UKC

I don’t have a tumble dryer at home so whilst I’m away this week in a cottage that has a dryer I’m attempting to resurrect an old Arcteryx Goretex jacket. I think it’s probably beyond recovery but I’m giving it one last try. I’ve washed it with Tech Wash and thoroughly rinsed it. The dryer is ancient and basically seems to have two heat settings: full power and half power. Full is for every type of fabric apart from “light synthetics”. What setting should I use to reactivate the DWR without melting the jacket?

I've always done them on a low setting!!

I'll never tumble dry one again for exactly that reason! 🤣 if. Lowest power you can however I don't think the newer nick wax stuff is hear activated and you risk melting the old seams if you too far (I did! 

However my winter / abuse / spare gortex now has its seams internal and external sealed up (water based outside and horrible stuff inside) and I have covered the whole lot in fabsil tent sealer (silicone based I think?). 

Worryingly it beads water all day long and I haven't noticed any issues with the supposed lack of breathability.... water tight as well, and the beading doesn't fade after 12minutes! 

Not sure what to take away from that but for me a shell stays in the bag until it really need it so it's works well for the job! 

Andy 

Check out our video on the subject here:  youtube.com/watch?v=8GC1WL5PjCo&

In short, you don't need to tumble dry if you wash it in both Tech Wash and then TX Direct.

Nick

If you don't have a tumble drier you can iron the dry garment on the gentle setting (warm, no steam) by placing a towel or cloth between the garment and the iron. This will help reactivate the DWR treatment on your garment’s outer fabric.

As per Nick Brown's post above, heat is not needed to develop Durable Water Repellency. 

https://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/products/waterproofing/tx-direct-wash-in/

That's specifically nikwax dwr. OP indicated they used tech wash and want to reactivate the original dwr which may require heat. I usually use low but I've also had a jacket with a dwr that said do not tumble dry. In that case I applied heat using an iron through a towel after hang drying which seemed to do the job (it beaded anyway)

I actually just cleaned a bunch of gear myself and nearly all the shells said tumble dry low.

In reply to:

Thanks all. I put it in for 50 minutes on low and that seems to have restored its beading ability somewhat. Either the washing or the drying have accelerated the hem (the bit at the bottom with an elastic cord running through) coming unstuck but that was starting already. Should be able to fix that with some seam tape. 

I was once advised by someone at Nikwax that it was more important when washing the proofer in, to do it on a long wash cycle (not one of the economy 'quick' settings) in order that the TX Direct can fully penetrate into the fabric. I was also advised that tumble drying was definitely not required, even when I suggested doing it anyway.

I did damage some over trousers on a low setting on a tumble dryer once, all the seam tape fell off in one big connected mass. I read the wash instructions label and sure enough it had the dryer symbol crossed out. My fault! (the trousers seem to work just as well though)

I'd advise washing with tech wash, treating in a sink with tx direct, spin dry in machine then dripping over the bath, drying it properly by hanging up to dry. And then once the jacket is dry.. if and only if the wash instructions say you can tumble dry it!!!! -- dry for a short time on low setting.

Even though the jacket was dry when you put it in the dryer, a short while on low will fluff out the tiny surface fibres of the fabric and make it better at repelling water. If you are treating fleece/pile with polar proof, a quick go in the tumble dryer on low (after already dry) seems really effective in increasing  the surface repellency.

Just in case someone stumbles across this thread who has the same problem with the hems coming undone after washing and tumble drying their Arcteryx jacket. I’ve managed to repair the jacket by ironing over the glued seams and then applying some seam tape in the areas where it’s really bad. I did subsequently find online reports of people with the same problem and Arcteryx had repaired for free with some pretty old jackets.