There's no way I'd use any non-soap detergent on my Paramo jacket, but I find that just normal soap gets in clean anyway. I'd rather have a few cosmetic stains than end up with a leaky jacket.
I take your point, but the idea is the detergent strips off the dirt (plus the DWR), the soap wash removes the detergent so it doesn't cause the fabric to wet out, the the nikwax wash restores the DWR.
> The soap removes the detergent? I always thought soap was detergent!
Detergent is a wetting agent, which is how it removes the dirt to some extent. However that's not good for waterproofs as it stops the water beading and breaks down the surface tension so it soaks into the fabric.
Soap, and the expensive waterproof cleaners, don't do that (which is why it doesn't clean as well as a detergent does).
If you are risk averse about reproofing you could always wash the grot off yourself and send it back to paramo for reproofing. They are the same company as nikwax so that is what they use. I have had a reproofing from them as part of a repair service and it was fine. Mind you I have asked Santa for a new jacket as mine is truly grotty now with dirt and worn bits, plus the main jacket is 17 years old and the repaired panel is only about 8 years old and the main jacket has started fading quite a bit and the repair hasn’t, so I look extremely scruffy.
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