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Permalink Reply by Kevin C Dormant on March 4, 2011 at 8:45am

I have looked into this before and the consensus opinion was that Nikwax is best. It is available in both a wash-in and spray-on form. I have tried it on a couple of different garments by washing in, spraying on, or both, and have determined that it just didn't work that well for me. Once a waterproof garment loses its waterproofness, it's difficult, or in my case, impossible, to get back. I'd be interested to hear of any success stories others may have had.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on March 4, 2011 at 9:37am

I think it depends on the material.

 

Sometimes putting the clothes in the oven on a low setting, or in the dryer helps reactivate things. If it's goretex or another softshell you need clean it first, then use a wash-in. Uncle Dans or REI have a bunch of stuff.

 

Once the initial waterproofness goes away, you've got to reapply the nikwax pretty often. All of the vigorous movement eventually wears out the effectiveness

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Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on March 4, 2011 at 10:44am

Nikwax is the way to go but it can't help the DWR (Durable Water Repellentcy) of a water-proof fabric that has been washed with regular laundry detergent.  Regular laundry detergent will goop up the DWR and just about ruin it.  Once it is saturated with the standard laundry soap goop it will not be able to either repel water correctly nor will it be very breathable -worst of both worlds. Usually it just loads up with water like a sponge very quickly,  and slowly seeps through. 

I only wash my high-tech water-proof fabrics in Nikwax's "Tech Wash" which will not leave the goey residue that normal laundry soap will leave behind.  It's really hard to get built-up soap residue out of these fabrics and free the DWR fabric just by using tech wash though.  I've had some luck using vinegar to get the soap scum out and then rinsing and re-washing with tech wash.

 

The wash-in nikwax works best on garments that have never been washed with ordinary laundry soap.  I don't follow the directions though.  I fill a wash bin like for doing dishes (or one of those storage Tupperware tubs if it is a bigger garment) with some lukewarm water and a few capfuls of the stuff and soak it by hand.  You waste a lot less and you don't get it all over in your washing machine.  When I just wash the garment I run an empty load with a couple of cups of vinegar through the machine to get and residual soap scum out of the machine.  It's double-duty because it get the machine clean every once in a while. 

It's not that expensive if you buy it in the big bottles online.  It's cheaper than replacing expensive outdoor garments that get ruined by washing with regular laundry detergent. 

 

They make a spray-on Nikwax TX-Direct but it really isn't good for doing a whole garment but is really made for getting the areas like the zippers and seams really well treated after using the wash-in stuff.

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Permalink Reply by jlj on March 8, 2011 at 5:39am

I have used a variety of sprays to re-waterproof items and make previously non-waterproof items waterproof.  I find that most of the products out there work as advertised.  I own but haven't used wash in waterproofing and hope to give it a try soon.  The coleman products and nikwax products both work great IMO.

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