DWR ‘refresh’ treatments?

[Dave Reeck]

Hi All,

What’s the best DWR treatment to refresh last year’s gear? I’m planning on Nikwax Tech washing them, and either doing the wash-in DWR or the spray on. Thoughts about one vs. the other? Are there better products than Nikwax these days?

I’m treating some marmot precip garmets and some softshell gear.

Seabiscuit

[paul johnson]

i use the McNett Revivex sold on this website.

i believe that you should only use the spray-on if you are at all concerned about reducing/eliminating any wicking effect of the mat’l. using the wash-in will, presumably, cause sweat & condensing water vapor to merely bead up on the inside of the fabric. i’m guessing that this would be the effect since the wash-in form would deposit DWR on both the inside and the outside of the garment.

a while ago i emailed BPL cust srv on this point & rcv’d a reply which confirmed the above pt. the reply also told me, if i recall correctly, that BPL is doing more research to quantify the effect of the wash-in on a fabric’s interior surface’s wicking abiliity.

[David Spellman]

QUOTE:
“i believe that you should only use the spray-on if you are at all concerned about reducing/eliminating any wicking effect of the mat’l. using the wash-in will, presumably, cause sweat & condensing water vapor to merely bead up on the inside of the fabric. i’m guessing that this would be the effect since the wash-in form would deposit DWR on both the inside and the outside of the garment.”

Actually, that’s not necessarily true. The folks that made my Mountain Shirt (Paramo) call their Parameta S fabric and the clothes made from it a “directional” clothing system. “Parameta® S is an asymmetrical wicking fabric that directs water to one face and traps still air in the other. Two garments for the weight and price of one! Choose which way round to wear the Páramo® reversible shirt according to the weather conditions. ” It’s fuzzy on one side, tightly woven on the other, and in cold weather you wear the fuzzy side in and in warmer weather, you wear the woven side in. Moisture is directed to the woven side (usually the outside when I’m wearing it).

Here’s the thing, though — they recommend washing it in a NikWax DWR treatment to maintain that directional effect. More than that, they note that the DWR actually *assists* and enhances the wicking ability of the fabric, because the fibers push water away from themselves. They note that an ordinary fleece loses 90% of its insulative power when it’s wet and that it dries relatively slowly. The Parameta S fabric doesn’t absorb water and “pushes” water out of the shirt, drying far faster and renewing its insulative properties far faster in the process.

I would have found this a bit counterintuitive, but I’ve had this shirt for several years (Ryan was actually the one who mentioned it long ago and several ultralighters I know have them) and it works as advertised. The material itself is fairly windproof, but it’s not really a windshirt. It’s also water resistant in a light drizzle, though not so much as, say, a new piece of Powershield fabric. But it does wick better and dry faster and hold off both wind and light precipitation better than any other similar weight shirt I’ve ever tried. It’s also remarkable in that turning it inside out will allow you to use it in far warmer weather than a shirt of this design will ordinarily allow, and will keep you very warm in fairly cool weather. As a base layer, it’s designed more for cool weather than warm, but it has the widest comfortable temperature range of any base layer I’ve ever used.

So it’s certainly NOT true that a DWR will necessarily reduce or eliminate wicking…

david

[paul johnson]

David,

thanks for the correction/info. good to know.

FYI, my info came fr/an email reply fr/BPL cust srv (not the good Dr. or Ms. J) – another staff member.

if i understand correctly, it would appear that some do/some don’t, depending upon the basic fabric construction. besides the fabric you mention that works well with DWR finish on both sides, are there any others that you’re are aware of?

[Einstein X]

Ok before one of you tries to sue me:
READ THE LABEL INSIDE YOUR JACKET!!!!

If prmitted by the label inside your jacket, tumble drying or (cool) ironing a waterproof jacket will restore the DWR effect.

But not all jacket materials can be tumble dried so LOOK AT THE LABEL INSIDE YOUR JACKET before throwing it inside your tumble dryer.

Eins

[Author]

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