Soap for washing DWR and technical wear

I and many others on this forum have been happy with Penguin Sport-Wash. It's basically half the cost of some of the other technical soap you mentioned by volume.

ah, many thanks. i see there are lots of other brands out there as well, now that I've actually looked. Win Detergent, Atsko Sport Wash, Sport Suds Detergent, etc. Much cheaper.

Anyone have thoughts on the forumulations question?

I recently tried to figure this out myself, having no way to buy a technical wash other than online with a two-week shipping (remote rural area).

What I gathered from my research was that as long as it was a non-detergent pure soap, i.e. no softeners, brighteners or fragrances, it should work and do no damage. There are non-allergenic eco soaps on the market like this, but Ivory Snow also ticked all the boxes. It's marketed as a soap for baby clothes. I could only find it in powdered form, so I dissolved it in water first.

After that the most important thing was making sure the washing machine was completely free of residue, so I ran it empty with hot water and vinegar with an extra rinse cycle.

So far I've only done some goretex gear, but it worked just fine as far as I can tell.

But I also would be interested to know if the technical washes have some other ingredient that is somehow beneficial.

Atko Sports Wash
Big bottle, small cap full at a time.

Cheers

I use Charlie's soap. It is one of these biodegradable phosphate, brightener, scent free soaps. Its designed to not leave any residue. We started using with reusable diapers that had issues with detergent build up making them non absorbent. I am not sure if it is safe to use on DWR gear but I do anyways when I wash them once or twice a year. It seems to check the same boxes as the usual sport washes.

For down I still shell out for the expensive stuff as I don't want to take any risks.

Greg,

Thanks. It would be great to know, though, why we need to shell out the bucks even for down. It would be great to see these companies making down wash products justify why you really need to use their products. I am not arguing one way or the other. I'd just like to see some evidence.

I believe Atsko Sport Wash also sells under the Penguin brand – same stuff, and very good stuff.

Richard, that was my impression, too. I can get the Atsko stuff at Walmart or the Penguin stuff at REI. REI is less than a mile from my house, so I get the Penguin stuff.

"I and many others on this forum have been happy with Penguin Sport-Wash. It's basically half the cost of some of the other technical soap you mentioned by volume."

"Atko Sports Wash
Big bottle, small cap full at a time."

"I believe Atsko Sport Wash also sells under the Penguin brand – same stuff, and very good stuff."

+1

I'm certainly no guru when it comes to anything chemical in nature, but it's my understanding that the key components to shy away from with normal detergents are the surfactant additives.

These chemicals essentially make water "wetter" so it penetrates the clothing fibers better – thereby making clothes cleaner. Apparently that's not a desirable effect on many natural and performance based fibers.

Most, but not all, commercial detergents have surfactants in them … just check the label.

All i know is that ive had my marmot minimalist for two years and have washed it at least five times with all my other clothes with powered tide and it still beads up and has never wetted out to date

Sport Suds on everything except my merino clothing. I use Nikwax Wool Wash for those.

Everything I read and hear basically boils down to making sure that you avoid detergents on anything that is Gortex and/or has a DWR.

Sport Suds won me over because it completely wipes out my "trail smell" and leaves my clothes smelling fresh, without any scent. I also use it on all of Polartec clothing. It does a great job of getting the stench out, without having to go to warm/hot water to get the job done.

My DWR coatings get refreshed every 2-3 seasons, just because I want to stay ahead of them wetting out. I have never noticed any substantial degradation during that period of time. I do give them each a quick tumble in the dryer at the beginning of each season too though.

I use the Wool Wash, because most of my Merino stuff is 100'ish weight and it seems to take a lot longer for them to thin out and start developing pinholes than it did when I just used the non-detergent soaps on them. It is a little expensive. But, if my wool gear lasts longer than it otherwise would, I feel like it pays for itself. Good Merino clothing is so expensive these days! I buy the big bottles and look for deals year-round to save a few bucks on it.

You could see with the local supermarket and purchase soap that is pure. It generally comes in flakes or a bar.  Soap that is pure isn’t detergent…

Atsko wash is great, it smells quite quite a bit different if you smell it. Here is a more affordable substitute http://nosweatlife.com/collections/no-sweat-detergent/products/the-secret-agent-br-sweet-freesia-br-4x32oz-pack-sports-wash-detergent-for-washing-workout-clothes I’ve discovered but not attempted to use yet.