Renewing Waterproof Gear

D!armu!d

With all the rain this week I've found my waterproof trousers are no longer up to the job of keeping the water out. Has anyone tried the sprays or washes to renew the waterproof coating?
Do they do a good job or are you better off just investing in new clothes?

ROK ON

D!armu!d wrote: »

With all the rain this week I've found my waterproof trousers are no longer up to the job of keeping the water out. Has anyone tried the sprays or washes to renew the waterproof coating?
Do they do a good job or are you better off just investing in new clothes?

I had a nice Alture Nevis rain jacket for three years. Its heavy, so I only use it on wet commutes. Wore it Wednesday for 1st time since March (Ithink). Got to work drenched wet - had this jacket for 3 years, and this is first time that it allowed rain in.

Maybe they just lose waterproffing after a while.

jack01986

Most waterproof clothes lose their proofing over time and start to become wetted out. You'll know its wetted out when the water stops beading off the clothes. There are reproofing products that you can by that restore the waterproofing. Grangers is one of them. They are actually pretty good I had some goretex jacket that had started to wetout and I used the grangers to reproof it, its still working pretty well now.

niceonetom

I've used NIKWAX on a few things with very good results. There are a few kinds; spray-on, wash-in, etc. I've only used the wash-in stuff. S'good. It does wash off eventually (just as the original waterproofing in gore-tex wears out) but it does work.

I got it in 53*North in Blanchardstown but it can be gotten in most outdoor/hillwalking/ski shops.

ednwireland

nikwax tx dirext works pretty well i hand wash my walking jackets (with their tech wash) then spray them while wet outside with this

works reasononably well

more info tx direct
http://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/products/productdetail.php?productid=16

tech wash
http://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/products/productdetail.php?productid=4


if youve washed it with ordinary detergent its probably stuffed tends to strip waterproof coatings

any outdoor gear shop should stock this stuff

lukester

I just retreated my Montane cape with Nikwax, worked a treat. Great Outdoors sell the Nikwax stuff too, for a tenner I got a bottle of the wash in treatment and a bottle of the stuff you use to wash the garment regularly.

I had just been washing my cape with the rest of my gear, which swiftly removed the waterproofing. You're supposed to only use soap flakes, ideally use the Nikwax stuff which better preserves the treatment.

tomasrojo

lukester wrote: »

I just retreated my Montane cape with Nikwax, worked a treat. Great Outdoors sell the Nikwax stuff too, for a tenner I got a bottle of the wash in treatment and a bottle of the stuff you use to wash the garment regularly.

I had just been washing my cape with the rest of my gear, which swiftly removed the waterproofing. You're supposed to only use soap flakes, ideally use the Nikwax stuff which better preserves the treatment.

Could you just soap up some water using household soap and do frequent washes?

lukester

tomasrojo wrote: »

Could you just soap up some water using household soap and do frequent washes?

Tbh, I plan on just giving mine the odd rinse under the shower. I'm sure a bit of soapy water wouldn't hurt, but it's not an absorbent fabric, mine isn't anyway, so shouldn't get stinky. And it's black, so hides the dirt.

tomasrojo

lukester wrote: »

Tbh, I plan on just giving mine the odd rinse under the shower. I'm sure a bit of soapy water wouldn't hurt, but it's not an absorbent fabric, mine isn't anyway, so shouldn't get stinky. And it's black, so hides the dirt.

I might try the soapy water and rinse under the shower then. I just like using materials I can get easily in normal shops, if I can.

ednwireland

well this is what tech wash is supposed to do



Lifts out dirt that can attract water and mask water repellent finishes
Unlike detergents, it does not leave behind water attractive residues which encourage ‘wetting-out’
removes detergent residues left behind by previous washes
WaterBased - environmentally friendly, biodegradable, non flammable, non hazardous

i wouldnt use ordinary soap but i wash waterproofs as little as possible

blorg

My eVent jacket came with a recommendation to wash frequently to retain the waterproofing. I think this is a peculiarity of the eVent fabric though.