Sleeping Bag Damp for long time - risks of use?
I have just pulled out a bag of old hiking gear to discover that the storage bin had a leak and floor had 2 inches of water. My sleeping bag, a Jungle Snugpack, had been partially submerged and has been wet/damp for a considerable period of time (6 months+)
I could not find any visible traces of mould but other items in the bag did have a small white covering.
I am going to throw it out but I wanted to understand what risks would remain if I boil wash the bag and attempted to use it again?
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1 answer
Being as the bag is synthetic and the water was relatively clean your likely ok to boil wash it and use it again. If it had been down and/or contaminated water I'd strongly recommend binning it.
Down would have rotted and you couldn't guarantee getting rid of all of the nasties in contaminated water.
Caveat(s)
- It's not going to be like brand new. The water itself likely hasn't done much damage (the filling will be a plastic type). The washing may damage it more. The boiling and drying will likely stress the material and cause damage.
- There could be some nasty stuff in the mold which could cause respiratory issues. If you're sensitive to this kind of thing, don't take a chance, bin it. But a boil wash should kill most of the nasties off. If in doubt, don't take risks.
- It may well smell even after you've washed it.
If you have access to a large tumble drier (laundrette kind of thing) then give it a really good dry after you've cleaned it. You want to dry the filling out as fast as possible to prevent the mold simply growing back.
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/8448. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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