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Old December 14th 03, 04:17 PM
AJ
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Default North Face Jackets - cleaning & restoring waterproofing??

"Jason Watkins" wrote in message
om...
at first it was very water proof. water beaded up and fell off. great.
but the first time i cleaned it, it lost all the beading and isn't quite

so
waterproof anymore.


Wash it again with the nikwax wash in waterproofing. It's strange that
the water repellant came out in one wash. Soap can't break it down,
and I've found washing usually helps the repellant, I assume by
getting gunk out of the fabric or by redistributing the repellant on
the fibers.

Despite doubt because of how much it's marketed and hyped, I've found
nikwax to work very well, far better than arasol spray on "scotchgard"
style stuff.


The DWR is what makes the water bead up on the outside of the jacket.
Time, rain, snow, and washing will all wear out the DWR eventually. The
products mentioned in the earlier posts do work.

1) the wash-in kind will place the DWR inside and out on the jacket the
affecting the level of breathability the garment may have.

2) They do make a spray on. However, you need to make sure to cover all
areas of the garment.

3) Ironing on a low setting does work to temporarily improve the garment's
waterproofness. I think the Patagonia care instructions used to mention
this specifically. A friend of mine did this for years with success. but,
I don't think it's as good as the sprays/wash-in applications.

Good luck,

AJ


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