Washing Instructions

How to wash your Zenbivy bed (Quilt & Sheet)

Please read all instructions before washing your Zenbivy quilt and sheet.

Short story: 

Hand wash in tub or machine wash, cool water (delicate) in a large front loading machine with a mild, non-detergent soap. Rinse well (twice with cool water).

DO NOT BLEACH, DO NOT DRY CLEAN, DO NOT WRING OR TWIST, DO NOT USE FABRIC SOFTENER, DO NOT IRON.

Tumble dry low. Condenser and conventional dryers are both approved, but the larger the better.  Include tennis balls or similar, to loft and redistribute down.

We recommend washing in your tub at home if you plan to use your home dryer. We also strongly recommend using down wash products from Nikwax® or Granger's®.

Longer story:

If you are going to wash your Zenbivy Bed at the laundromat, you can use a large front loading washer and dryer as above. 

If you do not have access to a large front loading washer, you will need to hand wash your Zenbivy Bed in a tub. Please follow the steps listed below.

Washing in tub:

  1. Unzip everything so the quilt is flat and separate from the sheet.  Clip the straps on the back of the sheet.
  2. Put both pieces into a tub filled with a few inches of cool water and gently press into the water until they are both soaked.  They resist getting wet, so be patient and gentle. Once the bag is wet, add the down wash product and wash per instructions. 
  3. Drain the tub, gently pressing out as much water as possible by simply pushing down on the quilt.  Don't ever twist or wring the water out, just press it out gently.
  4. Fill the tub again and completely soak, rinse and drain again, trying to eliminate all the soapy water.
  5. Fill the tub a final time and completely soak, rinse and drain again.  The water should have no noticeable soap residue.  If you notice the water is still not rinsed, repeat until it is.  Only press the water out. 
  6. Be gentle, the down between the baffles is now very heavy, and the fabrics and baffle scrim inside are very light, and if you are not gentle with the bag and support the weight of the down, the bag can tear.  Use good judgement and you should be fine, just be aware.
  7. Once the bag parts are rinsed and drained as much as possible, move the bag to the side of the tub and put a towel down in the tub.  Move the bag onto the towel, and take the bundle out of the tub and to the floor.
  8. With the towel on the floor, continue to press gently with the towel to remove as much water as possible.  If the towel becomes soaked, get another dry one.  Towel dry (by pressing only) as much as possible.
  9. To minimise the zippers clanking around inside your dryer, it is best to zip the bag together before drying, but everything dries a little easier if you keep the pieces separate and open and just let them clank away.
  10. For drying, you basically want to put your dryer on its lowest heat, slowest spinning cycle.  2 or 3 tennis balls help to de-clump the down during drying and have generally proven not to ruin sleeping bags.  Use substitute "de-clumpers" at your own risk.
  11. Run the dryer until the bags are dry.  As long as the heat is low its hard to "over-dry" them, so just run it til you are sure.
  12. After the dryer, lay your quilt flat or unstuffed for a while so you can let the down fully fluff to maximum fluffiness before you store it in the mesh storage sack.

Questions or issues? Contact us at friends@zenbivy.co.uk