UKC

I can't find any instructions on inside of the pants and I have dumped all the cedrtificates that it came with. Should I follow advice from the Internet and put it in the washing machine? What programme should I put it on? Is it necessary to tumble dry it or I can just hang it out? What detergent is it best to use?

In reply to Aiezsedai:

Use pure soap powder at 40 degrees on a gentle setting. If you have a tumble dryer put it in on its coolest setting, or hang it up to dry.

In reply to JoshOvki: my Berghaus extrem proshell states 30° my mountain Hardware proshell pants state 40° both say you can iron on 1

In reply to Aiezsedai: Nikwax tech wash at 40 or 30 degrees with only one or two other items in the machine. Then Nikwax Tx Direct with maybe one other thing in there to reproof it (or you can do this by spraying on)

You can get both things at pretty much any outdoor shop including the usually unhelpful Blacks. There is an alternative called Grangers that washes and proofs in one and needs a little tumble drying to finish but I have never used it so don't know how it compares to Nikwax, which has always worked very well.

In reply to Aiezsedai: http://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/faq/index.php

In reply to Aiezsedai: Yep I'm with rock gobbler. Use Tech Wash and then immediately use Tx Direct on a separate cycle. Gives good results and is what is recommended by most outdoor manufacturers.

If you find that water doesn't bead a short while after washing just give the garment a tumble dry on a cool setting to draw the DWR out onto the surface.

In reply to Aiezsedai:

Well, it depends just how dirty your Gore-tex clothing is.

If there is a lot of obvious oil contamination (which includes body oil), then it's unlikely that soap-based washes will be able to adequately remove it. So your are best off doing a detergent wash, using a liquid detergent*.

Once your garment looks 'clean', you will then need to remove the traces of detergent to allow the DWR to work again. This can be done with one of the proprietary soap washes (e.g. Nikwax TechWash), or with pure soap flakes.

The other thing to remember is that washing machines that are used with powder in a dispenser tray are often still full of detergent, and this will be washed into the garment in the rinse cycles. So it's important to make sure the entire water path is clean.

With a bit of luck, this should give you a nice, clean garment with a working DWR. If the DWR isn't beading very well (i.e. water is soaking in to the face fabric, rather than running off), you might try a cool tumble dry, which re-distributes the DWR within the face fabric, and is often enough to revitalise it.

If this still doesn't make the DWR work, then you need to re-proof the garment with a wash-in, or spray-on DWR treatment such as manufactured by Grangers or Nikwax. Follow the instructions on the tin...

* The latest cleaning products from Grangers aren't soap-based, but apparently use a detergent that will wash out, but is strong enough to remove oils. I've not tried it, so can't comment.

In reply to Aiezsedai:

I have a very old jacket that has lost its water proofing abilities and went to various places for advice- the best people to ask are the manufacturuers of the jacket and speak to the technical team who may even offer to reproof it for you their method. If not...I used Nik wax...i recall grangers ebing a name also (bit i may be imagining that)...so Nik Wax techwash in Machine at 30 degrees...then the TX waterproofer. Trespass seem to be the cheapest. Again - do theis in the washing machine...then tumble dry - really good tip as it bring proofer to surface....then you can add an extra layer if it doesnt bead properly by getting the spray on ( i havent done this yet).....dont Just use spray instead of the wash in as its difficult to ensure that you spray every single milimeter of the item of clothing.

Hope it goes well. If it doesnt bead....it still may be water proof but it just absorbs the water but it still may not penetrate the gortex layer underneath so you keep dry but are wearing a heavier jacket. If you cant handle that - get a new jacket...but i say if it aint completely broke, keep it....