UKC

Has anybody used anything for reproofing. I've got a jacket that could do with it.

What's the best option, spray-on or wash in treatments?

Thanks,

Jamie

In reply to JamieGreig:
Clothing with mesh liners, need spray-on treatment, clothing without you can use either wash-in or spray-on. Liners basically suck moisture away from the body so that it can be passed through the waterproof/breathable membrane. If you use a wash-in proofer it will waterproof this liner, preventing it from moving moisture away from your body and your jacket will no longer breath. Also make sure you first wash nthe garment in tech-wash or similar (or pure soap flakes) to get rid of the dirt that gets into the membrane's pores and stops it breathing.

In reply to Jon Wickham: Fantastic thanks, I've got a mesh liner so will be sure to use a spray-on.

In reply to JamieGreig:
ensure it's the corect spray as some are designed for gortex and others are not, use to work in a gear shop and never got any complaints about nickwax products..

In reply to Jon Wickham:
which spray on would you recommend?

In reply to Jon Wickham:


Your jacket will still breathe perfectly well. Proofing the mesh liner doesn't affect the membrane at all. It will prevent the mesh liner from mopping up condensed vapour on the inner face of the shell, though. One might argue that this condensed vapour might cause internal 'wetting out', but I don't think it will have too much effect.

If the OP's jacket is Event, it may be worth searching for recent threads on advice on cleaning, which differs from the usual advice given for Gore-tex (i.e. don't use detergent).

Above all, it may be worth giving the jacket a good wash with a soap-based cleaner, in a clean washing machine (with no detergent residues clogging the thing up. Followed by a warm (not hot) tumble dry to restore the DWR. You may find that it doesn't need re-proofing once it's been cleaned.

In reply to JamieGreig:

Ello mate,

whatever you do, do NOT let the jacket near detergent soaps. They eat away at the DWR.

your good friend,

Nobby

In reply to jimmy.nobbs:
"do NOT let the jacket near detergent soaps. They eat away at the DWR"

No they don't. Detergents cling to the fabric (and the DWR) and hold water thus causing the fabric to 'wet out'.
Also, they (detergents) are practically impossible to ever fully rinse out of the fabric and can only be removed by washing with something like Nikwax Techwash or Grangers' equivalent.
It's a popular misconception that detergents strip away the DWR.

In reply to JamieGreig:

Hi, this advice is straight from the horses mouth (a Nikwax sales rep): Wash your jacket first with nikwax techwash to clean out any dirt and grease (improves breathability), followed by using a wash-in, not spray-on proofer, tx-direct. By using a wash-in proofer you prevent the liner absorbing water and reducing breathability by blocking water vapour transfer and also making your jacket colder and clammy. The best use of spray-on is when only patches such as the sahoulder area of your jacket need re-proofing.

ps I've found Grangers products to be better than nikwax but you need a tumble drier really, and they're not hipp-friendly.

In reply to beermonkey:

When proofing a jacket with a drop liner use the spray-on variety on the OUTSIDE of the jacket ONLY otherwise you'll make the drop-line hydrophobic (water repellent) and it wont do what it's designed to do - wick moisture.

With 3-layer Goretex or eVent use either spray-on or wash-in.

In reply to Glyno:

A saturated inner liner causes any moisture that you want to pass through it to condense (not good for breathability), hence the rep advised us to recommend wash-in. In non-gore windstopper soft-shells spray-on is best, we even got the rep to admit that the spray-on waterproofer is better to use than the nikwax wash-in softshell proof due to wicking performances.

In reply to beermonkey:
I'd have thought a water repellent inner liner would be worse.

In reply to JamieGreig:

No, it allows water vapout to pass straight through it and then through the breathable membrane without having to condense and then evaporate again.