I packed up my Rab 400 down bag to send for its first clean in years only to find that the recommended cleaners, W E Franklin of Sheffield, closed at the end of last year.

Rab now recommend Elite Cleaning Services who are based in Rotherham. They apparently have all the specialist kit needed to clean, reproof and restore the loft to all types of down gear.

Mountaineering Designs are experts in down cleaning and alterations of down bags http://www.mountaineering-designs.co.uk/cgi-bin/trolleyed_public.cgi?action=showprod_CLEAN

But it's not hard to clean them yourself. Read up on it and give it a go.

Thanks for that link, Martin. I'll check them out too.

While I've cleaned a down jacket with a domestic washing machine and tumble drier, I wouldn't want to use ours to clean any of my sleeping bags as I reckon they are too small. I'd also be worried about ripping the baffle walls. I'll wait for feedback from Phil before getting a couple of my bags cleaned.

I think you're supposed to do a sleeping bag in the bath and DON'T lift it when wet. Just move it around in the water, drain and refill bath several times to rinse and squash all the water out before allowing to drain, then carefully remove and dry thoroughly (brief summary).

How do you get rid of the excess water to be able to put it into a tumble drier? Quite difficult. I'd rather get a professional to do it.

Posted bag to Elite with cheque for £39.99 to cover cleaning & return postage. Came back this morning (by TNT) clean and with better loft than it has had for a while. V pleased

Feeling brave/penniless I got my rubber gloves on and using pure soap and following instructions on PHD's own site I can also report success, no damage to my bag, drip dried inside an old quilt cover on the washing line until damp I was able to safely tumble it, all done in a day. Loft restored and allergens removed.
Phew!