DOWN CARE MADE EASY

You’ve invested in a down jacket but how you care for it makes a big difference to its longevity. Find out how with the help of Grangers.

The prospect of needing to wash your down jacket can appear to be your worst nightmare: the idea that your beloved down-filled jacket (that you’ve spent a lot of money on) could all of a sudden meet its end in a ‘washing machine massacre’. Well, fear no more, Grangers has the answer.

We all love our down jackets, they’re often our favourites: the ones that keep us warm and dry so we can stay outdoors for longer. However, when you think about it, they’re also the ones that probably haven’t actually been washed for a very long time. That’s because that fear exists and it’s the same for so many people. We’ve spoken to many of you who are scared of ruining your down jacket and having to fork out all that money to replace it and potentially not find one that keeps you quite as snug. 

Grangers recognises this fear - we've spoken to many of you who have openly admitted that they’d rather their down jacket pong a bit than risk washing it. This is why we originally created our Down Wash Kit. This kit is quite simple. Included, you have a bottle of Grangers Down Wash and three green dryer balls, but this simple kit really has made so many of you feel prepared to regularly take care of your down. 

Simple to use, you add a capful of Down Wash to your washing machine in place of your usual detergent and set your washing machine cycle according to care label instructions. At the end of the washing cycle, take your down jacket out of the machine, check the down is distributed evenly and then it’s time to tumble dry. 

Put the jacket in the tumble dryer, add the dryer balls and set the required temperature. Periodically, interrupt the drying cycle to check the down is distributed evenly and then, once completely dry, your favourite down jacket will be good as new! This kit is also great for down sleeping bags and we’ve even gone as far as to use it on our duvets.

We’ve had a few people question why they need to purchase the kit when they could simply buy Grangers Down Wash and just use tennis balls. Well tennis balls for down is actually a myth that needs busting. The use of tennis balls can be far too aggressive and crush the down inside your jacket, leaving a less-than-desired effect. This is why Grangers dryer balls are the best approach, as they are gentle and light, and they properly help to restore the loft in down-filled and synthetic down-filled articles.

Well, Grangers has several solutions; you can use the Down Repel as an extra wash-in cycle or our personal favourite is the new Down Care Kit. This follows the same principle as the Down Wash Kit but, instead of Down Wash, the kit includes the new unique 2 in 1 Down Wash + Repel with its matching blue dryer balls. This product ensures that your favourite down-filled jacket will keep you warm and dry for longer, by cleaning and proofing your down or synthetic down-filled article in one wash cycle. And we have to be honest, this two-in-one product definitely solves all our down fears!

To top it off, this product, which is completely new and like nothing else on the market, is bluesign® approved, so not only is it water-based and PFC-free, it also has the bluesign® accreditation, which guarantees environmental responsibility throughout its entire production chain. It’s fantastic to know that we can look after our gear with environmentally-responsible aftercare meaning that we can minimise our environmental footprint, and protect the world we live in, so we can continue to explore more in the future. 

It’s great to know this solution exists to take care of down, so we can avoid the headache and bust the down aftercare myth once and for all!