murraylove

I have a new Burley Rock Point jacket for riding in the rain. It's one of the waterproof/breathable type, of a fabric called Gelanots. For the first several rides in the rain, I was very happy with the jacket--water beaded instantly, and I stayed dry, even in heavy showers.

Then I washed it. Exactly according to the manufacturer's instructions, with a double rinse to get rid of all traces of soap (which apparently interferes with the waterproofing). But this one, single wash has dramatically decreased my jacket's effectiveness. The outside is still somewhat water-repellent, but the water now sticks around instead of beading and running off. But inside is worse--the jacket now feels wet within ten minutes of riding in the rain. I get a cold, clammy feeling in the sleeves and other exposed places.

I suspect that what I'm feeling inside the jacket is condensation, perhaps caused by the water sticking around on the outside of the jacket, since that's about the only thing that's different. The rain conditions are no worse than they were before I washed the jacket, and the temperature is similar (I live in the Pacific Northwest).

I know I could Scotchgard the jacket to attempt to restore the original level of water repellency, but I've never had great results from doing that to other jackets in the past, and besides--a $200CDN "waterproof" jacket should be able to withstand a wash without losing its major characteristic. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should do? (I've contacted Burley, but they haven't responded.)

Thanks

PanPanX

maybe if you tried washing it again, but without using any soap or anything..

and then air dry it for a few days..? i dunnno..

Gojohnnygo.

You could try this it worked on a tent I own. https://www.ems.com/products/product_...=1103355314381

Or some of their other products. https://www.ems.com/navigation/subcat...=1103355298551

seely

I usually throw my ski coat in the dryer without fabric softner for awhile... comes out water repellant.

steveknight

nikewax works great it really improves gore tex and such. myself I try not to wash my water proof stuff much as it really kills that aspect of it.

Archie

Hi

It seems that the Original Fabric Manufacturer makes a range of fabrics with slightly different Water Resistant coatings (DWR), eg teflon . . . The garment makers/tailors can then choose/buy fabrics according to their final market/useage.

Below is search result for 'wash care', performed on the fabric manufacturer's site:
https://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q...p-a=sp10015375

I hope this is relevant.

MichaelW

Another vote for nikwax washes.
Are you sure you used soap rather than detergent, and NO conditioner. Some washing machines have material lurking in the trays which can contaminate a wash.
I did one was using a bar of soap, shredded with a cheese grater and dissolved in warm water. It worked pretty well.

slvoid

Use a powdered detergent and NO fabric softener. Softeners attract water. Rinse for an extra cycle to wash off all contaminants then spray on something like nikwax all over the outside when wet. Then dump it into the dryer on high. The heat will melt the DWR onto the fabric.