For laundry shops, the washing and care of a taped seam down jacket is the typical scenario of “details determine the results. Once the operation is improper, the rubber strip may lift at the edge and bubble, or it may even come apart and fall off. This leads to customer complaints. Mastering the full-process technology from risk prediction to practical implementation and using professional laundry equipment like Kingstar washing machines and dryers can help laundry shops reduce the rewash rate and improve the professional reputation of washing and caring the taped seam down jacket.
Cognition
Before starting the washing process, practitioners must understand what a taped seam is and why it is vulnerable.
- Principle of Taped Seam Technology
A taped seam or heat-press bonding is a waterproof sealing technology widely used in outdoor and functional clothes. Under high temperature and pressure, a layer of hot-melt adhesive film (usually polyurethane TPU or polyamide) is permanently bonded to the inner side of fabric seams. It replaces traditional stitching to achieve full waterproofing. The integrity of this adhesive film directly determines the clothes’ waterproof performance.
- Signals of Aging Risks
As a polymer material, the adhesive film easily ages over time due to wear from use, improper washing (use of strong alkaline detergents, high-temperature drying), and natural oxidation. Aging shows in two main ways:
– Degraded Physical Properties
It becomes stiff, brittle, or, conversely, tacky, losing all its elasticity.
– Loss of Adhesion
The bonding strength between the adhesive film and the base fabric weakens. This results in edge lifting, blistering in the middle section, or even large-area peeling.
Knowing these signs is the first step in risk assessment: a sticky texture when touched, a hollow feeling when pressed, and visible edge warping.
Full-Process Guide
- Check before Washing and Communication about Risks
The core risk of a taped seam down jacket lies in the aging of the taped seam. Laundry shops should do the pre-check treatment and communication first.
– Check the condition
Wear gloves and gently feel to check for edge lifting, hollow bubbles when pressed, and stickiness or hardening on the surface.
– Communicate with the customer
If signs of aging are founded, laundry shops should clearly inform customer: “The taped seams of your clothes have shown signs of aging. We will use a gentle washing method, but we cannot guarantee that the taped seams will not be affected at all”. This avoids potential disputes in advance.
- Pre-treatment
Laundry shops must not directly use hard brushes to scrub vigorously on heavily soiled areas such as collars and cuffs because they may scratch the taped seam layer. The correct approach is: Dip a small brush into the down jacket-specific no-rinse cleaning solution → apply it precisely to the stained areas → let it sit for 10–20 minutes → allow the detergent to break down the dirt naturally.
You can skip this step entirely for light stains to avoid over-treatment that may add stress to the taped seams.
- Pre-wash and Dehydration
This is the key step to protect the taped seams, and it is also a step that most novice laundry shops tend to overlook.
– Pre-wash for 3 minutes
Add clean water or a minimal amount of detergent → run the machine at low speed for 3 minutes.
The goal is only to evenly dampen the garment, and deep cleaning is unnecessary.
– Immediate dehydration and air removal
Use centrifugal force to squeeze out the air inside the down jacket, turning it from a “fluffy balloon” into a “deflated and smooth state”. This not only allows the down jackets to fully soak in water for a more even wash in subsequent steps, but also reduces the pulling force on the clothes during machine operation. This prevents the taped seams from tearing under stress caused by air support.
Washing
- Water temperature ≤ 35℃
Taped seams are highly sensitive to high temperatures. Using the Precision Temperature Control function of the Kingstar SHS-2040 washer can keep the water temperature steadily below 35℃ (lukewarm to the touch, not hot).
- Time
Laundry shop staff should choose the “Down-Specific Mode” of the washing machines. Also, the wash cycle should be less than 20 minutes. This helps avoid damage caused by long tumbling and friction.
The programmable flexible washing action provided by Kingstar equipment can effectively simulate the protective feeling of hand washing and reduce the friction and impact on the rubber strips as much as possible
- Detergent
Laundry shops should use neutral detergent for down jackets and should not use strong alkaline cleaners.
Rinse and Spin-Dry
- Do at least 2 to 3 high-water rinses to ensure that all detergent residues are removed. Residual chemicals continuously damage the adhesive layer.
- Dehydration speed should be set at 300-400 revolutions per minute. Huge centrifugal force will cause the heavy, waterlogged clothes to have extremely strong tearing stress on the glue seams, which is likely to cause the glue to come apart. The multi-stage adjustable dehydration speed of the Kingstar washing machine allows operators to select the safest low-speed dehydration mode for such delicate clothes.
Load Balancing
When laundries wash multiple taped-seam down jackets, the following precautions must be taken:
- Load garments of similar size and weight into the washer together (e.g., all mid-length down jackets).
- Avoid mixing “large + small” or “thick + thin” items because this can cause drum rotation imbalance, generate uncontrollable torsion, and tear the taped seams.
By standardized process and the Kingstar SHS-2040 washer, laundry shops can precisely adjust the program settings, water temperature, rotation speed, and start-stop ratio during washing and dehydration, as well as the load balancing function.
As a result, laundry shops can not only ensure the cleaning and care effect of taped-seam down jackets, but also reduce damage to the taped seams, thus building a professional reputation for their business.
Drying
- Drying preparation
After taking the clothes out of the washing machine, gently shake them to initially break up the clumped down and zip up all the zippers.
- Drying program
Use the dryer and select the low-temperature program. The low-temperature drying technology of the Kingstar SDR-2025 dryer can stably control the outlet air temperature within a safe range. The temperature and humidity control system can monitor the humidity inside the inner cylinder in real time and end the drying process promptly. It can effectively dry down and ensure that the glue will not melt due to overheating. Also, the inner drum of the dryer is intelligently driven to rotate forward and reverse for drying, which enables the clothes to flip evenly and gently inside the drum, helping the down to be completely fluffy.
Conclusion
The washing and care of taped seam down jackets is a comprehensive test of the laundry’s professional knowledge, the rigor of the operation process, and the performance of the equipment. By integrating the systematic risk pre-inspection process, scientific washing steps, with precise, gentle, and stable performance of Kingstar’s professional laundry and care equipment, laundries can transform this high-risk service into a golden opportunity to show their professional capabilities and win the long-term trust of customers. Highlighting professionalism in detail and avoiding risks in processes is precisely the inevitable path for modern laundries to build their core competitiveness.
