I went to the local laundromat and washed my sleeping bag yesterday. I used the commercial sized washer and dryer, tennis balls in the dryer. Except a few hours later I realized that there were clumps of down that were still wet. I had laid it out on the bed in case there was any dampness and it wasn't until bedtime that I noticed how wet some areas really were.

I did what I could to break up the clumps and spent some time drying it out. I even used a hair dryer a little. I wasn't able to check on it when I left for work this morning, but what can I do except leave it out to air dry? Using my wife's hair dryer worked a little and it clearly did seem better than when I started, maybe just because I broke up the clumps. Should I just keep moving it and trying to air dry it? Do I re-wash and dry it or do I just not worry about it and let it air dry?

On the bright side this was on the underside, so while it may not be as comfy, it shouldn't affect the insulation much as I would be laying on that part and compressing it anyways. Maybe it will puff up again, or maybe not...

I would continue to air dry it if it didn't fit in your home dryer. If you can get it in your home dryer, I would dry it on "air dry" with tennis balls until you are comfortable that it is completely dry.

Let us know what you do and how it works out.

Check your dryer at home. There is likely a setting for no heat, just air. Throw in some tennis balls.

I think those clumps will work themselves out once all the water is out of the bag. Forced drying on low heat or no heat in your dryer or out in the sun fluffing often should do the trick.
Tom

Just keep at picking the lumps apart. Have purchased several used down bags, some pretty lumpy. All washed and came back to fine condition with some work.

butthead

Yeah, just let it air dry, then fluff it up, store loosely. It should be just fine.

Next time maybe add more tennis balls. When I did mine, I think I put at least 6 and maybe 9 in there.

I would put into your dryer on air fluff with tennis balls to fluff it up fully.

I wash my bag at home with down wash in my front loader and dry it on air fluff with 4 tennis balls.

My dryer isn't great and sometimes clothes get caught in there. We ordered parts to fix it but for right now I don't feel comfortable putting my sleeping bag in there.

I laid it out last night and kept breaking the clumps up and used a hair dryer some more to warm it up a little. It is much better than the day before. I would have taken it outside but the kids were playing and I don't trust a 2 and a 4 year old to not mess with it.

I think it will be fine if I just give it more time and put a little effort into fluffing it up as it dries. Tonight I might give it a little more time with the hair dryer and try to get it 100% dry and fluffed.

I usually run one or two extra spin cycles in the washer when I wash my sleeping bags. This does a lot more to get water out of the bag than the dryer does.

As long as it’s not sopping wet: hang it upside down from the ceiling or the top of a door, and aim a fan straight up into the bag so it is sort of ‘inflated’. The air moving through it dries it fairly fast.