Id like to, if I may, ask a bit of advice re; caring for this material.

I have a couple of jackets that are now wetting out instead of beading when the rain comes. It rains alot in the West of Scotchland so I needs my waterproof game to be strong.

On the care labels ‘frequent’ washing is advised with no mention of reproofing, indeed the pointers are to warm iron to reactivate the water repelling properties of the garment! I have the fear of ironing my jacket. Do you iron the inside or outside.

Some advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Have you contacted the maker?

Don’t do anything without the manufacturer explaining what to do. It should be on the outside where you iron as you want the jacket to breathe.

Email Wiggle too.

Edited!

See, there is no talk of any reproofer on the care label. Simply wash and iron. 😯

DHB, and Rab are the makes btw.

with Event you can use regular detergent to clean but I would use Nikwax tech wash or Grangers 30 deg cleaner to clean it and re proof it with either of their reproofing products. Bung it into a tumble dryer afterwards to activate the proofing for grangers (this step isn’t necessary for Nixwak though some claim better results if you do).

a thing to remember is that it will never bead the same as it did out the bag and if the fabric is wetting out (saturating) then its breathability is compromised and will get wet from inside out!

HTH

Maybe the iron reseals the outer layer.

I’ve been advised that it should be washed with normal detergent to get all the crap out of it, then with tech wash to get rid of the detergent. Wash again with grangers then a spin in the tumble dryer or a cheeky iron and should be almost as good as new.

Seems to work on my eVent jacket but I feel like I’m stabbing Mother Earth in the heart washing the same jacket 3 times.

Im not buying the breathabilty compromised chat tbh. Its not had that hard a life!

I will follow the care tab.

*heads off to warm iron e-vent jacket*

You’ve done right – just normal washing in soap or special wash. You just now need to reproof it, which is also normal.

Buy some reproofer and follow the instructions – simples. It won’t be good as new until you reproof it – this goes for all waterproof jackets.

I would only wash it in detergent once in a while

Go buy some grangers 2 in 1. Rinse through the washer with no detergent. Pop in the 2 in 1 and wash with that. Then tumble dry and should be good as new. The tumble dryer activates the fluro chemical and makes te beading effect as good as new.

Tumble drying nikwax does bugger all apart from re activate the original dwr coating. tumble drying the grangers restores the original performance. That’s why oxfam wash all their outdoor gear in grangers. Good as new!

just to add some confusion – Atltura React, which is the same stuff should not be tumble dried – according to manufacturer (in theory at least)

And if you iron, best off doing it through a thin tea-towel, not directly (IME)!

Ah Dave, if only you had told me that last night. My jacket now has a shiny finish.

I will know next time, the days just fly by.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/make-event-fabric-work-again

Most of the info you need is in there, along with a load of vague guessery.

Tumble drying nikwax does bugger all apart from re activate the original dwr coating. tumble drying the grangers restores the original performance. That’s why oxfam wash all their outdoor gear in grangers. Good as new!

The latest Grangers stuff doesn’t need to be heat activated, except for the two in one cleaner and reproofer. Nikwax doesn’t either, but their instructions say that heat treatment may improve performance, so if the care label allows, it might be worth it.

The latest TX-10 from Nikwax is claimed to last up to five times longer and it does seem pretty good, though it’ll still wear off in areas where the fabric gets rubbed, under straps and packs etc.

Tumble-drying, if the care label allows it, has two potential drawbacks:

1. If the thermostat on the drier is faulty, it can melt the jacket or bits like the zips plus kill reflective stuff.

2. Tumbling abrades the surface of the fabric, hence the fluff that gets caught in tumble drier filters. Maybe not such a good thing eh.

I would only wash it in detergent once in a while

S’ok to wash Event in normal degtergent

I probably should have said that tumble drying the grangers activates the fluro carbons and seals it onto the garment. This then makes it last 10 times longer than nikwax and 10 times longer than air cure grangers. All grangers product which are air cure will work 10x better if heated.

hope you have a reproofed jacket by now.

josh – I’m sure you are right, but many garments, such as React say no tumble dry on the care label, but do say wash with Grangers….

Is react altura?

josh – yes. I asked about the same thing last yr and eventually contacted Altura, who advised on no account tumble dry..but that Grangers or Nikwax would reproof

If you want to put a shell item in the washing machine, run the machine empty for a cycle (clean the soap drawer first) to remove laundry detergent.

Hand washing with tech-wash is easier and guarantees no unwanted detergent getting into your jacket. It is the undoer of the dwr.

The factory dwr is a flurocarbon coating which is a bit like this before being ironed _ _ _ _ _ and with heat does this I I I I I which is how the droplets bead.

This eventually wears out and another is needed. Nikwax is more eco friendly and although shouldn’t really need the heat stage, still performs better with.

I use separate Nikwax washer and proofer, a big bendy bucket and a hairdryer for the heat bit at the end. I also spray the proofer on the jacket above the bucket, pour the runoff back into the squirty bottle and carry on. Some garments say not to tumble/iron as the taped seams can come undone.

Hope that helps!

Altura and Grangers are distributed by the same company so can see the recomendation for grangers being solid. I don’t under stand why no tumble dry though. Dwr treated material is baked in manufacture? Heat should be ok. Especially a domestic tumble dryer. Anyhow think things must be sorted now?