…well it will be if you lot know wnat you are talking about!

What’s a good (effective & cost effective) way to wash one’s thermaloft, softshells, hardshells…and to DWR them after?

To wash – liquid soap from supermarket. Ideally give the machine a rinse through beforehand to get rid of residual detergent

DWR – Graingers or NikWax wash in stuff. Hang to dry. Done.

^^^wot he said

Al, you could always try to ..

Win a prize

I can’t remember where I read it or whether it’s true or not but the general gist was that wash-in waterproofing agents will also waterproof the inside of the garment. It was suggested this action rendered the garment unable to wick as well as one treated with a spray-on version of said product.

Smells a bit funny to me but worth throwing it out there for some knowledgeable git to confirm/rubbish as appropriate…

wash-in waterproofing agents will also waterproof the inside of the garment. It was suggested this action rendered the garment unable to wick as well as one treated with a spray-on version of said product.

You actually want the inside to be water repellent as well so that it doesn’t ‘wet-out’ which drastically reduces the breath-ability of the fabric.

Also, some products (e.g. Graingers) require the garment to be tumble dried after treatment to activate and bond the repellent better. It is always worth washing the garment properly with soap in a clean washing machine then tumble drying as this will often re-activate the factory applied DWR.

Aren’t the spray-on DWRs meant to be better?

Just wash with soapflakes.
Seriously, anything else is just a waste of money.
Loads of threads about this recently.

I’ve found the spray on dwr’s better than the wash in ones, but you don’t need to reapply dwr as often as you think.
As above, washing and tumble drying is often enough.

I usually follow my tried and tested Mallet/Shards/Flames….etc method.

HTH 😛

The rinse out should be an empty wash at 90/95 C to shift any stubborn detergent deposits. Especially necessary if you are generous with the detergent when washing normally.
Nikwax claim that you do not need to tumble dry to re-activate the DWR with their tech wash and some garments, you’ll need to do the sums for energy saving vs extra cleaner cost to see if there’s any benefit to you.

Clean the machine, wash with soap flakes or liquid soap, rinse, rinse again, maybe a third time, and tumble dry if possible (check your garments label) and this is often enough. Oh, and no fabric conditioner, ever.

The tumble drying may rejuvenate the DWR depending on the fabric, or use wash in (I use nikwax) or spray on proofer.

The rinse out should be an empty wash at 90/95 C

It really doesn’t, but we’ve had this discussion before 🙂

beware tumble drying unless care label says you can – it can melt the glue on taped seams….

beware tumble drying unless care label says you can – it can melt the glue on taped seams….

My gf tumble dried her polaris jacket. It came out looking like a crispy scrotum.

Totally agree with the comment about pure soap flakes,this works wonders for breathability. The other thing that is really important is to NOT use fabric conditioner, this blocks all of the “pores” in the fabric.

I would never use it anyway, but if you normally do, make sure you clean it all out of the drawer before using with breathables.

Tumble drying is a great way of restoring waterproofing as well.

If you don’t own a tumble dryer is there any other way of reproofing?.

A warm iron works too.

I wash with Fairy non bio on a normal 30 or 40 wash. Then mix NikWax as the instructions in a bucket, dunk the clothes in one by one and gently wring out. Then hang to drip dry. I don’t bother with a rinse. I’ve used the spray on NikWax as a hoton between washes. Seems to work for me.

somafunk – Member

If you don’t own a tumble dryer is there any other way of reproofing?.
Landerette was good when our drier went pop! Low heat and you should be good. Costs about 40-60p to do it thoroughly.

Just wash with soapflakes

Soap clakes clogged our washing machine when used on low heat. Soap liquid is much better, but the only place I’ve found that stocks it is Waitrose.

You just dissolve it in hot water first.

Soap flakes dissolved in jug of boiling water, pour in machine and wash, tumble dry on LOW heat to reactivate DWR.

Spray on waterproofer is meant to work better than wash in and I’ve found it works great plus spray on should only be used for soft shells and anything else that isn’t a hard shell.

It’s hard to get them to dissolve completely, even if you use boiling water and weigh out the recommended amount. What you tend to end up with is a noxious thick goo that solidifies in your washing machine’s waste pipe and floods the kitchen. Mmm.

Hmm, I don’t own an iron either, and i guess my nearest laundrette will be in Dumfries, 30 odd miles away….think i’ll ask round my neighbours as one of them is bound to have a tumble dryer.

Cheers!.

Managed to rejuvenate the DWR on a GoreTex Paclite jacket recently with Nikwax techwash followed by tumble drying on low heat.
I was always a bit concerned about washing goretex, etc, but now I wash everything in techwash and if the garment allows stick it in the tumble for half an hour. I used to use soap flakes, but it seems to be hard to come by these days. The techwash stuff doesn’t work out too expensive if you buy the biggest bottle and are stingy with the measures.
You should never use regular detergent of any sort, or fabric conditioner.

Boots do soap flakes, £2.69 for a box.

Mr Agreeable – Member

It’s hard to get them to dissolve completely, even if you use boiling water and weigh out the recommended amount. What you tend to end up with is a noxious thick goo that solidifies in your washing machine’s waste pipe and floods the kitchen. Mmm.

Maybe I’m doing it wrong but not had that happen in years of using them.
Maybe I’m not using enough?
I don’t tend to use loads, you don’t need it.

We used them no problem for a few months, then – sploosh. It probably depends on the design of your machine and the hardness of your water, but it’s something to be careful of.

I’ve never had an issue using soap flakes straight into the dispenser drawer either – and that’s in many years of use. Soft water though and I never use very much (well – not after the first time 🙂 )

Does all this work if you’ve previously washed a jacket in standard detergent plus fabric conditioner?!!

If you’ve done that then washing it in Tech Wash should remove the contaminants.

It really doesn’t, but we’ve had this discussion before

That may be your experience with your machine, in our hard water area the recently deceased AEG we had used to fill the pump filter with gunk every time we did this. (I have a wife who likes detergent despite nearly 30 years of me asking her not to).