North Face Jackets - cleaning & restoring waterproofing??

hi,

i have a North Face jacket made from their 'Hi-Vent' material.

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.

on the NF site it gives cleaning instructions (see below). was a bit
dubious about the bit at the end recommending 'touching up with an iron' so
didn't do it. however i want to get the material working properly again.

wondered if anyone had tried the ironing it and had any sucess? does it
damage the jacket?

otherwise my plan is just to clean it again and put on some waterproofing
spray. this never lasts though.

bit gutted if my jacket becomes only water 'resistant' after one wash .... i
did wash it by hand, so maybe this rinsing wasn't thorough enough?

i've searched the newsgroup on this and only found one thread that turned
into abit of an argument ... any tips appreciated.

cheers,

C.

North Face Instructions :

My shell jacket will not stay dry anymore. What can I do about it?

All of The North Face Outerwear shell fabrics are treated with a Durable
Water Repellent finish (DWR). This finish helps the shell fabric resist
wetting by causing the water to bead-up so it easily falls off before being
absorbed into the fabric. Additionally, some of our performance fabrics have
a waterproof back finish (such as Gore-Tex® fabrics and HydroSeal®) that
prevents penetration of the water through the fabric. As a garment is worn
and used over time, accumulation of soils from external sources as well as
from your own body can lessen the performance of these finishes.
In order to revive the DWR, the product needs to be thoroughly cleaned with
a powder detergent (do not use a liquid detergent) in a regular washing
machine in warm water. Put the product through two rinse cycles to ensure
that there is no detergent residue, then dry it in a regular clothes dryer
on medium heat. When cleaning your Gore-Tex® jacket, attach all Velcro®
closures and zip all zippers. Finally, the entire outside of the garment
should be touched up with a warm iron on the steam setting.

This process should revive the DWR. For even better performance, treat your
product with a coating of a DWR spray such as Tectron®. This maintenance
program is only required when water stops beading up on the outer surface of
the fabric.

If you any additional questions, please call us at 800-447-2333 or W.L. Gore
& Associates Customer Service at 800-431-GORE.

copek wrote:
hi,
=20
i have a North Face jacket made from their 'Hi-Vent' material.
=20
at first it was very water proof. water beaded up and fell off.=20
great. but the first time i cleaned it, it lost all the beading and
isn't quite so waterproof anymore.
=20

snip

First, I use a preparatory detergent free washing solution from Nikwax =
(I'm in the UK). Then I re-wash with a reproofing solution from the =
manufacturer which is designed for breathable fabrics - it does say you =
can iron the garment to bring the beading properties back, but the =
preferred way is to machine tumble-dry the garment.

This seems to work for me, although the garment is never as good as new =
(good enough to use, though!)

p.s I have used the ironing method as well, and it *did* work for me.

--=20
cupra (remove nospam please to mail)

Tips on DWR care from Mountain Equipment Co-op:

http://www.mec.ca/Main/content_text....=1071247585326

"copek" wrote in message
...
hi,

i have a North Face jacket made from their 'Hi-Vent' material.

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.

on the NF site it gives cleaning instructions (see below). was a bit
dubious about the bit at the end recommending 'touching up with an iron'
so
didn't do it. however i want to get the material working properly again.

wondered if anyone had tried the ironing it and had any sucess? does it
damage the jacket?

otherwise my plan is just to clean it again and put on some waterproofing
spray. this never lasts though.

bit gutted if my jacket becomes only water 'resistant' after one wash ....
i
did wash it by hand, so maybe this rinsing wasn't thorough enough?

i've searched the newsgroup on this and only found one thread that turned
into abit of an argument ... any tips appreciated.

cheers,

C.

North Face Instructions :

My shell jacket will not stay dry anymore. What can I do about it?

All of The North Face Outerwear shell fabrics are treated with a Durable
Water Repellent finish (DWR). This finish helps the shell fabric resist
wetting by causing the water to bead-up so it easily falls off before
being
absorbed into the fabric. Additionally, some of our performance fabrics
have
a waterproof back finish (such as Gore-Tex® fabrics and HydroSeal®) that
prevents penetration of the water through the fabric. As a garment is worn
and used over time, accumulation of soils from external sources as well as
from your own body can lessen the performance of these finishes.
In order to revive the DWR, the product needs to be thoroughly cleaned
with
a powder detergent (do not use a liquid detergent) in a regular washing
machine in warm water. Put the product through two rinse cycles to ensure
that there is no detergent residue, then dry it in a regular clothes dryer
on medium heat. When cleaning your Gore-Tex® jacket, attach all Velcro®
closures and zip all zippers. Finally, the entire outside of the garment
should be touched up with a warm iron on the steam setting.

This process should revive the DWR. For even better performance, treat
your
product with a coating of a DWR spray such as Tectron®. This maintenance
program is only required when water stops beading up on the outer surface
of
the fabric.

If you any additional questions, please call us at 800-447-2333 or W.L.
Gore
& Associates Customer Service at 800-431-GORE.



Copek

Every season I wash kit and use a couple of bottles of Nikwax
waterproofing - Milletts sell it , just read the destructions on the Nikwax
bottle - there are a few different types of Nikwax - I do this to all my
kit - even light windstopper gloves for use in spring!
And then cook them in the tumble dryer - then you can stick them under the
tap and watch the water run off in tiny beads - great feeling....

Having a real "mare" at the moment some of my touring kit I ordered from
France has gone missing in transit - nothing important - just new boots,
shovel, telescopic poles and skins - good news is that I have the approcah
skis but no bloody boots to fit them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Regards
WC

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.

"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

I bought the spray on type from the people who make Gore-Tex and it
really improved my jacket's water repellency. It's called ReviveX. Now I
can run my sleeve under a faucet and watch water slide off like it was
a teflon pan. Pretty cool stuff. It cost about $15.00 Cda and is good
for at the most 2 parkas. It still beats getting a new coat though.

stu

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