Hi guys,

Been away for a while, so don’t shoot me if this topic has already been covered!

Waterproof clothing, do you really need to use special products such as NikWax when washing? Will normal detergents damage the clothing.? After washing, is there any post treatments?

Any advice would be great.

Thanks

Endurokid (Aaron)

Nikwax TX Direct is for reproofing.
Tekwash is for fixing oily ****ups and other disasters plus restoring breathabikity snd DWR.
Neither Work well unless you properly clean your washer out first (remove and scrub powder drawer, several kettles of boiling water down the drawer chutes, probably a hot load of towels with no detergents to finish).
For regular washing, standard product will work with a big proviso – fabric conditioner is Satan. It blocks the pores of the fabric robbing it of breathability and DWR properties so it just wets through rather than beading off.
Two-in-one washing liquids are therefore bad, as is fabric conditioner. I’d also treat any machine someone else uses fabric conditioner in as suspect, but I’m an extremist in such matters 😀

Dri-Pak Liquid Soap is much the same as Tech Wash, and usually cheaper.

I’d usually just wash jackets by hand, probably quicker than trying to clean the detergent out of the washing machine. And less likely to damage zips etc.

Fair point, I hardly ever need to use special washes but for biking stuff tend to just chuck it in the main wash as and when. That said, I don’t overwash my jacket – it only really gets washed when it’s getting unpleasant to be around. I do tend to chuck shorts and stuff in ASAP though.

It probably helps I don’t have regular clothes that would be upset by this regime to worry about!

Is re-proofing only required as an extreme measure? Realistically it’s going to be hard to prep the washer to wash only my jacket and shorts, so would a hose down suffice?

Is there any after market sprays that can be used to help longevity?

Cheers

I asked the same question of Endura. They said regular machine wash at 30 and every 5th wash use a wash in Nickwax type product. They also said regular wash every few wears, assuming dirty and smelly.

A friend recommended Halo Sports Wash to stop kit going stinky and horrible. No idea what’s in it, but it certainly works and I find that my kit takes a lot longer to go manky. I do wash my biking stuff separately from the rest of the wash, and if it’s filthy, it get a “pre-wash” from the hose outside, mostly to stop Mrs Daern moaning about mud in the washer 🙂

I also use Halo for washing my waterproof kit – I’d agree with what others have said. My waterproof gear gets washed when it needs it, which is typically every few rides and re-waterproofed as and when it starts to look a bit sad. It then gets hung in the boiler room to dry. If re-waterproofed, the gore-tex stuff then gets tumble-dried on a low heat – this is a bit of GTX magic to reactivate the DWR coating and get it beading again. (Note: check your washing instructions – not all kit likes being tumble-dried!)

Lidl non-bio powder with no fabric conditioner for regular washing

People get really confused about the water repellent treatments on shell jackets. The factory treatment is what makes water bead into droplets and run off the surface of the fabric and keeps the jacket breathing more effectively.

If it stops working, the outer face of the fabric starts to soak up water, which makes it much harder for vapour to escape from the inside and often creates condensation inside the jacket.

The factory treatment gradually wears off, but will also be masked by dirt, oil and other contaminants. The issue with normal detergents is that they contain wetting agents and optical brighteners which also mask the original DWR treatment and stop it working – wetting agents are designed to help water penetrate the fabric, so not a good thing. Which is why pure soap or a tech wash from the likes of Nikwax or Grangers makes sense.

If you do use a normal detergent, you can aways remove most of it by double rinsing it or rewashing with a pure soap based one then rinsing. Bear in mind that pure soap doesn’t clean as well as normal stuff, which is why Paramo recommends occasionally washing with a normal detergent then with tech wash then reproofing.

Bio or non-bio makes no odds btw. It’s the other additives that mask the DWR.

Anyway, once washed and rinsed, try spraying or pouring some water onto the jacket surface. If it beads and runs off, all good. If it starts to soak in, you can try heat treating carefully if the garment care instructions allow it – a low temp iron is okay, avoid transfers, reflective and plastic trim – or possibly a tumble drier, though these abrade the fabric and you have limited control over the temperature. That may be enough to revive the factory treatment.

If it’s not, you need to apply an aftermarket water repellent finish like Nikwax TX Direct or spray-on or the Grangers stuff etc. Just follow the instructions on the bottle.

You can do all this and what will actually happen is that after a few hours of sustained rain, the DWR will stop working, the surface fabric will soak up water, you’ll get clammy and damp inside the jacket and you will wonder why you bothered in the first place. The only two fabrics I’m aware of that avoid this are the new Gore shake dry stuff, which is too fragile for mountain biking, and Columbia’s OutDry Extreme, which is similar but tougher but not as breathable ime.

And now I’m going for a ride on my bike…

^^^^ great post, catches it all really.

Especially this bit

You can do all this and what will actually happen is that after a few hours of sustained rain, the DWR will stop working, the surface fabric will soak up water, you’ll get clammy and damp inside the jacket.

🙂