Moldy Puffy

It's been  few years since I posted over here. I had a down puffy and some other climbing clothes in my cellar over the summer and they all got a little moldy mildew. Washed the other stuff with some oxyclean and it looks/ smells fine. Not sure what to do about the puffy I was wondering if any one had dealt with this before?

Doug Hillwrote:

It's been  few years since I posted over here. I had a down puffy and some other climbing clothes in my cellar over the summer and they all got a little moldy mildew. Washed the other stuff with some oxyclean and it looks/ smells fine. Not sure what to do about the puffy I was wondering if any one had dealt with this before?

Maybe wash it? 

https://www.outdoorresearch.com/blog/how-to-wash-your-down-jacket

Well I wasnt going to just pray that it got better. I guess I was looking to see if anyone had any experience washing down garments/ sleeping bags that had some degree of mold or mildew exposure. The reason being is that the down wash is pretty mild stuff so I didn't want to go buy a bottle and have it not work.

I've had gear go moldy. I washed it with like any other clothing/equipment and everything was fine. I've started washing my gear more these days and I've found cleaning the oils and grime off extend the life more than any deterioration from soaps/water/drying etc. shortens the lifespan. Wash away my dirty brethren.

Spot clean the moldy area with a detergent, then place in the wash on warm with a modest amount of mild detergent ( preferably an unscented one without any other crazy ingredients ) this will ensure that the coating on the down feathers wont deteriorate. Then dry on delicate with a 2 or 3 tennis balls in the dryer to prevent the down from clumping up in the process. You may need to do the dryer 2 times. Should be good. Just did this to mine and it came out good as new. 

Nikwax makes a down wash detergent.  I use it for my down jacket and sleeping bag and haven't noticed a difference in performance, but how can one really tell.  

I wash my puffy with the regular wash every time no problem. Just dry it on low heat

I wash my down jackets every couple of weeks. I let them air dry.

I know, the dryer fluffs them so nicely, but mine get wasted so much I let them air dry. A good shake and they fluff up.

I appreciate the advice. Im going to pick up some downwash this week.  

Picked up some nikwax down wash direct. I wish I took pictures. I've had this coat since 2009. Its a Mountain Hardware Puffy. 2 years ago it was well worn with that greasy look old puffy sometimes get. Then the mold got a hold of it. It was so gross I was thinking of throwing it away. After washing it it looks brand new. Pretty cool. Tumble dryed low with some tennis balls to break up the clumps.

Doug Hillwrote:

Picked up some nikwax down wash direct. I wish I took pictures. I've had this coat since 2009. Its a Mountain Hardware Puffy. 2 years ago it was well worn with that greasy look old puffy sometimes get. Then the mold got a hold of it. It was so gross I was thinking of throwing it away. After washing it it looks brand new. Pretty cool. Tumble dryed low with some tennis balls to break up the clumps.

Glad you had a good outcome and received the information necessary to avoid prayer as an intervention.