stems of dandelions). In this way, even if it is repeatedly beaten to become fluffy after washing, the fluff will not be as fluffy as before because there is no support from the velvet. .
Left down, right dandelion
Without fluffy down, it is impossible to store more air and keep warm. Sex is also destined to decline, which is the core key to why it cannot be machine washed.
Even for washing, it is only recommended to use a more gentle drum washing machine (because it is gentle, the cleaning power of the drum washing machine is not as good as that of the pulsator), especially the old double-cylinder pulsator washing machine.
Just don’t use him to harm your precious down jacket.
How to
There is another key point that cannot be machine washed, which is a very cold knowledge. . . .
Have you heard that washing down jackets can cause the washing machine to explode????
The down jacket exploded and was damaged Washing machine
Case 1: In 2016, a down jacket exploded in a washing machine. According to Yinchuan Evening News, a mother was washing her down jacket in a washing machine when an explosion suddenly occurred. The 6-year-old child next to her was scratched in the eye by fragments of the washing machine and is currently receiving treatment.
Case 2: In 2013, a woman in Shijiazhuang was washing her down jacket in a washing machine at home. Suddenly there was a “bang” and the washing machine “exploded”. The down jacket was blown into several pieces and the lid of the washing machine was blown off. .
Case 3: In January 2014, a woman in Zhengzhou exploded while using a washing machine to wash her down jacket. She then complained about the quality of the washing machine and was told by the salesperson that the instruction manual clearly stated: Do not wash the down jacket.
. . . . .
There are quite a lot of news like this. In fact, the phenomenon of down jacket explosion mainly occurs during dehydration and spin-drying.
This process is because down jackets are very special clothes and their fabric density is particularly high. The first purpose is to prevent wind, and the second purpose is to reduce down lint.
In addition, down is a protein fiber and can easily deteriorate when exposed to moisture. The manufacturer will also apply a waterproof coating on the surface of this down jacket fabric, but this coating further hinders the breathability.
When the down jacket is washed and moistened, the down filled inside will gather together, causing large gaps in the down jacket. Coupled with the airtight fabric and moisture blockage, the down jacket is like a big balloon. It spins very fast during the spin-drying process and the air cannot be discharged immediately. It will explode violently in the sealed washing machine.
These factors make down jackets unsuitable for machine washing, especially those with a particularly high down content, let alone machine washing.
However, for light down below 200g, it is still no problem to use the gentle setting of a drum washing machine. The lower the down filling grams, the less the impact of the washing machine on the down jacket.
2. What are the disadvantages of dry cleaning down jackets?
Whether it is machine washed or hand washed, as long as the down jackets are washed, the thermal insulation effect will decrease. This is determined by the characteristics of down itself. Not only does the down fall off from the down, but the down comes from animals such as ducks and geese, which secrete a layer of oil into their own down, which allows the down to be preserved longer.
For example, dry cleaning, which is most recommended by everyone, has a very good cleaning effect, but it has a strong damage to the oil on the surface of down. This is why many dry-cleaned down jackets become wet once they are wetted by rain and snow. , there is often a faint smell of feathers. More serious mildew spots can be directly exposed.
Moldy down jacket
So friends from the Northeast who are deeply interested in keeping warm are basically concerned about down jackets. Wash it once or twice a winter. After all, it won’t be warm after washing it once. When washing down jackets, some people will wash them in snowdrifts like minks, using snowflakes and ice crystals with large specific surface areas to bring out stains. The crystallization of life~
3. How to wash down jackets?
The best way is to apply laundry detergent directly to the severely stained area, moisten it for half a day, and then use warm water of water and a superfine denier cloth. When washing a large area, take out the hanger and hang the down jacket in the bathroom, smear the clothes with laundry detergent like washing a car, and spray it with warm water.Wipe. (Wool clothes are also washed in this way)
The old rule when drying is to beat it repeatedly with a hanger to break up the reunited down and fluff it up. If you have a dryer at home, it is highly recommended. used.
If it still cannot be removed, you should consider whether the stain is a stubborn stain other than grease, dander, and dirt. Some methods are needed to remove it better.
Cleaning methods for different stains – Yao Weiming www.zhihu.com
Specialized for collar netting and the like Is the product effective?
It is effective! But I don’t dare to use other brands casually.
It contains a chemical substance called APEO (alkylphenol polyoxyethylene ether), which has a particularly good washing effect and is of high quality and low price.
It has a strong cleaning and degreasing effect, but it is a type of biological hormone and is strictly prohibited. Don’t buy any off-brand detergent that you haven’t heard of. Some of them don’t even have the manufacturer’s address clearly marked on them.
Normal laundry detergent is enough, but it still feels unclean. I only recommend buying daily chemical brands that you are familiar with. They also have products specially developed for cleaning down jackets. For those miscellaneous brands, there are really 10,000. Not recommended.
Waterproof fabric
For down jackets that are splash-proof, oil-proof, dirt-proof, and three-proof, It’s true that it doesn’t get dirty easily, but if it does get dirty, it’s several times more difficult to wash than ordinary clothes. Because the principle of washing clothes is to moisten, oil stains cannot be washed away directly with water, but after adding laundry detergent, the surfactant in it can moisten the oil stains and wash them clean.
Those fabrics with three-proof functions are coated with chemical substances such as fluorocarbon polymers and acrylates that can repel water (waterproofing is not magical at all)
Yao Weiming: The hazards of PFOA substances in waterproofing agents). Once stains are stained, it is difficult to re-wet them. Therefore, for down jackets made of three-proof fabrics, it is only recommended to buy medium and dark colors. It is better to hold on to your restless heart for light or fluorescent colors.
