Nikwax  Down Wash 2.0 - 10 fl. oz.

We are going to hike the Inca Trail, so I had to pull out my old North Face Unimog that had been packed into a stuff bag for over 20 years. The down was severely compressed, it smelled old and I thought this stuff would never rejuvenate the bag. Wow, was I wrong. I washed the bag with this stuff according to the directions in a front loader, with settings on cold water>bulky (55 minutes). Did three additional rinse/spins to get all the soap out. Did two more spin cycles to get most of the water out. I put the bag in a front loading dryer on a timed setting of 55 minutes on the lowest warmth setting and put 6 tennis balls in with the bag. I dried it twice on the same settings. It came out looking like I had just purchased it. The down had its loft back, no lumps and the fabric was beautiful. This is incredible stuff.

I use this to handwash my ancient TNF down vest as well as my newer WM bag. Excellent cleaner. I wash them when they start to lose loft. This cleaner strips them of my body oil and, after extensive drying, their loft is fully restored. I love having well used gear coming out looking like new, but more so knowing the restored loft will serve me well on those cold nights. Down gear taken care of will last a really long time, and this down wash helps me take care of my investments. What is good in life? Surely seeing a 30-40 year old vest puffed way out, begging you to take it along on another freezing trip!

It came time to wash my down vest and sleeping bag that had both seen heavy use over the last few seasons. The vest had lost a significant amount of loft from being out in the rain, spilled on at parties, and several backpacking and outdoor misshaps, and my sleeping bag had a funk all of its own. Washing down was something that I had dreaded doing and was concerned for these two items, but went out on a limb to use Down Wash. It's the best. My vest and sleeping bag both seem brand new and fully restored. And the smell is gone, which is great for me and anyone who travels with me. I'm glad I still have half the bottle left, I won't hesitate to use it again.

First off, only wash down gear in a front loader. Wringer washers rip up down gear and cause clumping much more so. Remember to rinse the gear you're washing well (I do it twice) and spin dry on LOW 3 times or more. My machine has an extended spin button that I always use. This cuts drying time down a lot and helps prevent clumping too. There aren't many products out there to wash down gear with. Taking them to the dry cleaners is expensive. So, I was thrilled when I found this wash. It works great! Been using it for a number of years now and I've never been disappointed in it's performance. I don't like the bottle or the lid design tho. Any leftover washing liquid that's sitting in the lid after you pour it in the wash, leaks out and runs down the side of the bottle and gets on your hands when you screw it back on. There are no marks in or on the lid to tell you the quantity you are pouring in it, though the bottle says 1 capful, etc.. Maybe I should measure it using a shot glass measuring glass to test this. Lastly, it's wide and makes pouring into the dispenser in my washer messy. As for the bottle, I wish it was either clearer or at least had a clear strip down the side. I'd like to see how much is left in the bottle so I know if I need to buy more before I start to do the washing. Also, a quantity marking on the strip would be helpful too. I want to buy this stuff in 1/2 gallon or full gallon size bottles instead of the little ones; it's not cost effective buying it in these small bottles. When I wash my family's gear, there's a lot of it, so I end up having to run back to the store to buy more cause it never seems to be quite enough. We have a lot of down filled gear that needs washing at least twice a year or more. We need larger bottles! REI, you're supposed to be big on environmentalism. Why don't you pressure the manufacturers of the cleaning and waterproofing products into selling larger quantities? And on that note, give the customers a refill bar!

I washed my down sleeping bag with this in the bathtub, and let it soak for about 10 minutes, then rinsed it out in the bathtub and put it in the dryer. However, it didn't fluff up much, unfortunately, so I tried to fix that. The directions said to rinse using the washing machine, so I decided to put it in the washing machine and maybe that would get out all the soap and fluff it up again. I have a top-load washing machine, so I put it on gentle cycle and added a tiny bit of regular detergent and put in my down sleeping bag. It went through the wash cycle and spin dry, and I think that got out all the soap. Then I put it in the dryer, on low, with some tennis balls, and when it came out, it was really fluffy, clean, and no odor. It looked new again. Very good product. A bit tricky to use since you have to wear gloves according to the directions, and have to make sure to rinse thoroughly with the washing machine to get out all the soap. And one bottle lasts for only a few loads, but it sure cleans great, and the loft of the sleeping bag was very good.

I washed my down bag at a laundromat using a front loader, as everyone recommends, and the bag is clean, but now it has an odd smell. I'm surprised no other reviewers noticed this. I'm thinking of running the bag through a another water wash just to get rid of the smell. (It was dirty before, but not smelly, so definitely a downside of this product for me.) I used the recommended amount of product, but put it in both the soak and wash cycles, so don't recommend that to others.

I've been using Nikwax Down Wash for years. It's all I use to wash my down coats. I don't have a washing machine, so I just wash them by hand. I trust it to keep my down clothing in good condition.

I followed the instructions, and the sleeping bags came out clean and smelled good...not much more to say!

I used NikWax to clean a down-filled REI Sub Kilo 20 sleeping bag. I washed it in my bathtub, as recommended. The bag was quite dirty; NikWax took care of that nicely. The bag is now clean, and as good as new.

My wife and I both have down sleeping bag's that we've been using for sometime now. On our last hike, we noticed that we didn't need to use the Ammo Can's supplied at the campsite to keep the woodland critters away. Since we got back from the hike, I've been looking for a way to clean the sleeping bags. At first the Nikwax seemed a little pricey, but then we called some local dry cleaners. They wanted $30 bucks per sleeping bag to launder them. To clean them, I filled my bathtub 1/4th of the way full with warm water and mixed in about half of the bottle of soap. I worked the water and Nikwax solution into both of the bags real well. Then I rinsed them out a few times with cold water. Next I put them in the washing machine, but only set it to the spin cycle. I ran the spin cycle 3 times, and it got almost all of the water out. After that they went in the dryer for about an hour. No heat, Just tumble dry. I removed them every 20 minutes or so to break up the clumps of down and even it out in the baffles. The sleeping bags came out great, Just as lofty as before, but without any of the smell or dirt. Thanks Nikwax! They smell fresh and clean.