Cleaning and re-waterproofing with Nikwax
Breathe new life into your waterproofs and technical clothing with Nikwax.
With proper care, waterproof jackets, trousers and other technical clothing can offer protection from the elements for many years. If you are faced with a situation where your clothing is beginning to lose waterproofing, then using a product like Nikwax can breathe new life into the garment, restoring its abililty to effectively repell water.
What causes waterproof jackets to lose their waterproofing?
With regular use over time there will be a natural accumulation of dirt and grime on waterproof clothing. This can inhibit and erode any water-repellant coatings applied to the garment, whether those are the manufacturer's or subsequent coats that have been applied by yourself.
You will need to think about re-waterproofing when clothing begins to "wet out" - where you'll find areas that are no longer stopping water. Re-waterproofing is a 2-step process, firstly where you will need to clean the jacket, trousers or other item of clothing, then once clean you will need to apply a new water-repellent layer. Our favoured products for such a tasks are the industry-leading products from Nikwax.
The great thing about Nikwax is that their waterproofing doesn't apply a coating per se, instead their water-based products actually adhere to the fibres of the fabric, so by using Nikwax products you are actually adding water-repellency to the fabric itself.
Before we begin
Using Nikwax to clean and re-waterproof requires using a washing machine and as such you should adhere to the manufacturer's recommended care instructions. Nikwax products are water-based and do not require heat for their application, so should your item require a cold wash for example, that's not a problem.
Below we will be covering how to clean and re-waterproof using Nikwax. These are the products that we'll be using:
Nikwax Tech Wash
Nikwax TX.Direct Wash-In
Step 1 - How to clean waterproof jackets and trousers
In preparation for applying a protective water-repellent layer, it's important to clean waterproof clothing first. To do so we would recommend using Nikwax Tech Wash. This product is designed to clean the jacket but not leave any residue that may attract water. Even if your jacket doesn't require re-waterproofing right now, but does need a good clean, then Tech Wash is the recommended method to do so.
How to use Nikwax Tech Wash
Nikwax's directions for using their Tech Wash are:
- Do up all of the zips including pockets.
- For front-loading washing machines add 1-2 jackets.
- Use 3 cap fulls of Tech Wash (150ml) in medium/hard water areas and 2 cap fulls (100ml) in soft water areas for 1-2 items. This goes into the detergent drawer in place of your standard detergent. Avoid using fabric softners or any other additions.
- A single cycle should be enough to clean the jacket.
Step 2 - How to apply waterproofing
Now that your jacket is clean it is ready to have new waterproofing applied. Nikwax's most popular product for this is Nikwax TX.Direct Wash-In, although they do offer other specialised products for particular clothing types, like down jackets and softshells. There is also a spray-on version of TX.Direct available here. As with the wash-in, the spray-on also has to be applied to a clean and wet garment.
If you have now washed your jacket in Tech Wash we recommend moving straight onto waterproofing whilst the jacket is still clean and wet.
How to use Nikwax TX.Direct Wash-In
Here's Nikwax's directions on how to apply TX.Direct Wash-In:
- Do up all of the zips including pockets.
- For front-loading washing machines add 1-2 jackets.
- Use 2 cap fulls (100ml) per garment. This goes into the detergent drawer in place of your standard detergent. Avoid using fabric softners or any other additions.
- Dry the jacket per the manufacturers instructions. Tumble-drying will not affect the Nikwax.
Note: you do not need to clean the washing machine after using Nikwax, either Tech Wash or TX.Direct Wash-In as Nikwax products drain out with the water upon completion of the wash.