How to keep your Baffled, or puffy, jacket in great shape
We have all seen those baffled, or puffy quilt looking, winter jackets around town. Heck, you are probably the proud owner of one if you are reading this! They keep us warm and cozy and make for great pillows in a pinch.
Proper care for a technical jacket is vital to its longevity and keeping its performance. To make sure your jacket can keep performing at its best make sure you take the time to care for it properly with some helpful tips below:
Let it breath
Baffled jackets keep us warm by not only providing insulation but the air trapped in the insulation itself works as further insulation to keep our body heat in. There are a few types of material used in baffled jackets: Down, Synthetic Materials and Merino Wool. One thing all these materials have in common is that they need to be hung up not compressed down. Prolonged compression can hinder the jackets ability to be, well, puffy. Synthetic jackets tend to lose their puffiness faster, Down jackets often last much longer which is reflected in the price. You can stretch the life of your jacket out very simply by hanging it up and letting it be free, rather than keeping it all packed down to its smallest capacity, when not in use.
Washing
It is vital that with a down jacket you wash it with a technical, down-specific wash. We recommend using a technical downwash on synthetic and merino wool baffled jackets as well. Ultimately this will keep the insulation from balling up and it will keep it as light and fluffy as possible. Laundry detergents can damage the materials as well as leaving residue on them causing them to be heavy and detracting from the insulation’s ability to loft up.
Re-treating
If your baffled jacket has a water repellant or resistant outer surface or shell you can re-treat this to bring it back to its once great state. However, unlike a waterproof shell, you cannot wash a baffled jacket in a waterproofing substance or it will ruin the breathability and properties of the insulation. Instead, spray the exterior surface of the jacket with a technical spray such as TX Direct Spray-On waterproofing from Nikwax.
Now that you know how to properly care for your baffled jacket you can relax knowing it is going to care for you for years to come thanks to your diligent care.