At present, the common washing marks on the washing labels of down jacket products of various brands are as follows:
The meanings are hand wash, do not bleach, dry flat in the shade, do not tumble dry, do not iron, and do not dry clean. There are many articles on the Internet that guide how to wash and care for down jackets, but few people can explain why down jackets should be washed and cared for in this way, and what problems will happen if they are not washed and cared for in this way? Now the author combines 18 years of industry work experience to answer the above two reasons point by point, and introduces the knowledge of down jacket cleaning and care in detail.
1. Use neutral detergent
Down is a natural protein fiber, which is naturally weakly acidic, acid-resistant and not alkali-resistant, and is suitable for use with neutral washing liquid; using alkaline washing liquid can greatly reduce the layer of protective oil on the surface of the down, reducing the natural waterproof performance of the down, and then Down becomes brittle, with less loft and less warmth.
2. Do not soak for a long time
Down has all kinds of benefits, but one of its natural enemies is water. The author once organized an experiment where the velvet bag was pressed in water. After 24 hours, the velvet bag began to have a slight sour smell. After 48 hours, the velvet bag gave off the smell of protein corruption. After 72 hours, the smell of protein corruption from the velvet bag was unbearable. It can be seen that if the down jacket is soaked in water for more than 24 hours, then the down jacket basically cannot be worn because of the smell.
3. Hand wash at low temperature
Few people want to wash down jackets by hand in winter, but why do manufacturers still require hand washing instead of machine washing? There are three main reasons for this. First, when the down jacket is machine washed and dehydrated, the quilting pinholes of the down jacket are impacted by water flow and centrifugal force, the pinholes will become larger, and the fiber voids in the surface will become larger after washing, and the overall down-proof performance of the down jacket will decrease, which is easy to Pinhole drilling appears; second, there are more and more down jackets spliced with different color surface accessories, and the color-blocked down jackets are easy to stain after machine washing; third: machine-washable surface accessories and the drum wall of the washing machine will produce high-frequency friction, and the surface accessories are likely to be stained. Risk of abrasions. Wash by hand at a water temperature below 40°C, and the washing intensity is low, which can avoid problems caused by machine washing.
4. Do not bleach
Bleaching agents are easy to oxidize fabric dyes, causing fabrics to fade and change color; commonly used bleaching agents contain strong alkaline sodium hypochlorite, and high concentrations of sodium hypochlorite can dissolve down.
5. Squeeze dry
After the down jacket is washed by hand, the down jacket contains a lot of water and cannot be wrung out. Wringing out will easily cause the yarn of the fabric to be deformed and affect the appearance. Gently squeeze the down jacket with your hands to slowly drain the water and avoid the impact of wringing on the fabric.
6. Lay flat in the shade to dry
Lay flat to dry in the shade, one is to prevent fading and discoloration of the fabric caused by direct sunlight. The second is that after the down jacket is squeezed dry, there is still a lot of moisture in the garment, and the weight of the finished garment will increase significantly. If the down jacket is hung up to dry directly, the weight of the water content in the down jacket will increase the load on the quilting line, and the quilting pinhole will become larger, increasing the pinhole drilling chance; and the down in the clothes will fall and clump. After laying flat to dry, the load on each part of the down jacket is small and the force is even, which can avoid the disadvantages of hanging drying.
7. Do not tumble dry
Household drying generally uses a tumble dryer. The surface accessories and the inner wall of the dryer produce high-frequency friction. The stitches are easily drilled when the pinholes are impacted, and the color matching surface accessories are easy to stain during the friction process.
8. Do not iron
During the production process of down jackets, the semi-finished products are generally pressed and the finished products are steam-jet ironed. However, these ironing tasks require professional skills. If there are various problems, it is simply not recommended for users to iron.
9. Do not dry clean
The commonly used dry cleaning agent tetrachlorethylene will cause comprehensive damage to the upholstery and down.
10. Store in a ventilated place
Down jackets are bulky, and the storage space of high-priced homes is generally small nowadays. Users want to put down jackets in vacuum bags, vacuumize them and store them in compression. After long-term vacuum compression of down, firstly, the fluffy degree will decrease, and secondly, after long-term vacuum storage, the smell of duck down is easy to accumulate, and when it is taken out from the vacuum bag, the smell of duck down may not dissipate within a week. Therefore, down should be hung in a ventilated wardrobe to maintain its performance.
The filling of down jackets is special protein fiber down, and its washing and care are quite different from other clothing. If the down jackets are not washed according to the manufacturer’s instructions, various problems are prone to occur. For the sake of safety, down jacket users are requested to wash and care strictly according to the washing label. Of course, some brands that allow users to dry-clean down jackets, please ignore their instructions.
Post time: May-12-2023