Washing Your Sleeping Bag ©

 

 

Washing and care instructions on a sleeping bag.  Photograph by the Author.

Recently Memorial Day came and went, and in much of the northeastern portion of the United States, this is the day that marks the un-official start of summer.  And for many people, summer is when they head out into the wilderness. 

 

If you are like a lot of people, unfortunately at the end of last summer, you put all your equipment away in a closet or in the basement, and you didn’t think about it again until now.  Did you remember to clean it?

 

Probably not, so now is the time to get everything clean and ship-shape for this summer’s wilderness season.  Do you know how to wash and store your sleeping bag?  It says how on the label, did you ever read it?  Again, probably not, I mean who reads labels, right?  So, let’s talk about it.

 

Washing Your Sleeping Bag

 

First things first, wash your sleeping bag in either cold or warm water, not hot, and wash only with like colors; using only non-chlorine bleach, and only if it is needed.

 

A diagram of an agitator from a Sears Kenmore Top Load washing machine, it can damage your sleeping bag.

When it says on the instructions “Top Load agitator washing machines can damage a sleeping bag”, believe them!  Years ago, I decided to wash a nice, nylon four-season mummy bag in my top load washing machine, instead of going to a laundromat.  I mean what could it hurt, right?!  Well somehow a piece of the nylon shell got stock under the bottom edge of the agitator assembly, and even though it was covered in cold water, the friction melted a three-inch (7.5 cm) gash in my sleeping bag¹, so believe them and use only a Front Load washing machine!

 

Only use a Front Load washing machine, photograph by the Author.

As for drying, the instructions say to use a “large commercial dryer on low or air dry”.  Ever since the fiasco with the washing machine, I have always used a large laundromat dryer or hung my sleeping bag out on a clothesline to dry.

 

It is easier to use a large commercial dryer at the laundromat, photograph by the Author.

And speaking of hanging sleeping bags, I have met a lot of people who I know must not have read the label on their sleeping bag, because they stuff it into a stuff sack and leave it in the closet or on a shelf for months at a time.  The label says “Storage.  Store bag loosely rolled or on a hanger.  Long term storage of a tightly compressed bag may reduce the bag’s thickness and warmth”.  From personal experience I can say that this is definitely true.  During the early 70’s, my Father bought two mummy bags and they were often stored, stuffed into their stuff sacks.  When they were new, they were four-season sleeping bags, today (yes, I still have them) they are only really good for summer use.  The filling clumped while it was compressed in storage and now there are lots of thin spots and gaps that let the cold right on through.

 

Oh, and one more tip, if you have the extra weight capacity and space², pack a sheet, that you can fold and slide into your sleeping bag.  Sleeping between the folds of the sheet, reduces the number of times that you have to launder your sleeping bag, because most of the sweat and grime will be on the sheet, which is much easier to wash.  It is especially helpful (and comfortable) in the summer when it is hot, and you are sweaty and being inside a sleeping bag is way too uncomfortable!

 

Don’t forget to come back next week and read “Weather for Woodsman, Beaufort’s Scale and Determining Wind Speed by Observation ©”, where we will talk about how the wind is blowing and why it is important

 

I hope that you continue to enjoy The Woodsman’s Journal Online and look for me on YouTube at BandanaMan Productions for other related videos, HERE.  Don’t forget to follow me on both The Woodsman’s Journal Online, HERE, and subscribe to BandanaMan Productions on YouTube.  If you have questions, as always, feel free to leave a comment on either site.  I announce new articles on Facebook at Eric Reynolds, on Instagram at bandanamanaproductions, and on VK at Eric Reynolds, so watch for me.

 

That is all for now, and as always, until next time, Happy Trails!

 

 

Notes

 

¹ It worked out in the end, because since the edges of the gash were melted, they didn’t unravel, although now my sleeping bag has an ugly, Frankenstein Monster-like scar running across its middle, where I stitched it back together again.

 

² A queen-sized sheet weighs 16 ounces (454 grams) and when rolled up measures 8 inches high with a circumference of about 13 inches ( 20 cm high with a circumference of 33 cm)