Woolite for washing DWR?

[John Brown]

I’m looking for a cheaper alternative to the Nikwax wash for washing my DWR treated garments. Any idea if Woolite is OK? Most of the labels say “pure soap flakes” are ok, but i have no idea what those are… What would a commercially available version be? Thanks!

[paul johnson]

ERRONEOUS INFO.

see another post below for correct info.

[Nicholas Couis]

You might want to try Sportwash by Atsko.There is info about this product in the outdoor show info.I’ve used it and it works well and much cheaper than the other products.

[Mark Regalia]

I saw a comparison study. Woolite came out very badly against the specialized washes like Asko. In fact if you believe Consumer Reports there is simply no reason for the existence of Woolite. Dish detergent does the same thing at a fraction of the cost.

[paul johnson]

Mark,

good to know. thanks for posting.

the only thing i would say about dish detergent is that it is detergent, and as such contains a surfactant/wetting agent. therefore, it should not be used on either wool or DWR treated products. detergent is much more likely to remove not only oils, grease, and fats (non-polar compounds), but also natural lanolin from wool, and of course a single washing with detergent can render a brand new DWR treated garment totally non-resistant to water (as at least one prev. poster w/i the last couple of months has testified to).

now whether Woolite is worth it or not, i’ll take yours and Consumer Reports word that it is not worth it, but i wouldn’t use any detergent (dish washing or otherwise) on some garments (wool or DWR treated) for the reason stated above. clearly it shouldn’t remove oils & grease, etc as well as a detergent for the simple reason that it lacks the surfactant. is this why it performed poorly in the Cons. Rep. tests???

i’m going to check the Woolite label again to verify what i’ve stated just to make sure that my “old-timers” isn’t picking an inopportune moment to act up.

[Bob Gabbart]

Woollite cannot be used to was DWR. Although mild, it is still a detergent. The TechWash, etc. is pure soap. Not sure what makes a detergent a detergent but anything classified as a detergent cannot be used to wash DWR.

[paul johnson]

it’s very simple. a detergent has a surfactant or wetting agent mixed into it. the function of a surfactant is to reduce the surface tension of the fluid in which it is mixed (in our case water is generally used for laundering) and this causes non-polar compounds such as oils, fats, and grease (among others) to be more easily emulsified and removed. more modern detergents may also contain certain enzymes and chemicals which function as catalysts.

if woolite is a detergent, then it should NOT be used on any DWR products and many wool products (those still retaining any natural lanolin and oils).

EDIT:
just did a web search on Woolite. one of the chemicals contained in Woolite, according to the results of the web search, is

Alcohol ethoxy sulfate

this chemical, according to a second web search, has detergent properties associated with it.

THEREFORE WOOLITE SHOULD NOT BE USED TO WASH DWR GARMENTS OR EVEN WOOL GARMENTS THAT YOU WANT TO RETAIN ANY NATURAL OILS.

[EndoftheTrail]

Paul, thanks for the research and clarification!

[Eu Jin Goh]

A possibly cheaper alternative is to get Ivory Snow from your local Target/Walmart/Long’s Drugs/Walgreens. It’s supposed to be pure soap flakes.

[Patti Binder]

I hear you can get soap by the gallon sold to wash livestock in farm supply stores, but I forget what it’s called. Quilters use it to was delicate antique and heirloom quilts.

[Patti Binder]

ooh, I thought of it. It’s Orvis Paste. But the adds call it an animal shampoo and tout it’s biodegradable surfactants, so I don’t know if it would work for DWR. Can’t you reapply DWR finish with a spray?
Patti

[paul johnson]

ivory flakes = pure soap

and, so it’s advertised as such. after being wrong about Woolite (who ever would have guessed, with a name like that, it’s a detergent not appropriate for some wool garments?) read the label and “Google” each of the ingredients. if it’s only NaOH, then it definitely doesn’t have any surfactants.

[paul johnson]

both spray or wash-in. try either of the McNett ReviveX products sold on this website. i’ve tried both after this spring/early summer rainy season. fall rains haven’t started up yet, so i can’t testify to its efficaciousness. follow the instructions on the bottle. important to “heat” set the DWR (in either case, i.e. spray or wash-in) in the dryer. you might need to use low heat on some garments if they’re intolerant of high heat (the garments care label). maybe i went overboard (who would have guessed?!!!), but i dried mine one garment at a time (i did two) on low heat and also, checked every 5-10min to see if they were getting too hot.

[Eu Jin Goh]

I just looked at a box of Ivory Snow today in the store. If Ivory Snow used to be pure soap flakes, it no longer is. It’s now called a detergent and it has surfactants and enzymes in its formulation.

[paul johnson]

good to know. thanks. try the McNett ReviveX sold on this website. of course, there’s always the all natrual, (not quite fat free – at the start) homemade solution of rendering fat into lye…

i wouldn’t be at all surprised if Bill F. could give us some pointers on doing this.

[Scott Downard]

What about Tide He, , made for more expensive front loader washing machines like the Maytag Neptune?

[Bill Fornshell]

Paul said: “there’s always the all natrual, (not quite fat free – at the start) homemade solution of rendering fat into lye…

i wouldn’t be at all surprised if Bill F. could give us some pointers on doing this.”

There are a lot of crafty folks making and selling “lye soap” I have watched it made but have never made my own.

So you bought this high cost DWR garment and now you want to go the cheap way to maintain it. Don’t get “Stuck on Stupid” and destroy your stuff.

I don’t use soap on my DWR stuff. When it gets dirty if plain water doesn’t work I just throw it away and buy the next newest stuff.

However, if you must find a cheap way to wash your stuff I would suggest you first ask yourself “What is in your water?” If your water is hard and scums in rinising, or refuses to suds with mild soap, start saving rain water as source of pure, soft water. In some areas rainwater may be polluted; try distilled water.

Soap is made by combining fats with strong alkalis like lye (sodium Hydroxide) or potash Potassium hydrixide).

Natural soaps such as Ivory have the excess alkali washed out. Other soaps like Woolite have been especilly treated so they dissolve in cold water. Detergents are a kind of synthetic soap derived from petroleum. They are not inherently alkaline, but alkali is added to most detergents to make them more effective. Joy and Ivory Liquid are non-alkaline detergents.

I have no idea how any of this relates to DWR stuff since as I said before I only use “pure water” normally by wearing my stuff out in a nice rain to wash my garments. But there may be harmful effects of excess alkali on DWR things.

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