Again, clean and dry. First, when one leaves his sleeping bag in the morning, the bag should be vigorously shaken and fluffed to remove the warm, moist air trapped in the insulation. This helps insure a lofty, dry bag the next night. After a trip where the bag has not been totally soaked, the only thing one needs to do when back home is to sponge off, with mild antibacterial soap, the opening where the face oils, spittle and food residue might have built up. Then put the bag in a dryer on “synthetic” or “low heat” setting for fifteen minutes. Then, put in the storage bag, a pillow case or hang in a closet for storage. If the bag comes home seriously wet, roll the bag up tightly with towels to absorb as much moisture as possible, then put in dryer on “synthetic” or “low heat”. If the bag is synthetic fill, thirty to forty five minutes is usually sufficient. If the bag is down filled, a few tennis balls or small running shoes without metal eyelets should be added to the dryer, to break up down clumps, when the bag is almost completely dry. Down bags usually take two to three times the time to dry as synthetic bags. Please keep in mind that dryer temperatures over about 125 degrees F will relax the loft generating “crimps” in the polyester fill, thereby reducing loft and the insulating value of the bag. Such high heat also makes the down pods brittle, similarly ruining insulation value. A long dry cycle at low heat is always better than a short one at high heat.

Significant loss of loft or objectionable odors are signs that the bag needs laundering. Modern synthetic and down bags are quite robust, but one should still avoid top loading “agitator” type washing machines. Front loaders are best, and check the interior for sharp edges that can pick or tear the fabric. Use a special “gear soap” like the one from Nik Wax, or a down soap as appropriate. Harsh detergents will strip the oils out of down, and remove the slick silicone coating on synthetic fibers, thus reducing loft and insulation value. (By the way, Woolite is very harsh) Wash, rinse “warm” and run again without soap to insure total rinse. Roll in towels, and dry in low heat dryer as above.