Waterproof clothing care

shisaa

I have a Gore waterproof top, and some Endura eVent 3/4 shorts which i have had for a couple of years. They have been washed regularly, but have noticed recently that the waterproofing on them has started to fail. I wash them with the Niknak Tech wash from time to time, but was wondering if there is anything else i can do, or is this just a consequence of them being well used for a couple of years? It does seem a bit cheeky given the expense of these technical fabrics though.

Briggo

You washing them in fabric conditioner inbetween nikwax washes?

You also using the nikwax properly, i.e. not overloading the load as you need a lot of nikwax per item.

tjwood

If it's the water-repellent surface treatment (Durable Water Repellent - DWR) that's failing, you can get re-proofing spray or wash-in treatment (Grangers or Nikwax make these). (Tech Wash is just a detergent, not re-proofer). DWR is activated by heat so you might find ironing with a warm iron is enough to re-activate the existing DWR (if you splash water on it, it should "bead up" on the surface rather than spreading out/soaking in). DWR is essential to allow the fabric to breathe, if it's not working then sweat will accumulate inside the garment and you'll think it's leaking.

If after cleaning and re-proofing there is still water getting through then it's the membrane itself that's failed and there is nothing really you can do.

blister pus

aye, 'Tech Wash' and 'TX Direct' for Nikwax

sniper68

Get rid of any tracers of Detergent/fabric conditioner/softener in your washing machine and detergent drawer before washing your stuff.Standard detergents kill the DWR.I always clean out the drawer and the put the washer on a full hot cycle empty before washing.
My Berghaus walking jacket is now 12 years old and still going strong and my Berghaus riding jacket is 4 years old and still good.
As said sometimes a quick wipe down and warm iron is enough to reactivate the DWR.As a rule I iron my riding jacket every couple of months and re-proof it once or twice(if a particularly wet year) a year.

i-drive

what ibbo said also only wash it if you have too.

tjwood

i-drive wrote:

what ibbo said also only wash it if you have too.

Actually the manufacturers advise washing regularly. If you wash too infrequently then sweat and muck will build up and block the pores in the jacket's membrane as well as making the DWR less effective so the jacket won't work as well dirty as it will clean...


Also instead of paying best part of a tenner for a couple of doses of Nikwax soap you can use a solution of old-fashioned pure soap flakes.

sniper68

tjwood wrote:

Also instead of paying best part of a tenner for a couple of doses of Nikwax soap you can use a solution of old-fashioned pure soap flakes.

I forgot to put that bit in :roll:
I always keep a box in the cupboard,it cost a couple of quid and will last a couple of years.....use very sparingly though as they really "sud-up"

shisaa

Thanks for the replies guys. I wash them alone, and tend not to use a fabric softener for any washes, but will give the the ironing a try. Will also look at re-proofing.

Cheeky

Tumble dry them seems to be the key for me. Did the whole NikWax, Tech Wash and TX Direct thing and then 60 mins in the tumble drier. Rode them in 4 hours of constant rain yesterday and the water "beaded up" a treat on the surface and kept me dry as a dry thing (or similar).

slimboyjim

Most important part of the care is not to crash - my nice waterproof jacket now has a big non-waterproof hole in the shoulder... :oops:

sniper68

slimboyjim wrote:

Most important part of the care is not to crash - my nice waterproof jacket now has a big non-waterproof hole in the shoulder... :oops:

I can't remember the exact name but there's a place in (i think)Newcastle that repairs Gore-tex(etc) garments.My mate tore his £150 Berghaus Paclite on its 2nd outing and they repaired it for around £15 IIRC.The repair is very hard to see.

sniper68

http://www.tundra-repairs.co.uk/faq.htm
Washington,nearly Newcastle

slimboyjim

Thanks for the info Ibbo - unfortunately my jacket was an eVent one. Will seriously consider a GoreTex one for the replacement though if it's repairable...

jimh_123

I sort of have the same problem. I have a Gore Phantom softshell. Its water repellant feature has deteriated over the year. Can i use the wash in stuff to fix it? I e-mailed Gore for advice but unfortuantly they never came back to me.

cee

jimh_123 wrote:

I sort of have the same problem. I have a Gore Phantom softshell. Its water repellant feature has deteriated over the year. Can i use the wash in stuff to fix it? I e-mailed Gore for advice but unfortuantly they never came back to me.

I have a protective softshell and use this stuff...

http://www.johnlewis.com/230605440/Prod ... urce=14798

Follow the instructions on th ebottle unless the disagree with the instructions on the garment.

My jacket says no tumblywumbly and no iron, so i just spray the stuff on then hang the jacket to dry in a reasonably warm place.
Works a treat, but might not be quite as good as if you had tumbled it.