Nice way to dry sleeping bags

This is my first post here, so hello! Just wanted to tell you how A-frame ladders are great for air drying sleeping bags.

Okay, so you are fearful that washing your expensive sleeping bag will decrease the loft... so afraid, your bag has now become almost uninhabitable from the accumulated odor. The truth is that occasional washing, when done right, can renew the loft in your bag. REI offers an excellent guide on caring for sleeping bags, but I wanted to toss in just one tip on drying your bag.

Avoid using a machine dryer, unless the heat can be turned off entirely or you check the bag every few minutes. One of my friends borrowed my first sleeping bag and afterward, decided to "do me a favor" and wash and dry it. The bag literally melted to the inside of the dryer. Not good.

The method I prefer is good, old fashioned air drying. Depending what the temperature and cloud cover is like, this can take 4-12 hours, so consider it a project. I wash my bag once every thirty camp-nights or so and hang it to dry on an A-frame ladder. This allows me to angle the bag at the sun, and holds the bag open to air out.



I posted this same thing on my hiking blog:
http://www.walksomewhere.com/2012/03/cleaning-and-drying-sleeping-bags.html

Great idea! I usually just hang my bags on the clothes line a railing or fence and flip them over on occasion.

You will never want to borrow my sleeping bag! I wash my bag about once every five years and am out well over 30 nights each year. I am lucky to have a large capacity dryer with a no-heat setting. But even at that, I still put it out in the sunshine to get that good smell. Great idea. But, be sure your ladder is clean! My outdoor yard ladder is not one I would use.

I haven't had any trouble with using my dryer for my sleeping bag. However, I run it about 1 minute on low heat and then 4 minutes with no heat. That's enough to remove any dampness and fluff it up.

When I washed it, I used my DIL's large capacity (bigger than the laundromat) front loading washer and her large capacity dryer, on which low heat really is low! I followed to the letter the directions on the Western Mountaineering website and the bag ended up with more loft than when it was new!

Always feel inside the washer or dryer for snags before using it, unless you want a large collection of loose down!

You can tell when the bag needs washing when the loft diminishes and won't fluff up. That's usually due to an invasion of sweat, dirty, body oils.

When out backpacking, I generally decorate small conifer trees with my sleeping bag and wet socks, although I do take cord in case the trees remain wet.

NM

Interesting. I have never had a truly wet sleeping bag so I just lay it out open on the couch for 24 hours when it is a bit damp. I have washed down bags and dried them in the dryer and that works okay as near as I can tell. Thanks for he tip.

Thanks for that tip. Great pix and website, BTW.

Thanks for all the tips, and the compliment!

Good idea...even if you don't wash it. Mine usually need a good air drying after a trip in any case!

wow daisy, you wash your bag every 5 years!!!!!

I washed a sleeping bag once, maybe 3 decades ago - don't use that one anymore.
Jim

I put some comments here than changed my mind because it sounded a bit negative but here I go again..
If you are drying a down bag, hanging a wet bag by the foot box like that can put too much pressure on the lower baffles causing them to fail.
A better way is to use something like a portable clothes line (or indeed a standard clothes line...) and drape it over that spreading the load.
(that is why you are meant to use the cotton bag to carry your wet sleeping bag from the tab to outside)
As a side note, a bag will dry faster black side to the sun.
Franco