On 26 Sep 2003 at 11:56, Rcgibbert_at_aol.com wrote: > A. Don't wash it. I would not recommend washing it frequently, but never washing it is not a good idea IMHO. You can minimize the washing frequency by using a bag liner, but you will still get some oil and stuff from you body into the bag. This will affect the fill. Since too much washing also affects the fill, you have to wash only enough to remove these oils and stuff but not so much to damage the fill. Depending on usage, once a year is a lot to me. I think we average about 2-3 years (twenty-thirty nights out per year) between washing for the synthetics and maybe 4-5 years for the down (which gets less use). That's with a liner. I use a down washing soap from Nik Wax. There are other brands recommended by your sleeping bag's manufacturer. As far as drying it, some folks consider the tennis ball thing to be old advice and recommend against it. I'd certainly never put a running shoe in there, as you'd really beat up the sleeping bag. When Amie and I bought our washer and drier, I argued in favour of a front load washer and large capacity drier on the basis of $$$ vs energy consumption with a secondary argument that they allow us to clean our sleeping bags at home. Front loaders have no agitator, use less soap and water and are better for a sleeping bag. If you don't want an agitator, why would you then beat up the sleeping bag in the drier? A large capacity drier with a very low heat setting will allow you to dry the bag gently and slowly. No softeners!!! Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Sep 26 2003 - 11:35:13 PDT
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