Looking after Gore tex Paclite?

luv2ride

Less of a "buying advice" question, more of a "what do I do with it now I've got it" question!
Finally managed to buy a waterproof jacket that fits, after buying and returning lord knows how many. Anyhows, ended up with a Mavic HC H20 for a daft one day only sale price via Ribble (bless 'em). Its an older model made from Gore tex paclite, as reviewed by Cycle Plus a couple of years back. Used it a couple of times already and very happy with it, although not quite as breathable as I'd hoped

Given it was still a reasonable investment, even at the killer sale price, I mean to take good care of it. Trouble is, the Gore tex sale tag says wash at 40 degrees then tumble dry or iron warm to restore the dwr finish. However, the garment label says wash at 30 degrees but says not to iron or tumble dry :?

Why would the manufacturers instructions be different to the material manufacturers?

Any owners out there able to tell me how they keep theirs in good shape?

ricky1980

http://www.gore-tex.co.uk/remote/Satell ... structions

it does say tumble dry to restore the repellent...i guess you ought to iron it.

crankycrank

If it starts to lose it's water proofness then tumble dry it. If it just needs a cleaning use the instructions on the label. Drying restores the water resistance but creates more wear to the fabric.

Garry H

crankycrank wrote:

If it starts to lose it's water proofness then tumble dry it. If it just needs a cleaning use the instructions on the label. Drying restores the water resistance but creates more wear to the fabric.

if it loses its water-proofness, take it back and you'll get a new one from gore. Tumble drying only helps to restore thecwater repellency of the face fabric.

MichaelW

You can also use liquid soap flakes which work as well as techwash but is much cheaper.
I dont think 30 or 40 degrees makes much differerce, they are both hand hot.
Heat will restore the correct shape of the DWR chemical chain, a hairdryer or hand dryer works OK.

Waterproofness and surface beading are 2 separate things. The beading improves breathability, a waterlogged goretex will breath less efficiently and you get more condensation which you can mistake for leaks. They also takes ages to dry out when waterlogged.

TheEnglishman

I've treated all my goretex products with utter disdain over the years and they've always performed perfectly.

Tumble dry them, rather than iron, if that's your thing - unless you have a very good iron *and* a very understanding wife who appreciates that anyone can melt nylon onto the heel of an iron.

jordan_217

I have the same jacket. I've been using Grangers 2 in 1 cleaner/reproofer and it does a good job of cleaning the jacket. I've washed it a few times now but didn't tumble dry it on the first two occasions as our dryer had broke. It still kept rain at bay but I noticed that water wasn't beading as much on the surface/fabric.

I've since bought a new tumble dryer and have washed the jacket and then tumbled it on the low heat setting until dry. Out of curiosity, I then held the sleeve under the kitchen tap and the jacket seemed to repel the water much better. I flicked off the beads and there was no sign of any water at all, whereas previously the water would have looked like it had absorbed into the material (if that makes sense). As good as new as far as I'm concerned. Not had chance to wear it in anger though as the weather is on the mild side at the mo.

I still have the Goretex care card/instructions and that says:

"Machine wash warm (104 °F), rinse thoroughly. Tumble dry medium (or warm steam iron) until completely dry to maintain water repellent finish. Product may also be dry cleaned....."

I put mine on a 30° quick wash and rinse.

jordan_217

^^^^ This stuff:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001 ... 00_s00_i00

I think it's cheaper on Wiggle but was out of stock when I ordered.

luv2ride

Thanks for the replies, I'm a bit happier about sticking it in the tumble drier now knowing it shouldn't prove to be an expensive mistake! cheers 8)

brettjmcc

+1 again on the Grangers 2 in 1, used in on all my Gore-Tex stuff for walking and cycling for a while. Blacks are also doing it for £9 at the moment.

It's worth downloading thair manual, as in the past I've found the back of bottle not to alsways be clear, especially point #4

1. Close all zippers and Velcro flaps.
2. Shake bottle and pour correct amount into the machine drawer or wash ball. See individual bottles for correct amounts.
3. Wash on a warm wash and rinse cycle. Granger’s wash-in products are formulated to work from 30˚C helping save
energy and protecting the environment.
4. For best results, tumble dry on a medium heat until dry. When using the Performance Proofer and 2 in 1 add a further 15 minutes drying time to ensure complete activation.

http://www.grangers.co.uk/downloadarea/ ... 202012.pdf

alfablue

If ever it does leak, you will get a refund or replacement under the lifetime guarantee; I have had 4 replacements over the years when they have failed, and is why I always would buy Gore in preference to other fabrics. They really do stand by the product. Unfortunately, the Pac Lite jackets seemed to be the least durable (as you might expect).

Note though, as pointed out above, don't mix up loss of breathability due to the DWR (Durable Water Repellent finish) needing replenishment with a genuine leak. You may get wet if working hard and / or the breathability is compromised.

luv2ride

thanks. When I mentioned the jacket appeared less breathable than I'd hoped I think it was partly down to me wearing too many layers (I.e a merino base plus a thermal mid-layer) for the conditions on the day. Obviously being completely windproof you tend to heat up quickly, so I'll learn from that. Also the bottom of the inside of the back of the jacket was where most moisture built up, and I'm sure that's because the HC H2o has a large rear pocket, so any moisture generated from within has 2 layers of material to escape through. I noted the latest Active Shell jackets tend not to have pockets, and I presume thats because losing them helps transport moisture?

TheStone

I didn't realise it was that tactical????

I throw mine a mild wash and then over a radiator .... like all the other clothes I own.
An iron is only for work shirts.

(I have 2 paclite jackets and both like new after 4 and 6 years)

houndlegs

On the grangers website,anyone know the difference between the 2 in 1 cleaner and waterproofer,one in green writing and one in orange writing?
Both bottles look the same to me.

Garry H

houndlegs wrote:

On the grangers website,anyone know the difference between the 2 in 1 cleaner and waterproofer,one in green writing and one in orange writing?
Both bottles look the same to me.

I really wouldn't bother with Grangers or any other "technical" washing product for Gore-Tex. Just use natural soap flakes, then tumble dry. It's a fraction of the cost.

brettjmcc

houndlegs wrote:

On the grangers website,anyone know the difference between the 2 in 1 cleaner and waterproofer,one in green writing and one in orange writing?
Both bottles look the same to me.

Non, it's the same product, it's the way they have decided to colour categorise their products

Green - Cleaner
Oranger - Waterproofer

The dedided to stick in both categories

defycomp2

Paclite is fairly bombproof unless you come off and scrape it down the road. Basic care is just a quick wash in plain water then drip dry and tumble dry. Every 3-6 months a quick cool wash using a pure soap (not detergent), try Nikwax TechWash, drip dry then spray with Nikwax TX Direct. Allow to dry then tumble dry. Has worked a treat on all my winter outdoors clothing (Goretex, TriplePoint, AquaFoil etc) for years and I'm still toasty and dry.

houndlegs

After one too many soakings lately,I decided it was time to sort out my outdoor coat.
After a bit of googling I found an old test done in 2005 in some walking magazine, where they tested dedicated proofers and some not so dedicated ones. The winner was Comfort Pure.
Ok I thought,I know it's from 2005 but I'll give it a go.
Trip to Asda,£1.98 for 21 washes.
I washed it this evening following manufacturers instructions,then tumble dried it on low.
Just got it out of drier, it looks as good as when I bought it, and I gave it a spray in the shower for 5 mins,and I must say I'm chuffed to bits.
Water just beads and runs off like when new. If it performs like this when out and about I'll be one happy chappy.
Hope this helps someone