DIY Life

Most of us used sleeping bags throughout the summer for various camping trips and overnight adventures. Unless you're going survivor style in the snow, you've packed away your camping gear and brought out your down blankets and warm coats. How you packed away that sleeping bag will make a big difference as to how well it serves you next season.

These instructions for proper sleeping bag maintenance and storage are particularly useful. If you read through and find that you didn't clean your bag thoroughly or don't have it packed away in the best manner then you'll want to dig it out of the closet right away. Take care of those things and pack it away confident that it will be ready when you need it. Here's how your clean and dry bag should be stored:

• Hang it up
  If space allows it is best to store your sleeping bag hanging up. Fold the bag over a hanger. This way the feathers will not get mashed and matted the way they would in a small bag.
• Lie it flat
  If your closet can't accommodate a hanging sleeping bag, then consider lying it flat under your bed.
• Put it in a large cotton bag
  Some of the newer bags come with both a travel storage bag which is very small and space efficient, along with a larger cotton bag for long term storage. If yours is older or didn't come with one, you can pick it up at any camping supply store.

If your last camping trip ended in you cramming the sleeping bag into a tiny nylon storage bag in the back of your closet, you'll want to take it out and put it away properly. Careful cleaning and storage now will avoid disappointment when you pull it out again in the spring.