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.