Waterproofing a jacket

[parrot of doom]

I have a North Face mountain jacket, had it for about 8 years now, and its superb. Still in perfect condition.

Now every so often I waterproof it with the Nikwax stuff, and thats ok, but today I was sloshing Thompson's water seal on the roof of the car and I started thinking about this stuff on my jacket. The jacket is gore-tex.

Anyone tried it, and what were the results?

[LongQ]

Would Thompson's retain the breathability fo gore-tex?

ALso, if you have a successful solution, what is the reason for looking for an alternative?

My only recollection of Thompsons is as a concrete and brickwork sealant. Presumably they have other variants of the product!

[c c]

Thompson's water seal, it does exactly what it says on the tin.

Is there any mention of jackets on the tin?

[tombaron]

Make sure it still allows breathability or else you well have paid good money for Gore Tex and not get the benefits.

In general if it is silicon based (and chances are in your case it is) then it wont be breathable.

Nikwax is the best stuff for simplicity, but i was speaking to someone who had used Grangers products on their GTX jacket. It is a lot more hassell and involves tumble drying at extreme temperatures, bt it supposedly gives better results.

Hope this helps.

Tom

[Nevin]

I imagine Thomsons will destroy it completely. It isn't designed to be breathable, Nikwax is.

[andygo]

I would have thought tumble drying at extreme temps would melt any taped seams.

[tombaron]

andygo said:

I would have thought tumble drying at extreme temps would melt any taped seams.

Preciesly. Althought taped seams on waterproof membranes are a thing of the past, heat can still damage the jacket. That is the downside of using Grangers.

[bruciebabie]

Goretex doesn't need anything putting on it ever.
IIRC It is made by putting lots of air buubles into liquid PTFE then rolling it out into a thin membrane. The bubbles burst leaving small holes that are too small for water droplets to get through yet easily big enough for water vapour to escape. Anything you put on will block up the holes.
IIRC The jacket will usually be in three layers, an outer shell, then the Goretex membrane, then a liner. So perhaps the waterproofing chemical you apply is just sitting on the outer shell, this would then give you two waterproof layers, the shell and the membrane but with a loss of breathability.

[Trooper2]

In order for Gore-Tex to work properly it needs to be clean, dirt plugs up the membrane so it can't breath and it abrades the membrane eventually letting water in. Manufacturers that use Gore-Tex recommend washing fairly often in cold water, gentle cycle only with a gentle detergent (I believe that Nikwax also makes a detergent you can use). Tumble dry with low or no heat or hang to dry.

All manufacturers who use Gore-Tex also do use a water proofer on the outside fabric and recommend that it is reapplied after washing as it helps the Gore-Tex with keeping water out and it keeps dirt from sticking to the fabric, making the garment easier to clean and reducing the chances that the Gore-Tex membrane will get abraded.

So continue to use your Nikwax and don't use Thompson's water seal or anything else that is not approved as it could very well ruin the Gore-Tex.

The above statements come from 20+ years selling ski clothing and having owned many Gore-Tex and Entrant garments in that time.

>> Edited by Trooper2 on Saturday 28th May 11:03

[mojocvh]

.......just to add that it you own ANY pertex/aqua pile gear (Buffalo) DON'T immersion proof it (ie Grangers)as this will remove the wicking proprties of the pile and this can have very serious consequences on the hill.

cheers

MoJo.

[bruciebabie]

mojocvh said:

.......just to add that it you own ANY pertex/aqua pile gear (Buffalo) DON'T immersion proof it (ie Grangers)as this will remove the wicking proprties of the pile and this can have very serious consequences on the hill. cheers MoJo.

Likewise when you wash your Polartec or equivalent fleece never use conditioner, it coats all the fibres so they cannot work effectively. I put mine on an extra rinse cycle to make sure all the detergent is gone.

[Pigeon]

I wash all my clothes like that.

[Balmoral Green]

All this high tech' what's wrong with an old Barbour, reproofed every few years with molten wax. Who cares if it doesnt breathe, the smell adds to the character. As does having a ferret or two in the pockets.

[bruciebabie]

Balmoral Green said:

All this high tech' what's wrong with an old Barbour, reproofed every few years with molten wax. Who cares if it doesnt breathe, the smell adds to the character. As does having a ferret or two in the pockets.

Barbours breathe. Goretex is not the only solution.

[c c]

Balmoral Green said:

All this high tech' what's wrong with an old Barbour, reproofed every few years with molten wax. Who cares if it doesnt breathe, the smell adds to the character. As does having a ferret or two in the pockets.

That's more like it.

[Balmoral Green]

I like Barbours reproofing and repair service, mine got ripped once, send it to the factory, it came back with a fantastic repair patch on it, high quality stitching and reproofed too, It looked like new, but with scars. Had it ten years now, cant see any reason why it wont do another ten or twenty.

[mojocvh]

Balmoral Green said:

I like Barbours reproofing and repair service, mine got ripped once, send it to the factory, it came back with a fantastic repair patch on it, high quality stitching and reproofed too, It looked like new, but with scars. Had it ten years now, cant see any reason why it wont do another ten or twenty.

They've started (had too I guess) charging for the repair/reproofing services.
Had a Northumberland as my first field/wildfowling jacket, OK, but did tend to get "warm and wet" when walking to position across the marshes.
It took lots of abuse (mud, sand and that particular "jelly" you get round the gullies next to mussel beds) but in the end I Araldited the hood studs together as I got sick of it being "detached" when out around the estuaries and firths in the blows.
After that a Longshoreman smock, the best thing about that was the colour, it being a slightly more neutral mid brown than the very dark greens.

Now gone Hi tech (and low weight) with one of these
www.kammo.co.uk/page/product_winchester.htm
in image and with a Buff 6 www.buffalosystems.co.uk/dp3.htm
as a next to skin layer.
The wax jacket has it's uses (funny thing about goretex, get it within 6' of any barbed wire and WATCH OUT!! believe me I know)but the combination of warm wicking fabrics as your base layers and modern Field jackets can't be beat.

cheers

MoJo.