DWR?

Robert, try washing and rinsing your jacket, twice, with the appropriate soap. Then tumble dry until it is fairly warm to the touch. DWR usually fails due to dirt and oil contamination, and the original treatment needs a fair bit of heat to spike back up to the original effectiveness.

I'd wash and dry it like Dave said. If that doesn't work, I was very happy with Granger's wash-in DWR on a pair of old heavy rain pants. I thought it worked better than the Nikwax stuff, but I was comparing different garments.

I've read the "heat it up in the dryer" advice many times. Can someone explain to me exactly what the heat is doing, to revive the DWR? Is it setting something, like glue sets?

I don't know the chemistry very well so I'll not attempt more technical terminology. The idea is that whatever treatment comprises the DWR works by using little spiky things to break up the surface tension of the water, thus causing it to bead and run off. Dirt and use flatten these spikes out, and cleaning and heat cause them to perk back up.

Good to know about the heat activation of DWR. I have been using Atsko Sports wash, but then drying on low heat.

The DWR is a polymer – a bunch of chains

Heating causes them to physically relax into a more water resistant state

I have a 2.5 layer eVent jacket. The membrane degraded at the shoulders and hood. The membrane is still attached, it didn't really delaminate. The membrane was discolored. The DWR quit working, so maybe there's some chemical reaction with the DWR coating? Maybe this is because of body oils against the membrane. The hood and shoulders is where the fabric is pressed against my skin, so the sweat is trapped more, and the body oils get into the membrane.

I washed it, applied Atsko DWR, and put it in drier to activate. Seems to work better but not nearly as good as before. I think my membrane is permanently degraded.

The DWR is supposed to keep water away from the membrane. You need the membrane, because when rain drops fall out of sky, they have a lot of momentum, hit the rain jacket, and there is water at considerable pressure against the rain jacket. The DWR will not inhibit this pressure, but the membrane will. The DWR is good for mist. You need the combination.

Again, I'm not crystal clear on the chemistry, but DWR certainly doesn't last forever. A friend who is a fish biologist legit kills a rain coat every year, even proper DWR procedure doesn't get the job done. A lot of people bin their rain coats before it is necessary, but under heavy use things do wear out.

yeah, but if you otherwise like your jacket, wash in Atsko Sport Wash (or whatever), treat with DWR, activate in drier, see if it's better

I always wonder how the wash-in dwr's know only to adhere to the just the outside surface of the jacket, and not the inside, the membrane, the laundry tub, and the drier tub.

And does the liquid still smell like a 1975 children's chemistry set?

;>D

I just spray on outside

Yeah, wash-in must go everywhere. Must not hurt it.

Maybe there's some residual on outside, when you wash the DWR in it sticks to the residual DWR on the outside?

"Maybe there's some residual on outside, when you wash the DWR in it sticks to the residual DWR on the outside?"

I've washed my clothes, sprayed on the DWR, and chucked them in the dryer, with varied results. Where the old DWR wasn't worn out so much, it worked really well; but where it was really needed, not so much.

I'm wondering if the worn areas just need two or three "coats," or if it's all just pissin' in the wind…