Washing Down Coats

We're totally into summer weather and temperatures here now, so my afghans are put away for the season and my fan is set up so that I can cool down at night and actually get some sleep. It was time to wash the winter coats and then hang them away until needed again. That necessitated some tennis balls, several hours, and the ability to ignore galoomping noises from my laundry room.

The key to washing down is to not destroy the qualities of
the down stuffing while cleaning the exterior of the coat or
comforter. I decided to trust the washing instructions of the
manufacturer. 

The directions on DH's and my down coats were clear - wash in cold water with a mild detergent in a delicate cycle, then dry on low setting with three tennis balls. I don't play tennis, and didn't have any balls lying around, so during yesterday's shopping trip to Target, I picked up a tube of balls along with the paper towels and groceries. Late in the afternoon after I finally got the weekly laundry finished, I was able to begin washing and drying the coats.

DH's coat is similar to this - a bright brick red
color to allow visibility in our snowbanks.
The first thing was to clean out and zip up all
pockets, then zip the front zipper. All openings
needed to be closed before washing.
(No, this is NOT DH.) 

Washing was no problem - they needed a good clean. The two coats already seemed much happier as I transferred them into the dryer. Adding the tennis balls to the load of two coats, I set the temp to low and the timer to one hour, turned the dryer on, and walked away. Those balls were loud! I could hear them in the background from other parts of the house and other floors. I had to listen to that galoomping noise for more than four hours before I declared the coats to be dry. As I hung the clean coats back into the coat closet in the front entryway, I was pleased. One more part of winter is now behind me. Time to embrace summer.

Adding tennis balls to the dryer seems ridiculous (and is loud), but it really
works to strike and shift the clumped stuffing in coats and comforters. The other
key is making sure things are completely dried before ending the load.
My two coats took more than four hours to dry completely in low temps with
the tennis balls playing along. The coats turned out wonderfully clean
and fluffy, though. 

I hope all of you have a really wonderful Thursday. Stay safe as you do your errands and travel to and from your home today. It's a crazy world we live in and people's tempers are far too volatile right now. It's so tempting to enter my cave and just pull the rock over the entryway, sealing the outside world away. So tempting....