How To Repair A Puffy Jacket

Then you lot bought a downwardly jacket. With regular care and washing, it'll provide versatile, packable warmth for season afterwards flavor, but somewhen, its ultralight ripstop crush will tear. It'll snag on a branch, scrape against a rock or get defenseless in a suitcase zipper. Roughhousing with your domestic dog might practice it, besides — you never know! Simply what you lot should know is that patching a down jacket is piece of cake.

Take information technology from Josh Schill, the repair manager at Patagonia's Reno repair facility. Patagonia has long been known for its Ironclad Guarantee, which backs up damaged gear with a hope to fix what can exist, typically for free. Schill and a team of nearly 100 specialists brought roughly 50,000 items dorsum to full functionality concluding year alone (and a divide third-political party facility handled an boosted 25,000 to 30,000).

The majority of repairs that come through, says Schill, are for ripstop items, including down and constructed insulation jackets. He doesn't have many patches on his own Downward Sweater, but needless to say, he certainly knows how to fix a tear.

Chase Pellerin

What You'll Need

Medline GoodSense Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol

Fiskars Softgrip Scissors

Step 1: Pull downwards or synthetic insulation dorsum into the jacket.

If you effort to pull it out, yous might wind up in a magician'due south scarf trick situation. A good way to coax the insulation back inside is to gently compression the ripstop cloth on either side of the hole and make a rubbing motion with your fingers. This should bring the insulation dorsum into the jacket. If it doesn't work, apply sharp scissors to trim it away.

Stride 2: Clean and trim the area around the rip.

Employ a rag and some Isopropyl/rubbing alcohol to gently clean the cloth around the rip so that the patch has a make clean surface to cling to. If there are stray strands of crush fabric, trim them abroad with abrupt pair of scissors.

Step 3: Gear up your patch.

Schill's team uses Tenacious Tape to patch downward jackets. It'll stay on through plenty of washes and you can buy it in rolls or pre-cut patches in various colors on Amazon. Either way, you lot'll want to trim the patch and so that it's slightly larger than your jacket'southward pigsty. Round the corners, Schill recommends, and so that in that location aren't whatever square edges that might abrade or pull abroad from the jacket.

Gear Assist

Gear Aid

Step 4: Apply the patch.

Carefully remove the patch's backing, smooth out the jacket cloth equally best you tin, and utilise the patch "just similar you're putting a sticker on a water bottle," Schill says. Start at one end and press it down gradually to avoid air bubbles or the patch sticking to itself. (If this does happen, Schill notes, don't worry about it — this is more for aesthetics, and the patch will however stick.)

A Few Things to Remember

Wash your down and constructed jackets regularly to avoid the buildup of torso oils and clay, which can become abrasive and cause a tear over time. Use Grangers Downward Wash or Nikwax Down Wash and follow the garment intendance instructions on the tag.

Don't apply duct tape to fix holes! "We hate duct tape," Schill explains. "It leaves a super bad residue which actually sucks to repair."