Why is it that my down jacket, which I bought only a few years ago, is no longer warm? It turns out that many people have made these two mistakes!

These days, those who can buy a new down jacket without batting an eyelid are all ruthless people. After all, the price of down jackets is indeed a bit "out of reach" this year.

Many people can only pull out the down jackets that have been gathering dust for years from the deepest part of their closets... However, some people say that old down jackets are no longer warm, so can you still wear down jackets that you bought several years ago? Do down jackets really have a "lifespan"?

Let me give you the answer first: Yes, but it has a lot to do with how you use it.

Improper storage

Destroyed the down in the down jacket

The key to keeping warm a down jacket lies in the down filling it contains, and the loss of warmth retention performance of a down jacket is mainly due to the down itself being no longer effective.

Whether it is goose down or duck down, they both have a certain service life. Goose down has a relatively long service life of about 15 years, while duck down has a service life of only about 10 years. During long-term use, the tiny down hairs and feathers will break and decompose, resulting in a decrease in the warmth retention effect of the down jacket. Improper storage methods will further shorten the life of the down, making it no longer warm after three to five years or even one to two years.

Every winter, in order to store down jackets, many people will choose to put them in vacuum compression bags and take them out until the next winter. However, this long-term compression and squeezing will actually greatly damage the three-dimensional structure of the down. Even if it is restored next year, the warmth retention performance will be much worse than before.

Down can be divided into feathers, down, down silk and other types according to their different shapes. Down jackets mainly rely on down to keep warm. According to the national standard GB/T14272-2021 "Down Clothing", a qualified down jacket must have a down content of more than 50% to be qualified.

The down is a three-dimensional structure formed by multiple filaments radiating from a down core. From the outside, it looks like a large dandelion, presenting a three-dimensional spherical structure.

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Compared with down fibers and feathers, down can store a lot of still air through its thin and hollow down fibers, feathers, and three-dimensional spherical structure. A large amount of air can be locked between down fibers and between down. The combination of down and still air can greatly delay the loss of heat from the human body, thereby achieving a thermal insulation effect.

It can be said that the warmth-keeping effect of a down jacket depends to a large extent on the thickness of the still air layer formed by the down inside the clothes.

However, prolonged violent compression will cause the feathers of the down to be bent for a long time, and even the entire down will break directly . Even if it is re-inflated, the down cannot return to its original upright state. Not only will the fluffiness of the entire down jacket be much less than before and "thinner", but its thermal insulation performance will also be greatly reduced.

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Similarly, if you put a down jacket under other clothes or heavy objects for a long time, the three-dimensional structure of the down will be damaged, which will greatly reduce the warmth retention effect of the down jacket. If you store your down jacket roughly like this after every winter, the down jacket will naturally not last for a few years.

Correct storage method:

If conditions are suitable, try to hang the down jacket in a clean and dry environment and avoid squeezing it with surrounding clothes to keep it fluffy. If you really need to compress it for storage, try not to compress it too much, and keep it at 2/3 of its original volume. Try not to stack the compressed down jacket horizontally to prevent the weight of other clothes from further damaging the structure of the down.

Improper cleaning method

Many people wash it wrong.

In daily wear, down jackets are inevitably stained with various dust and stains. In a year, it is inevitable that they need to be washed several times, and improper cleaning methods are the natural enemy of down jackets.

1

Most down jackets are not suitable for dry cleaning

At the end of the year, many people will send their down jackets to dry cleaners for cleaning. In fact, most down jackets are not suitable for dry cleaning.

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The principle of dry cleaning is to use organic solvents to dissolve stains on the surface of clothing, and then let the organic solvents evaporate, so as to achieve the effect of dry in and dry out. The commonly used dry cleaning agent in laundries is tetrachloroethylene , which has a relatively high cleaning rate and can effectively remove oil stains, stains, etc. on clothing. It is also easy to evaporate and leaves less residue on clothing.

However, tetrachloroethylene will also destroy the protein components in the down, causing the down to become hard and affecting the warmth retention of the down. In addition, tetrachloroethylene also has a strong degreasing effect, which will also cause the down to feel, become hard, and lose its fluffiness.

In addition, perchloroethylene will also affect the windproofness of some down jackets . Many fabrics rely on coatings to achieve windproof and waterproof properties, and perchloroethylene will react with most coatings, causing the coatings to fall off or crack, which will also greatly affect the warmth retention of down jackets.

As mentioned above, the static air layer formed by the down is the key to the warmth of down jackets, and the windproof and waterproof fabric is actually a protective wall outside the air layer. It is precisely because the fabric has windproof properties that the outside wind cannot blow into the down jacket, allowing the static air layer formed by the down to play a role. If the windproof performance of the fabric decreases, it will naturally affect the warmth performance of the down jacket.

Therefore, many down jackets are clearly marked "Do not dry clean" on the washing label, but unfortunately most people do not pay attention to it.

2

In fact, down jackets are more suitable for washing.

In comparison, down jackets are more suitable for washing. However, washing is not as simple as throwing them into a drum washing machine and stirring them vigorously - this is absolutely fatal to down jackets.

When the down is wet, it will clump together due to the repeated high-speed rotation and stirring of the drum, and the entangled down structure will also be destroyed. Moreover, after drying, the down will continue to clump together, and the down in the entire down jacket cannot be evenly distributed, and a static air layer of uniform thickness cannot be formed, and the warmth retention performance is also affected. In some extreme unexpected cases, drum washing can even cause the down jacket to burst on the spot.

Due to problems with the fabric and stitching, some down jackets will face more or less down penetration. Improper washing methods will pull and damage the fabric, resulting in larger gaps at the fabric joints, making it easier for down to penetrate.

If you want to use a washing machine to wash down jackets, it is best to choose a special down jacket washing mode. If the washing machine does not have a corresponding mode, you can choose the gentle gear and soak and wet the down before washing to make the down relatively evenly moistened. This can also reduce the damage to the down caused by washing. Light and thin down jackets can also be washed by hand. In addition to the washing method, you should also choose a medium-sized detergent or a special detergent for down jackets when washing down jackets to avoid other detergents from damaging the down ingredients.

After washing the down jacket, do not wring out the water, just squeeze out the water gently and let it dry. When drying, don't forget to pat the down jacket so that the gathered down can be dispersed and fully dried.

If you find it troublesome, you can choose to buy a dark or black down jacket. This way, the frequency of washing can be reduced. After all, there is no need to wash down jackets frequently. If it is a small stain, you can use a special dry cleaning agent to clean it . If the down jacket is stained with odor due to eating hot pot, barbecue and other foods with strong odors, you can choose the air washing mode of the washing machine to clean it to reduce the damage to the down caused by washing.

All in all, as long as it is properly maintained, the service life of a down jacket can reach more than ten years, which is actually very long.

Planning and production

Author: Hydra popular science author

Reviewer: Miaofei Gu, PhD in Chemical Engineering

Planning丨Yinuo

Editor: Yinuo

Proofread by Xu Lai and Lin Lin