Stuffing wet down

[Charliev]

Anyone ever wet the down in order to stuff a quilt. I made my wife a quilt and plan on treating with the nikwax and was wondering about wetting the down with the treatment in the bulk bag then putting it into the baffels, sewing up and then drying the quilt.


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[T- Minus]

I would think that would be right up there with trying to stuff melted cheese into a frozen hotdog. But go ahead I'm curious to how you plan on knowing the approximate hydration levels of each plume of down and determining the weight and portions to stuff in each baffle. And last but not least the rate of expansion vs. loss and keeping that even prior to proper evaporation for finial use after the point of no return. Chugga chagga choo choo.

[Tikker]

I'm curious to how you plan on knowing the approximate hydration levels of each plume of down and determining the weight and portions to stuff in each baffle.

well

I'd think that if you know the number of baffles you have, you just divide the wet down into that number of piles before you stuff it in, easy peasy

[Trail Troll]

well

I'd think that if you know the number of baffles you have, you just divide the wet down into that number of piles before you stuff it in, easy peasy

Op stated they wanted to do a whole bulk bag. The whole bulk bag may not be needed for this one particular project, could be for several. Is it a 16 oz bulk bag or an econo 10 lbs bag?

If this is the route you take I'd at least disperse the individual baffle weights into the needed increments and then do them individually. It just sounds like a big PITA though to me. Just my pocket lint.

[Charliev]

Well, it is a 7 oz bag and i was thinking about dividing into the number of clumps needed when wet. Don't know that I will try it but can't be much more of a PITA that doing it dry.


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[hanging tough]

divide it up dry then wet it ?

[T- Minus]

was just pointing out it's a volume vs. density vs. weight issue. I would remove all unnecessary elements, use a small easy cleanable room, an cut and divide into halves or thirds and keep cut portions from expanding, placing the down portions into a larger bag, remove the air (slowly) and repeat till proper weight/amount is in its on bag. Then stuff each bag into the baffle it needs to be in and turn inside out releasing the down into the baffle. Then maybe use water in a spray bottle to remove the flying fluff out the air, sweep into a pile and recycle that down or discard as waste. Really just don't want you to have a sack full of dry paper machete or worse moldy spit balls. I do commercial remediation and home restoration for a living and it is next to impossible to get all the moisture out of insulation, a real pain to dry a feather pillow that has been soaked to the bone. And then there is left the issue of what smells my be released and if it can be reversed or neutralized.

[Charliev]

was just pointing out it's a volume vs. density vs. weight issue. I would remove all unnecessary elements, use a small easy cleanable room, an cut and divide into halves or thirds and keep cut portions from expanding, placing the down portions into a larger bag, remove the air (slowly) and repeat till proper weight/amount is in its on bag. Then stuff each bag into the baffle it needs to be in and turn inside out releasing the down into the baffle. Then maybe use water in a spray bottle to remove the flying fluff out the air, sweep into a pile and recycle that down or discard as waste. Really just don't want you to have a sack full of dry paper machete or worse moldy spit balls. I do commercial remediation and home restoration for a living and it is next to impossible to get all the moisture out of insulation, a real pain to dry a feather pillow that has been soaked to the bone. And then there is left the issue of what smells my be released and if it can be reversed or neutralized.

Well to treat with nikwax you have to completely wet the down quilt, jacket whatever then rinse completely and then dry the whole shebang, same as if you are washing it, so I don't see the difference in pre wetting. Wet is wet. The down comes stuffed in a small pillow and once the cats out of the bag, it is out. Hard to control dry down as you probably know. Anyway just wondering if anyone has ever tried it wet.


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[Charliev]

Let me start over. I have a quilt and I know how much down I want in it. I have the down I need and it is crammed into a 800 cubic inch space and it wants a little more room. 5950 cubic inches to be close to exact. I appreciate that it wants the room, thats what I like about it, but the problem is that it doesn't care what space it occupies whereas I would like it in my quilt baffles. Now getting the down from the tightly packed space into the single roomy compartments does present somewhat of a challenge. That is why I was thinking of making a wet glob out of it in order to control it. I have to wet it to treat in anyway. Then divide the glob into the number of portions corresponding to my baffles. It might not be a perfect measurement but I ain't that particular. I usually get it done dry but it is an aggravation.


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[Otter1]

I have read of folks grabbing it by the handful, dunking in water, then stuffing the chamber of the quilt. Repeat until done, sew the hem, and dry. Haven't seen the results in person, however, I feel that if you take it out the dryer periodically to break up the clumps, it's worth a shot.