Other halfs light blue mountain equipment jacket needs a good wash it says hand wash but no temperature and to use soap only can anyone recommend a good soap cleaner. Jacket care label says no rubbing or wringing out

Nikwax Down Wash followed by Nikwax Down Proof.

Do it in a bath so you can just gently ‘shuggle’ it (for lack of a better word), and reduce the risk of clumping up the down. Very gently flatten the water out of it after, don’t squeeze it, and lay it on dry towels to dry out initially – if you hang it up you risk the down clumping. Ideally stick it in a tumble drier with some tennis balls to fluff the down back up.

cheers for the info so far!

Nikwax Down wash on a gentle cycle in the machine here then tumble dry with tennis balls again and again and again and again until its fluffy. If your tumble drier stops when it thinks the load is dry rather than using a timer it’ll stop far too soon and you’ll need to re-start it several times. It takes at least two hours tumbling in ours to dry a single jacket properly and fluff it back up. It seems pretty dry before that but the down is still a little damp and clumped up. When it’s really done the jacket will be puffed up like a balloon.

I put mine in the machine on the hand wash setting and use soap flakes, with an extra rinse. Hang it up to dry, a decent jacket will have the down in compartments so wont all drop or clump together.
Once dry give it a good shake to fluff it back up.

What about those of us who don’t own tumble dryers? Are we better sending them off to get cleaned “professionally”?

Dont hang it! When down is wet it needs its weight supported in order not to damage the down and thus retain its superior insulating properties – when wet handle with care – cradle it when moving it – if you have no tumble dryer try gently rolling it into a ball and leaving it on a radiator – unravelling occasionally and then rolling it up again exposing the damper sections – this will take a few days – but the reality is there is a reason mountaineers down jackets stink and thats because each time you wash a down garment some loft will probably be lost..