How do you clean a backpack?

[jadamom]

DD's light pink backpack is totally dirty and I'm not sure how to clean it. I don't suppose you can run it through the washing machine, or can you? What do you use? Woolite? It's an Eastpak. Thanks!

[Jenn98]

When I was in college my boyfriend, now DH, left a huge bag of carrots (don't ask) in his backpack at the bottom of his filthy car. Needless to say, after a few weeks we figured out what the stench was and knew it needed to be cleaned. We threw it in the wash with a lot of detergent and a lot of color safe bleach and hoped for the best. It took a few washes to get the smell out, but it came out.

If it were me, I'd probably treat the really bad areas with a stain treater and then toss it in the wash - and hope for the best!

HTH
Jenn

[jd11365]

Soak it in Oxyclean in HOT water!

[tiapam]

Well, I put a backpack in the washing machine once and it was not the same. There was some kind of waterproof coating that started to peel off. You might check their website.

-Pam

Charlotte born October 2004

[ykc]

Funny you should ask.... I just cleaned my daughter's light blue backpack today. She's going to KG and it seems wrong to send your kid off to school with a dirty backpack. But she doesn't care, and it's otherwise perfect for school, so I don't really want to buy a new one. It's a Land's End junior backpack--says not to machine wash. I was a little worried about immersing it in water (though I think it's the agitation of the washing machine and not the water that's really the problem), so I used a solution of Oxy Brite and surface cleaned it. It's still drying so I don't know how well it turned out, but I think it looks better. If it's not clean enough, I'll probably do the hot water soak like a PP mentioned. If it's still not clean enough, well, either I shell out the bucks or resign myself to the fact that she's not going to be all shiny on her first day of school.

[hellosmiletoday]

I used to wash my old Jansport backpacks in the washing maching (part canvas type material, part leather/suede), with regular detergent and a cheapo washing machine.

[bostonsmama]

Me, too. The Jansports always come out great. Unzip the pockets, turn it inside out (well, the inside is where mine got the dirtiest) and run it on the gentle cycle with 1/4 cup of Tide. Air dry...perfection.

Larissa
who is still trying to give birth so she can have more to say

[jadamom]

Thanks, everyone, for your advice. I actually just hand-washed it in Woolite and scrubbed with a washcloth and it dried overnight and came out pretty good. Yay!