30 Jun 2025
Summer is a time for festival fun and camping holidays and that means sleeping bags!
But when the holiday fun is over… those bags have been everywhere; beaches, muddy fields, mountainsides… it’s time to give them a good clean.
check your bags.
First things first, always check that care label. Not all sleeping bags are the same and you need to know whether it needs a hand wash or if it is okay to wash in the machine.
Firstly, for machine washing, here’s what we recommend:
1. turn it inside out.
This protects the outer shell and makes sure the inside gets clean. You’ll need to then completely unzip your sleeping bag but leave the zip tag itself halfway up the strip of teeth so that it doesn’t fall off or get lost in the wash.
2. pick your detergent.
As for detergent, use one that’s good quality and bleach-free like smol laundry capsules or if you prefer a liquid detergent - smol laundry liquid (available in bio or non-bio). smol is low-foaming and high-efficiency which means you’re using a detergent that’s gentle on fabrics but tough on grime, and won't damage the delicate fibres inside of your sleeping bags.
N.B. this is one scenario where we should avoid fabric softeners as they can coat the down or synthetic fill inside our bags in a film, which makes it difficult for your sleeping bag to trap heat.
3. new balls please.
Here's a pro tip. Throw a couple of tennis balls into the washing machine. They'll bounce around inside the drum alongside your sleeping bag and stop the stuffing from clumping together.
4. Select your cycle.
When it comes to choosing your machine wash cycle, check the maximum recommended wash temperature on your sleeping bag and make sure not to exceed it. A delicate wash cycle is usually best and the colder the better. Great news then that smol laundry capsules include cold wash power to give brilliant results even when washing at 20°C.
and for hand washing?
If your sleeping bag care label says you can’t pop it in the machine, don’t panic.
1. zip it up.
If you need to hand wash your bag, completely zip it up first before placing it in your bath.
2. add water.
Run your bath with enough lukewarm water to cover the sleeping bag. You can then dissolve a smol laundry capsule in the water or add 10 pumps of smol laundry liquid. Submerge your sleeping bag and give it a good (but gentle!) massage. Ideally you’ll let it soak here for 1-4 hours.
3. rinse.
Drain the dirty water and then rinse your sleeping bag with clean cold water until the soap has gone and the waste water is running clear.
4. squeeze.
You’ll probably find the sleeping bag is very heavy at this point because it’s absorbed a lot of water! Don’t panic. Simply lay it flat in the bath and roll it up from one end to the other to squeeze out the water. You’ll be amazed how much comes out.
Avoid wringing or scrunching your sleeping bag too much as this could damage the filling.
and to dry…
Make sure you check the care label again when it comes to drying.
Some sleeping bags you can pop in a large tumble dryer on a low heat. Again, those tennis balls come in handy to break down any clumps as it dries.
Otherwise air drying is always your best bet. A hot but windy day is ideal for drying washing outside, so aim to wash your sleeping bag on a day when you know the weather forecast! Then you can hang it (unzipped) on the line for at least 24 hours.
Always ensure your bag is completely dry before packing it away for the next camping trip!
and to keep your bag fresher for longer…
After each use… try to get into the habit of airing your sleeping bag. If it's dry outside then unzip it and hang it up inside out so the air can circulate throughout.
If there’s some sunshine to be had then so much the better. Letting the UV rays shine onto the inside of your sleeping bag helps reduce bacterial growth and combats the buildup of odours. It’s a win win and might just delay the time when you need to wash it again!
Happy camping!