Tricot Baffles?

I scored big time on Craig's List last night. I got a 15* North Face down sleeping bag for $25.00 (and a Fat Eddy fleece liner) in near perfect contition. The bag has been stored correctly, in a cotton storage bag but it smells musty because it was in a storage unit.

I have been reading up on washing down bags because it's been a while since I've had to wash one and I ran across two references to Tricot mesh used as baffles in a sleeping bag instead of NoSeeUm:

From Thru-Hiker article:

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Down bags that use a tricot mesh for baffling material can be safely washed in a front-loading washing machine. I don't recommend washing a bag with no-see-um netting baffles in an machine, though, as the netting is a lot more delicate than the tricot. If you're not sure if you have tricot mesh or no-see-um netting, hand wash your bag.

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and Feathered Friends article:

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Feathered Friends sleeping bags are tougher than you might expect. The tricot baffling we use is nearly as strong as the nylon shell;.....

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I had never heard of Tricot baffles but if it's gonna make a tougher quilt, that's probably the route I want to go. I Googled Tricot mesh and it came back with a few sellers but I didn't see fabric weights or anything like that.

Anyone had any experience with this Tricot mesh?

Tricot is a common term for a knitted fabric. Usually fairly tough because its stretchy as a result of the knit pattern used to weave it.

If its a NorthFace bag I'd not worry about it being tough enough to wash. I'd never heard of noseeum dividers until I got into DIY sites... Commercial bags I've had have always been washed in large commercial washing machines and tumbled dry in commercial dryers... (Think large front loaders like at the local laundromat.) Take a very clean shoe or similar dryer ball to fluff the down as it dries...

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Originally Posted by Rapt

Tricot is a common term for a knitted fabric. Usually fairly tough because its stretchy as a result of the knit pattern used to weave it.

If its a NorthFace bag I'd not worry about it being tough enough to wash. I'd never heard of noseeum dividers until I got into DIY sites... Commercial bags I've had have always been washed in large commercial washing machines and tumbled dry in commercial dryers... (Think large front loaders like at the local laundromat.) Take a very clean shoe or similar dryer ball to fluff the down as it dries...

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I've washed down bags before with no trouble. I don't know what the NF bag uses as baffles, but I will assume that it's NoSeeUm and treat it gently.

I am more interested in the use of Tricot mesh fabric as baffles when making my quilt.


BTW,

Here's an example of Tricot fabric.

From the photo it looks like athletic mesh (like a football jersey).

Yep... Thats pretty much how it is. Like most fabrics it comes in different weights.

Think like the mesh liner in men's swim shorts...

My local fabric store has it in several colours, weights, mesh sizes and materials.

See here for some similar options...

Also look at similar "mesh lining" fabrics at a fabric store. You'll be surprised at what's out there.

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Originally Posted by Rapt

Take a very clean shoe or similar dryer ball to fluff the down as it dries...

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My wife and I have a tube of tennis balls that are only used in the dryer for when we wash our home quilts and such. They seem to work GREAT, but I've never tried it on my down bag yet.

No seeum netting baffles are plenty strong... when the edges are double before sewing they are even stronger.... we have washed our JRB quilts with no seeum numerous times without any damage.... no reports from customers about this kind of failure either....Modern front loaders are the way to go gentile tumbling vs wringer aggitation and a really good spin dry cycle...Virtualy all water is removed and one is left to deal wwith a dap bag/quilt rather than a wet bag or quilt... IMHO these modern front loaders are preferred over hand washing, if for no other reason, than this great spin cycle.... it minimizes the press out the water( don't wring out) issues of the stationary tub or bath tug wash followed by the lift and carry to the dryer. Note, in my experiance, quilts done this way dry in two normal cycles, on low without the use of tennis balls or sneakers.

The real issue on any baffle damage is how the wet the bag is and how the bag is handles from the washer to the dryer.... lifted form the bottom no weight is put on the baffles by wet down, simply pulled out from the front or top is less desirable technique.

Remember I may be considered biased on this subject.

Pan

Hey Pan,
It may be part of your signature line, but I don't see any bias on the subject when you are just talking about cleaning down items. That's not pushing your product. IMO