My commuting jacket ended up in the wash with fabric conditioner …
now no longer waterproof but does seem more absorbent than bounty 🙁
tried a spray on reproofer has had little effect,would i be better with a wash in reproofer if so which one ??

wash it a few times with pure soap flakes – you need to get the remains of the conditioner out of it.

I’d try the wash in ones – although gore don’t recommend it for their newer materials.

Cheers ill give it another wash

I’ve really sorted this as I had a load of gear that had lost it’s DWR…

after normal wash, stick in sink with 250-300ml of Nikwax Tech Wash/garment and ‘hand-hot’ water (more than they recommend).
give it a good sloshing around, then rinse thoroughly, twice.

when still wet, spray on Nikwax TX Direct
(you only really need to do this on the arms/shoulders/seat pad/exposed areas)
wipe off excess with wet cloth.

then bung in tumble dryer on a low set for 10-15 mins or until it feels almost dry, then dry normally.

if you follow this you will transform your kit – I’ve done it with all my biking and sailing gear and it’s transformed.

+1 for tumble drying, I failed to do this last time I redid my jacket, didnt bead.

Mine still isnt right, but as barn has said I think it needed more wash in TX Direct than they recommend.

Havent tried the spray on TX Direct, so may well do this next time I CBA.

I cleaned my Endura eVent jacket and shorts a couple of months ago with Nikwax techwash & then with the wash in DX Direct. I did this on a normal wash cycle at 30′. After this I put them both in the tumble dryer for about 15 mins on a low heat and also gave them a quick iron on again on a low setting.

This seemed to have worked but when it rained the other day they both wetted out and I got soaked in a very short space of time 🙁

Do you think its worth while re washing them with more Nikwax as suggested above, previously followed instructions on packaging or should I look at sending themaway to be re-proofed? IIRC someone was saying on here about an outdoors shop that offered this service and was very good.

While we havent had a ny snow down south (yet) the weather is starting to get a bit moody and I’d rather not get caught out.

Cheers all 🙂

OP: The fabric softner would in actual fact have a similar effect to a DWR waterproofing solution, the only problem would be that it also blokes the pores which make the jacket “breathable”.

Washing in detergent, then liquid soap/techwash will wash off the softner. I’d use a spray on waterproofer on the outside of the jacket and see if that fixes things.

stayhigh: Event is a bit of a bugger to clean, and keep waterproof. If it gets dirt/oil inside the membrane, then water can pass through. I’d rewash in detergent, then liquid soap/techwash and again use a spray on waterproofer.

I’d rewash in detergent

[idiot mode] so just your normal everyday washing powder?[idiot mode off]

I bought one of those M&S shirts that says it is sweat-free -uses “Smartweave” technology apparently.

Anyway – the shirt beads like crazy – trying to dampen shirts to iron is crazy fun as the water just runs off.

So if you start seeing mtbers riding round in semi-formal shirts, this is why.

http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/investors/press_releases/launch_of_the_sweat_free_shirt_for_men

My 15 year old Freestyle Goretex gets reproofed every couple of years with Thompson’s water Seal. It make the fabric a bit stiff but seems to work OK.

I’ve never been able to get a jacket back to how it was when new

The treatments seems to work for a couple of weeks at best, even after tumble drying etc

I found grangers slightly better than nikwax, but still, I’ve never got a satisfactory result

[idiot mode] so just your normal everyday washing powder?[idiot mode off]

Yep, just so long as it doesn’t have a softner in it (i.e Bold). You need the heavier duty cleaning agents to get things properly clean.

I’m having exactly the same conundrum with a Rab eVent jacket.

It seriously pisses me off that the manufacturers don’t give you more info on the care of the product. I’ve used every ‘tech wash’ available (well, Grangers and Nik-Wax) and also Grangers XT Proofer. Non-the-less, my jacket wets out immediately and is massively sweaty.

In an effort to restore it I followed eVent’s advice and washed it in a liquid detergent. WRONG!! Apparently I didn’t guess right, and by using a bio detergent I’ve now made matters worse. Brilliant.

Now I just need to wash it again, and again, and again, with Grangers, then use the rest of my bottle of spray on proofer, and tumble dry it, in the hope that my 6 month old, £200 jacket actually keeps me vaguely dry. 👿