Criterion Down Washing and Care Guide

Your product should give you many years of use and enjoyment, but in order to do so and prolong the life of your product, specifically the down which is organic, we recommended that you always use a sleeping bag liner and that you follow our down washing and cleaning care guide.

Storing Your Criterion Sleeping Bag At Home:

• Store your down sleeping bag in a clean and dry area.
• Store your Criterion sleeping bag in the mesh storage sack provided or hang in a wardrobe via your bags hanging loops.
• Do not store your sleeping bag in a stuff sack or compression sack.
• Always dry out your bag at home after every trip before storing it away, never put a damp bag into storage.

Using Your Criterion Sleeping Bag:

• Remove your sleeping bag carefully from its stuff sack up to 1 hour before use. A gentle shake will help ensure the down is fully lofted to its potential and will help to maximize warmth retention.
• A good quality sleeping mat is essential and will provide comfort and insulation.
• Always use a sleeping bag liner made from fabric such as cotton/poly-cotton, silk or fleece. It will protect the down and inner fabric from perspiration and body oils, both of which can inhibit down loft and warmth. A liner will also act as an insulation layer potentially making the bag a little warmer.
• Liners are easy to clean and will reduce the number of times your down sleeping bag will need to be washed

Washing Your Criterion Sleeping Bag:

• Criterion down sleeping bags can either be cleaned at home or by a professional cleaning company. We would recommend using a professional company who specialises in cleaning sleeping bags. However, for a variety of reasons you may want to clean your bag at home.  

Down Washing At Home:

Hand Wash (Recommended)

• Mix a down cleaning product such as Nikwax down cleaner or pure soap flakes with up to half a bath of warm water.
• Immerse the whole sleeping bag in the water and gently agitate to ensure the entire sleeping bag is thoroughly wet.
• Gently agitate every 5 minutes for up to half an hour.
• Drain water from bath and refill.
• Repeat processes 2 & 3 until all down cleaner has been removed, then allow to drain.
• Gently roll the bag (still in the bath) to remove excess water.
• Dry in a tumble dryer on low heat until down is completely dry Dry in a tumble dryer on low heat until down is completely dry gently shake the bag every 15 mins. Or lie flat out of direct sunlight, gently shake periodically to stop the down clumping.

Machine Wash

• A washing machine can be used
• Before washing ensure the machine is cleaned thoroughly to remove traces of detergents and fabric conditioner.
• Wash your bag using soap flakes or a specialist down cleaner
• Use a low heat (30°C)
• Delicate wash
• Low spin speed
• Gently roll the bag to remove excess water.
• Dry in a tumble dryer on low heat until down is completely dry gently shake the bag every 15 mins. Or lie flat out of direct sunlight, gently shake periodically to stop the down clumping.

Please Note:

• Always handle wet down products with care.
• Excess dryer heat can damage down and shell fabrics.
• Always ensure down is completely dry before storing.
• Criterion sleeping bags consist of a set of baffles/chambers which contain down. The side edges of some of the baffle chambers are not fully stitched but are stitched at the top and bottom. This allows very small amounts of lofted down to move between chambers. As down is a natural product, with each cluster being individual, this construction method helps the down in the chambers to equalise allowing optimum fill within each chamber. When down is wet it clumps together into balls which could pass through these gaps if the sleeping bag is not handled with great care when wet.