Will Down Ever "Wear Out"?

[Frost]

So my down underquilt, which was a rescued and re-purposed old throw made of some sort of polyester sort of material sort of fell apart today.

After a gentle bath-tub wash attempt this evening, the whole bloody thing disintegrated on me. I managed to rescue very nearly all the down, albeit a huge soggy mass just now, so I'm going to have to make my own quilt now and reuse the down.

My big question is, does down really ever 'wear out'? will the clusters break down to the point where they aren't much use? I've got a couple old down pillows I can sacrifice to top off a new quilt, but they're a bit flatter (a LOT flatter) than they used to be. I'm just curious if this is because of actual degradation of the down, or if it's just that a lot of down has escaped over the years.

[G.L.P.]

So my down underquilt, which was a rescued and re-purposed old throw made of some sort of polyester sort of material sort of fell apart today.

After a gentle bath-tub wash attempt this evening, the whole bloody thing disintegrated on me. I managed to rescue very nearly all the down, albeit a huge soggy mass just now, so I'm going to have to make my own quilt now and reuse the down.

My big question is, does down really ever 'wear out'? will the clusters break down to the point where they aren't much use? I've got a couple old down pillows I can sacrifice to top off a new quilt, but they're a bit flatter (a LOT flatter) than they used to be. I'm just curious if this is because of actual degradation of the down, or if it's just that a lot of down has escaped over the years.

i'm sure it can wear out over heavy use .... a lot of pillow are more feathers then down so beware when using them for quilts ... your quilt could end up being heavy
as for your wet down i would put it in a pillow case sew it shut wash it in soap used for down and let it dry before using it .. dry it in your dryer on low setting with a few tennis balls in the dryer to break up the clumps
i'm sure there is more on this subject(down wearing out) out there just need to search for it i know i had an old down sleeping bag my grandfather gave me it was really heavy but it was 6inch thick easy very warm but would never use it backpacking it was almost 10lbs LOL but it was old and kept it's loft well (at least 20+ years old) care is a big part of keeping your down looking new

[JohnSawyer]

I have a 20+ year old REI Down bag that I bought from ebay... I washed it and it's fantastic!

[MedicineMan]

makes me think of springs, light switches, and gun magazines (another spring)....
ever notice that the light bulb goes out when you are either switching the light on or off?
down is a spring.
have you ever heard you dont want to keep a loaded gun magazine/clip loaded for long periods of time?
I think a lot of us have the belief that compressed down does not last as long as uncompressed down....following this process if you never compress down (and assuming optimal storage conditions) it should last forever (or close).
It is the act of compressing and decompressing that wears out the spring...if kept compressed too long (gun magazine spring) the spring eventually looses its ability to HA spring
Can you put the spring back into the spring? with down its easier that with the magazine...a good washing can be all that is needed.
Down like wool is quite remarkable dont you think.

[russmay]

I have a down bag that belonged to my Uncle. he passed away at age 70 and he got back in his 30's. It was probably 450 fill lots of feathers but I converted it to a quilt. 40 years old and still going strong. I did wash and dried it to get rid of campfire smoke scent but it fluffed up just fine. I remember he let me borrow as a kid for Boy Scout trips. I miss my goofy Uncle, I bet he would of liked hammock camping.

[beep]

I have a good quality (Holubar) sleeping bag bought in 1970. Still good albeit heavy by today's standards. Getting over 40 years of use seems pretty good!

[MAD777]

The fact that down goods (when not abused) last a lifetime, makes them a better value than synthetic insulated goods, even though synthetics can be bought for 1/3 the price of down. Synthetics really have a short lifespan if being used regularly.

I plan on bequeathing my down products to my children with hopes that they will pass them on to my grand children.