How to Wash and Store a Winter Coat
A winter coat is usually the most expensive garment someone owns and the one they are most afraid to wash. So it does not get washed, and it loses performance anyway, because the thing that kills insulation is not washing. It is dirt.
Body oils and grime coat the fibres and stop them lofting. A dirty down jacket is a colder down jacket.
Read the label first
Everything below assumes the label allows it. Wool coats and anything tailored usually need dry cleaning, and that is not negotiable. Puffers and synthetics are generally washable.
Washing a puffer or down jacket
- Empty the pockets and close every zip. Open zips catch and tear fabric in the drum.
- Use a front loading machine if you can. The centre agitator in a top loader is hard on baffles. A laundrette machine is better than forcing it into a small drum at home.
- Use a technical wash or a small amount of mild detergent. Regular detergent leaves residue that flattens down. No fabric softener, ever. It coats the fibres and destroys loft.
- Gentle cycle, cool water, extra rinse. Detergent left in the fill is the main cause of clumping.
- Dry it low and slow, in a tumble dryer, with two or three clean tennis balls. This is the step people skip and it is the most important one. The balls break up wet clumps of down as it dries. Expect this to take a few hours. Take it out and shake it out periodically.
A down jacket that is line dried will come out lumpy and thin. It is not ruined, it just needs a proper tumble to recover.
Synthetic insulation
More forgiving. Same approach, but drying is faster and clumping is less of a risk. Still low heat, because high heat can melt synthetic fill and shell coatings.
Wool coats
Brush after wearing, spot clean marks quickly, and dry clean once or twice a season rather than constantly. Dry cleaning solvent is hard on wool over time. Air the coat overnight on a wide hanger between wears and it will need cleaning far less.
Reviving water repellency
If water stops beading on the surface and soaks in instead, the factory finish has worn off. It is renewable with a spray on or wash in treatment, and most need low heat afterwards to activate. Clean the garment first, because the treatment will not bond to dirt.
Storing over summer
- Wash or clean it before storing, not after. Body oils and food marks attract moths and set permanently over months.
- Store down and puffers loosely. Compressing them for months damages the fill. Hang on a wide hanger or lay flat in a breathable bag.
- Never use a sealed plastic bag. Trapped moisture leads to mildew. Cotton garment bags breathe.
- Keep wool away from moths with cedar or lavender in a closed wardrobe. Moths eat natural fibres, not synthetics.
- Store somewhere dry and dark. Damp basements and hot lofts are both bad.
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