When you spin dry your down jacket, your washing machine explodes? This is because...

The cold winter is coming to an end, and it’s time to wash and put away the down jackets you’ve worn for a season. At this time, down jackets have become a hot topic again.

In the video, the woman showed the washing machine that had been damaged by the explosion. The entire outer shell of the machine had been completely cracked and the internal drum had also been deformed.

"Explosion" occurred when drying a down jacket丨Beijing Satellite TV

This isn’t the first time a down jacket has “exploded”… In the past decade, there have been news reports of down jackets exploding in washing machines every year.

I can’t just throw this down jacket I’ve worn for several months into the closet without washing it...and some washing machines clearly have a “down jacket” option on their gears. Will a down jacket put in this washing machine become a “hot-selling” down jacket?

Will a down jacket explode if you machine wash it?

Let me first say the conclusion: some down jackets can be machine washed! Before washing, first check the down jacket's washing label and then read the instructions for use of the washing machine.

"Machine-washed down jackets will explode" has become a kind of urban legend, and even a so-called laundry common sense. But down jackets are really wronged: it can't all be blamed on me!

Many truth-seeking media not only conducted experiments, but also invited various experts to interpret them; but if you just search, you will find that these conclusions are all kinds of strange. Some tell you that the cause of the explosion is static electricity generated when washing clothes, while others oppose the static electricity theory and bring up the air compression theory.

However, both of these points are puzzling.

The clothes in the washing machine are so wet and in constant contact with the inner wall of the washing machine, so it is difficult for static electricity to accumulate under such conditions. Static electricity is not a unique characteristic of down jackets. If static electricity in the washing machine causes an explosion, wouldn't synthetic clothing become even more dangerous? With the popularity of synthetic fibers, explosions are not rare. And down jackets are not made of plastic bags, they are breathable. When they are spun dry, they will not suddenly compress the air and cause an explosion like "hammering a plastic bag".

After collecting these explosion cases, we found the common point of the "explosive models": they all exploded when the traditional washing machine had an independent spin-drying drum. The real reason for the explosion was that the weight was not balanced during the spin-drying process.

A media experiment video shows that the unbalanced weight of clothes in the drum causes violent vibrations.

Most old-fashioned washing machines do not have intelligent detection systems. Down jackets are large in size and hold a lot of water. During the spin drying process, the weight of each part of the clothes changes, causing the weight in the drum to become unbalanced. The drum will then constantly hit the inner shell of the washing machine, and it is easy for the outer shell of the washing machine to be damaged by the internal drum. At the same time, as the volume of the down jacket increases during the spin drying process, the down jacket may be squeezed out of the spin drying barrel. If it scrapes other parts of the barrel at this time, the scene of "a machine full of goose feathers" will appear in front of you.

Image: Pixabay

Down jackets cannot be machine washed, not because they explode, but because machine washing can easily damage the water resistance and warmth retention of down jackets. However, there are now machine-washable down jackets on the market. Whether your down jacket can be machine washed depends on the following points.

How to wash it?

First of all, we have to look at the label on the down jacket. If it says that it cannot be dry cleaned or machine washed, then we can only wash it according to the washing instructions on the down jacket's washing label.

Super long washing label, you are amazing if you can finish reading it丨Photo taken by the author

Secondly, down jackets are generally not suitable for dry cleaning. Down jackets are filled with duck or goose down, which are mainly composed of protein. The tetrachloroethylene and petroleum hydrocarbon solvents in dry cleaning agents will destroy the protein, making the down hard and brittle, reducing the fluffiness of the down and affecting its warmth retention performance. The drying process will also cause the fabric to age.

If your down jacket's washing label says it can be machine washed, you still have to check if your washing machine is suitable. Some washing machines may have a special "down" program. If not, you can also choose a program like "gentle". Do not use the high-speed spin dry function, which may cause the down jacket to shed, thus shortening the life of the down jacket.

Some washing machines have a "down" function, which is usually marked next to the knob. Photo taken by the author

If you are still worried, you can also choose to wash by hand. However, there are many precautions for hand washing.

Using soap, washing powder or laundry detergent with too strong alkalinity to wash down jackets can easily damage the protective film on the surface of the fibers.

Wringing out a down jacket like a rag or tearing the jacket with force will damage it.

Don't expose it to the sun, try to dry it naturally.

Therefore, try to keep your down jacket clean and reduce the number of washings to extend its service life.

Author: Owl, Little Towel, Flip

Editor: July, Owl

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