WASHING YOUR JACKET TO KEEP IT LIKE NEW FOR YEARS TO COME
Rainwear fabrics are highly specialized and come with a DWR treatment on their face. This treatment penetrates the fibres of the fabric, which allows water to bead up and roll off the fabric’s surface rather than being absorbed. This ensures a high level of water resistance – an extra layer of protection in addition to the waterproof membrane below the surface fabric. However, with heavy use and time the DWR will wash or wear out. Dirt, sweat and sunscreen are just a few of the things that can also decrease the effectiveness of the DWR and cause your garment to “wet out.” This is when the DWR on the surface of your waterproof apparel has worn off, allowing water to saturate the garment above the membrane and then making you feel clammy, damp or wet. Fortunately, proper care and washing can help restore both the DWR treatment and then increase the garment’s performance and longevity. If you’re using waterproof jackets for hiking or high output activities like ski touring or running we recommend you wash your jacket more frequently.
TIME TO WASH: When it’s time to wash, first close all the zippers, pockets, pit zips, the main center zipper and release any tension on the draw cords. Pick a liquid, free-rinsing soap to use on your garment, we recommend Storm Wash in CleanerRRP $14.95 a product specifically designed to clean waterproof fabrics and restore their technical properties. Do not use powder detergents, and steer clear of products with surfactants, detergents, bleaches, softeners, conditions, perfumes. These can contain waxes or oils or can be hydrophilic, or water absorbing and the ingredients have the opposite effect of the DWR treatment and will affect the performance of the garment by adhering to the fabric, reducing the ability to breathe and repel moisture.
Next, machine wash your Outdoor Research garments on a warm cycle with temps around 40 degrees (also check the washing tags on the garment). Choose a cycle that rinses the garment twice to ensure any oils or chemicals are cleared out of the garment and then line dry or tumble dry on a warm, gentle cycle for roughly 40 minutes. The heat from the dryer will reactivate the DWR treatment.
REACTIVATING THE DWR TREATMENT ON YOUR OUTDOOR RESEARCH JACKETS: If you find your jacket wetting out, the original DWR might need to be reactivated. First, tumble dry the garment for 20 minutes on a warm cycle or iron the garment on a warm setting placing a towel between the garment and the iron. This can reactivate the DWR as the heat encourages the activation of the water repellant properties. If that doesn’t work, it might be time to replace the original treatment.
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