Caring for Endura MT500 Spray pants

Hi all, just bought some new MT500 Spray pants – amazingly I could not find care instructions other than their generic waterproofing page. This page seems to recommend a wash in waterproofer, but – anyone whose used, say Nikwax wash-in, on a wicking garment knows that’s not a great idea as it stops the wicking, ruined my Buffalo Tech Top big time.

This pair do seem to bead off water better than my 3 years old pair ever did, the ass does still get damp, but that could be sweat / limited breathability of the membrane in that area I guess.

Nikwax seem quite cavalier about reproofing products, they even make a “softshell” wash in proofer but further research reveals that it’s not for use with wicking liners. Doesn’t most softshell have a fuzzy wicking interior?

Has anyone tried a wash in DWR on the Mt500 sprays? Does your experience prove me wrong?

The MT500 Spray pants seem to rely heavily on the DWR coating (is that a misnomer, it’s far from ‘durable’ these days, I’m all in support of reduction of harmful environmental chemicals for sure but this seems to have come at quite a cost to users).

Anyhoo, I am guessing I’ll wash them in a sports wash like Nikwax (definitely no fabric softener) then, once the DWR fails to stop beading, use a spray on proofer. Tumble dry cool should activate the DWR in I hope.

Any thoughts? Is Grangers spray on proofer preferred over Nikwax these days?

The Endura brand re-proofer looks A LOT like the Grangers so I guess it’s relabelled? Anyone know?

thx

N

Not endura and not a hightec item but I used nikwax wash in recently on a waterproof garment and it had no effect, then tried a plastic trigger bottle of Grainger’s that had been lying in garage for years, rain beaded nicely.

1. Also tried fabsil gold aerosol on a couple of jackets, completely useless

I used nikwax recently on an eVent jacket that I’ve been using on the bike. It had stopped beading on the back where all the mud and grit had got to it.

Using nikwax wash in had no effect. Still no beading. I ended up ironing the jacket with a tea towel over the top and that seemed to be the magic ingredient. Straight away after ironing it it was beading perfectly. It’s literally the first time I’ve ever had any decent results reapplying DWR.

Ive used the spray on stuff with reasonable results in the past but it still fails to bead after a wash or two. I tried the iron thing on some Madison Zenith trousers too. I’d used the spray on nikwax stuff a few washes previous and the trousers had stopped beading. Ironing while damp brought them back to beading water even without reapplying anything.

Mine are a few winters old now. I did use the alpkit tech wash stuff for a while but I don’t think it was effective. Mine certainly don’t bead water anymore!

The Nikwax instructions say to tumble dry if the care label on the garment allows. I think it needs heat to wor properly?

Thx for feedback.

Yeah tumble drying can melt seam take adhesive ruining seam sealed garments. Seems crackers ironing bike gear but I’m willing to try it.
my Showers Pass jacket never beaded well and wets out fast. I’ll try the iron.
I feel I’ve had better luck with spray on DWR than wash in.
Mind you Nikwax wash in did a great job of stopping the lining of my Buffalo Tech top from wicking!

Sadly a rather wet arse after an hours ride, admittedly lots of standing water but I was trying to avoid it.

I’ve never had much success with waterproof trousers/shorts for mtbing, the arse just gets too much abuse (😳).

+1 for the spray on graingers