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My white coat is now grey! Help!

I have a Patagonia down coat that started out white and another one that's orange. They are worn daily around town and travel to the woods, beach and mountains with me. Both have seen so much action that the sleeves (and cuffs!) are a filthy dark grey. I've washed them with down wash at least 4 times and even used diluted stain remover directly on the worst areas. It hasn't made a difference. The coats are not only down but also DWR so I've tried to be gentle.

Is there anything else I can do to clean them? There's nothing functionally wrong with the coats so I want to be able to keep using them. Any suggestions would be very helpful.

Thank you!!

Answer this question I have this problem too

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The trick to cleaning cuffs is to get some McNett or Nikwax Techwash and pour the stuff straight onto your jacket. Use a toothbrush to agitate the area by lightly scrubbing. You'll want to leave the jacket with the soap on it for at least 24 hours, then wash it according to the instructions of the soap. You can also use Dawn or Joy dishsoap on spots that have oil residue - like the collars of your jackets. If you use this type of dishsoap you'll want to follow with another was in the gear soap (tech wash) mentioned above. Good luck!

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Sounds like you've tried the home remedies. Maybe it's time to take it to a professional dry cleaner.

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Hey Cate - here is the answer from Patagonia on dry cleaning, this was taken from the Care Guide posted on patagonia.com and ifixit.com

Dry Cleaning

Given the rumpled nature of the road trips that inspire so much of our gear, Patagonia doesn’t make anything that requires dry cleaning. Our clothes are made to be worn and washed with very little fuss. More importantly, the EPA estimates that 85% of the dry cleaners in America use perchloroethylene, or "perc," to clean garments and textile products. This chemical solvent has significant human and environmental risks. We make clothes that wear and perform beautifully without all that.

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Not sure if this solution is applicable as I first read about it when a chef wanted to make his uniform as white as possible.

Find a way to put juice from lemons in the wash. That's how he did it, but read up. I also read he used actual lemons instead of lemon juice. Your materials may be too different from his for this solution to be effective.

His whites were what car dealers call "super white".

The problem with white cars is that they only look their whitest in the showroom.

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Don't ever take a down jacket, or anything else for that matter, to a dry cleaners.

Nellie has the best answer

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2 Comments:

Why shouldn't a down jacket be taken to a dry cleaner?

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Thanks for your help! I'll may just try all of your suggestions!

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After you try the washing method Nellie mentioned you could put it in DIRECT SUN for PARTIAL drying. Then, because it is down, I would tumble on low for the remainder of the drying time to thoroughly dry and refresh the down's loftiness (whatever the care label recommends is best). Sunlight does wonders on whites, especially yellowing armpits of t-shirts. Another trick for general whites is pre-treating stains with a paste of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and a tiny bit of blue Dawn worked into the stain with an old cleaning toothbrush (peroxide being the key "bleaching" ingredient, soda to activate chemical reaction and gently abrade fibers to loosen the stain, and blue Dawn as a degreaser).

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Cate will be eternally grateful.
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