You may be able to find down wash at an outdoor gear store, or at a store that sells down pillows and comforters. Wash in cold or warm water on a gentle cycle and add an extra rinse. Dry in the dryer, not too hot, and throw in a couple of tennis balls to help fluff the down. Ensure thorough drying.

For the polyfill coat, it will wash just fine with regular detergent and an extra rinse. Since it's bulky, you should have some smaller items in the wash to help balance the load. You may want to use white vinegar in the softener dispenser to ensure a good rinse. Dry with tennis balls.

I got down wash at REI and it worked great. The second time I washed my down comforter I completely forgot about the down wash and used Tide HE and it doesn't seem to have caused any problems, but I'll go back to the REI stuff next time.

I put a tennis ball in a clean white sock and it worked really well to fluff up the comforter.

Do a Google search for "down soap" or "down detergent." Friend of mine has a queen-size down comforter that we washed a couple months ago in my Whirlpool Calypso using Nikwax Down Wash. It's kinda sudsy in the bottle, but NO suds in the machine so it would work fine in a frontloader. It's supposed to be deodorizing, but has a mild chemical scent, not perfumed. Her comforter had some, uhhhh, cat stains, on it. We pretreated the stains first with direct application of the Nikwax, then used a generous dose in the machine. She was pleased with the results.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nikwax Down Wash

That's the same one I got at REI.

Go to Wal/Mart and in the sporting goods section they have a bottle of "Sport Wash"-white bottle-orange label made by Atsko. It says it is scent destroying detergent for sports and hunting clothes. Also says"Restores loft and effectiveness to down and synthetic insulation". I use this to wash down pillows and they really fluff up and have no smell afterward,plus it is very reasonably priced.

Washed many down jackets, sleeping bags, and pillows in my Duet. Used Woolite in very small amount because it sudses like crazy. (I have soft water.) Don't know but suspect "down soaps" are likely suds-monsters, too, so take it easy. Extra rinse. Tumble-dry with tennis balls and take out and fluff and rest a couple times during the cycle -- easy does it with drying. Excellent results.

Just watch the suds issue and you'll be fine.

I've been washing down items for more than three decades.

Do use special down soap, not the products made for de-scenting hunting gear (even if the label says to do so). Don't use woolite or lingerie soaps, they can gum up down, destroying the natural loft.

You can buy down soaps from camping stores and by mail order from Cuddledown.

Use only small quantities of the soap (less than a tablespoon, probably more like a teaspoon or two, max.)

Here's the drill:

Inspect the item very carefully for tiny rips and tears that can leak down. Make repairs as necessary; if you're resewing or patching use tiny stitches, and use oodles of them.

Pre-spot any really stained areas with a small amount of the down soap. Rub it in, let it set, then rinse and repeat. In the worst cases, you may be able to push the down aside enough to use stronger pre-treaters, but must work to keep them away from the down and rinse well before going on. I usually err on the conservative side since additional dirt will be washed away, but weakened fabric or too-harsh treatment of the down can do more damage than a small stain.

Remove any detachable hoods. Childrens clothes probably dont have draw strings, but on adult items secure the draw strings in way that doesn't draw in the item.

Assemble a mixed lot of down things of about the total bulk of an adult's jacket. (Except of course for comforters and sleeping bags, which are larger. These can be done singley, even in the smaller European 5K machines, but present other challenges.)

Put the items in the machine and run a cold, or barely warm fill, short or no agitation, rinse and spin cycle, with no detergent. The purpose of this cycle is to force the air out of the down item using the machine's power. If the items look squashed,"drowned rat" is my usual description, you have suceeded.

Now, begin another cycle with warm water and a small amount of the down detergent. Do NOT use regular detergent and do NOT use any fabric softener. This is the actual washing cycle. This should should be a gentle action, relatively short wash, high water level cycle. It's perfectly OK to have a normal spin, in fact it will make getting the tiems dry easier.

Move the stuff to the dryer and dry on low for about 45 min to an hour. I use plastic rings made of nylon (like Nylabone dog toys) to help get the down broken up but I don't use them for the first half hour or so to limit wear on the fabric. I prefer to remove the items from the dryer at this point and give them a couple of hours outdoors on a sunny breezy day, followed by a final period of drying in the dryer with the Nylabone rings. It can take several hours of dryer time, so don;t be surprised. At each change over I feel the item carefully to locate any hidden pockets of wet down and nudge them apart. The items are dry when they feel and look dry, puffy and lightweight. But if you are going to store them for the season I would hang them in an airy place for an additional couple of days just to make sure all the moisture is out. Down stuff stored with even a trace of moisture will be ghastly when you get it out again. Better safe than sorry on that.

If you have a "down emergency" in either the washer or dryer, stop the machine and collect all the loose down and sew it and the leaking item into an amply-sized cloth packet and continue on with the process. For a child's jacket you would need a pillowcase, larger items need larger encasements. Afterwards you can find the hole(s), restuff the down and close things up tidily.

Unless forced by an unexpected event, don't start a down cleaning project unless you will have time to carry it through with no delays. Wet down items (or worse yet, wet feather items like pillows)can get irremediably vile in less than a day if the drying process is not substantially completed.

Molly~

I have used the Sport Wash many times on down pillows with no problems. It doesn't have any suds either. You can order it online from Atsko. I don't see the difference in the "camping store" and Wal/Mart because in their sporting goods you can get any "camping" item you need along with the Sport Wash. It doesn't have any brighteners or a lot of additives and it leaves no residue. Without all the additives it doesn't damage or strip the down out but I guess what works for one doesn't always work for another.

Sparky usually the descenting "sports washes" are designed to work by removing proteinaceous residue (skin cells) and fat molecules from hunting clothing as these are prime carriers of human scent. Products which do that very effectively will, over time, also break down the down which is made of proteins and strip the necessary oils. That's why I recommended a specific down cleaning product.

Heck, I've read here (with amazement and horror) of people who used Tide with bleach alternative and fabric softener on their down clothing. But just because it didn't ruin their things on the first try doesn't mean it won't cause damage down the road, if repeated. Since down cleaning products are now readily available, very longlasting (I've been working on the same gallon jug for nearly two decades) and not expensive, it seems wiser to try and use them where possible.

Last fall I was looking at new down jackets and happened to be at a North Face store when a company sales rep was there. I was wearing my North Face down vest which I purchased in college in 1971. I have been washing it at least twice a year for thirty-five years, and it still looks so nice that the rep tried to buy it back from me for their collection. No way, I expect to get another 30 years from it!

I also should add that I only wash down items in FLs (whether home or commercial machines). The agitators in top loaders can wreak havoc on the heavy, bulky masses of down items and rip them to shreds. Not to mention a TL's rinsing capability is generally much poorer than a FL. Thorough rinsing is the most essential thing in care of down. (After the right soap, natch!)

Molly~