UKC

Just a quick question, over christmas I treated myself to a new goretex pro jacket. I have not used the jacket that heavily however it seems that the DWR on the jacket has worn off despite little use. I have not yet washed the jacket and have heard that tumble drying the goretex can reactivate the DWR coating. I was just wondering if it is normal for the DWR to wear off that quickly on a brand new jacket. Thanks for any help.

In reply to HGTS:

It's not unheard-of for a new waterproof. It might be a problem at the factory or the result of being so long in the shop or even something that was bought, worn around the house or under another coat (even hot-washed!), and then returned, and so on.

Where exactly is it wetting-out and after how long in the rain? Areas around the shoulders and the forearms will wet-out pretty quickly, IME. The entire jacket may wet-out after several hours in the rain. Some original DWR seems to last a lot longer than others, for unknown reasons, IME.

You could try washing only and drying it appropriately for the garment but if it is really bad and the shop you bought it from is really good, you could try for a replacement. At some point you will be doing what you may now have to do: reactivating or replacing/supplementing the DWR, so perhaps put it down to bad luck and start early?

In reply to Dorq:

Thanks, water doesn't really bead at all on the jacket now, the first time that the jacket wetted out was in rain that wasn't too heavy. I only spent abot 45 minutes in the rain before it stopped but within ten minutes the jacket had wetted out fully. As you suggested the shoulders and forearms were the first place that the jacket wetted out followed more slowly by the torso. I will try washing it as per the instructions on the label and attempt to reactivate the DWR. If that doesn't work I guess I should try for a replacement, however I bought the jacket from an online retailer so that may not work.

In reply to HGTS:

That isn't right for Goretex Pro, which is an expensive material that comes with a guarantee "...to keep you dry" and that means maintaining reasonable breathability, which entails effective DWR. If you have receipts from things like pure soap or technical soaps, photos of the jacket or even a video of the jacket in the shower, wetting-out after ten minutes, then there would be little they could do but honour their commitment to their customer in this case. You could ask the online retailer to send it to Gore for 'testing', which is implied by their having some kind of guarantee. The least they could do is bring it up to speed for you.

I wonder if it started wetting-out on the shoulders and arms immediately? I suppose there is no way to tell, as it isn't something one would pay attention to. But if so, then it would indicate that the jacket has been worn significantly and not just tried on and 'worn around the house' formerly.

I have an eVent jacket that has retained its DWR remarkably (not ripstop but a flat surface weave) and a Patagucci ripstop jacket that, even after using alcohol rubs to remove chain oil, beaded up no problem for ages. Sounds like you got a lemon.

In reply to Dorq:

I have now tested the jacket in a sink with a steadily dripping tap and the fabric does wet out very quickly, looks like I'm going to have to send the jacket back to gore and see what they make of it although this may not be as easy as it sounds considering I bought the jacket online. Does anyone have any experience of Taunton Leisure and their refunds policies or sending faulty products to companies like gore. How long would you say it would take for gore to decide whether a product is faulty or not.

Thanks for the advice
Hector

In reply to HGTS:

I've sent returns to Taunton Leisure before (not fitting rather than faulty, though). They've seemed good whenever I've dealt with them.

In reply to HGTS:

Shoot them an email and they will be able to let you know, as I'm sure they've done this kind of thing before. The problem could actually be someone other than Gore's fault*, so you might have to be paitient (or be surprised, if Taunton simply give you the benefit of the doubt and replace it in advance!)

*For example, someone could have 'tried out' the jacket by wearing it to the shops underneath their belay jacket which they also wore all winter over their filthy waxed cotton jacket, etc.