What treatment works the best to make older raingear more water repellant? I have raingear that is probably 5-6 years old but still in great shape other than it just does not seem to have the same repellency as it did when new. I’m sure time and a few washing has taken away some of the original treatment. Is there a good spray treatment that anyone has found to work well. At the $ for new good raingear I don’t want to buy new if not necessary.
I’ve had pretty good luck with this
Only thing I’ve ever used on any of my Guide wear.
They do sell just the waterproofing separate if not looking for the wash
I use Revivex products on my goretex rain gear- once a year treatment makes it shed like brand new again. I’m sure there are other brands but this is what they had recommended for some of my first Simms jackets 20 years ago and I’ve used it since.
Revivex or NikWax are good products to use. I like the spray on treatment over the wash in, I feel like the wash in stuff gets sticky on the inside of the jacket and that really bugs me. M
One thing that is recommended is to hit the garment, after you wash and dry it, with a warm iron on steam mode because the steam reactivates the DWR. They say if you’re worried about burning the fabric, just put a light towel in between the iron and your jacket/bibs. Have not tried it yet but will soon.
Hope this helps, good luck.
To restore the water repellency of GORE-TEX outerwear, GORE-TEX brand recommends the following steps:
Machine wash your garment as described in the wash instructions. …
Once it is dry, tumble dry your garment for 20 minutes to reactivate the durable water-repellent (DWR) treatment on the outer fabric.
Cabelas carries several brands of DWR in store if you need to reapply. I went with their brand. Just did this last week.
I have used revivex and others, but online reviews led me to Grainger Performance Spray to try this year. Just applied and so far so good, but I can’t offer a longer term review yet.
Machine wash your garment as described in the wash instructions. …
Once it is dry, tumble dry your garment for 20 minutes to reactivate the durable water-repellent (DWR) treatment on the outer fabric.
Only reason I don’t like doing this is there’s always fabric softener residue in the drum of the drier and fabric softener is bad stuff for DWR. Otherwise yes, it’s a good idea and the same principle as ironing, the steam reactivates the fabric DWR.
I just finished with my Cabela’s Dry Plus rainwear. Got it ready for the opener.
As others have mentioned, I washed mine with Nikwax Tech Wash. Dried on low heat, then back in the drier on medium for 20 minutes to help revitalize the DWR. After that I applied Nikwax Softshell spray on waterproofing. I let mine hang outside to help set the waterproofing.
like Zooks said the wash in waterproofing does not feel right when wearing. Mine felt like someone over used Laundry softener when the rainwear was cleaned.
I’m trying Nikwax for the first time.
Supposed to be great stuff, but it isn’t very easy to apply.
It’s water based……I found that it can bead up and not soak in on it’s own.
You have to lay your raingear flat and help rub it in (at least that’s what I had to do).
The jury is still out.
In the past, I’ve used aerosols that you could spray on with your rain gear hanging, never beaded off or needed help soaking in.
I found the wash in nixwax works alot better and lasts much longer than the spray on,however you do get the inside waxy feeling with the wash in.
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