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How often do you wash tech gear? How often do you re-waterproof?

severine

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I threw some softshells in the wash today with Tech Wash (and doing a Softshell re-waterproofing right now) and got to thinking... how often do you wash your tech gear (i.e. jackets and ski/board pants)? Obviously, less is more for the sake of preserving the waterproofing. But do you really fret about it? Or just wash whenever it's smelly/dirty/etc? Do you use re-waterproofing every time, or every so many times?

Or am I asking the wrong question since you're mostly guys and don't do laundry anyway? ;)
 
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Greg

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I wash once or twice a year. I never re-waterproof, but I probably should.
 

thetrailboss

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Wash and re-waterproof once every six months or so...or when water stops beeding and DWR needs to be refreshed.
 

bvibert

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I wish I knew you were doing a Tech Wash load... I would have left my softshell (which is in desperate need of a cleaning) at home. ;)

Seems like washing the jackets and such once a year is adequate, unless they get really dirty for some reason..
 

Warp Daddy

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yeah i wash and i'm a guy :D

I do our softshells and hard shells and bibs and ski pants at the end of the season usually unless they need it. But then again The Queen and i each have 5 soft and hard shells so we wear differant ones each time we ski


Personally Have never re- waterproofed

the rest of our stuff gets washed each time ( spyder soft tops and various technical underlayers and socks )
 

Greg

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I don't believe 2knees has ever washed that grimy yellow jacket of his. It smells like a wet dog. :puke:
 

bvibert

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I don't believe 2knees has ever washed that grimy yellow jacket of his. It smells like a wet dog. :puke:

:lol:

I think he mentioned that he might be getting a new jacket for this season... :eek:
 

Greg

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:lol:

I think he mentioned that he might be getting a new jacket for this season... :eek:

Good. Then he can burn that decrepit old thing. It'll probably light up like a dry christmas tree.
 

severine

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Good. Then he can burn that decrepit old thing. It'll probably light up like a dry christmas tree.
Maybe he should add the windpants to the fire. ;)

Bri-I thought of that before you left, but it was a last minute thing. Sorry. I'll wash your softshell tonight.
 

bvibert

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Maybe he should add the windpants to the fire. ;)

Bri-I thought of that before you left, but it was a last minute thing. Sorry. I'll wash your softshell tonight.

I was just teasing. ;) I should wash my pants too, I don't think I washed them at the end of last season. :oops:
 

RootDKJ

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I threw some softshells in the wash today with Tech Wash (and doing a Softshell re-waterproofing right now) and got to thinking... how often do you wash your tech gear (i.e. jackets and ski/board pants)? Obviously, less is more for the sake of preserving the waterproofing. But do you really fret about it? Or just wash whenever it's smelly/dirty/etc? Do you use re-waterproofing every time, or every so many times?

Or am I asking the wrong question since you're mostly guys and don't do laundry anyway? ;)
what do you use to do the re-waterproofing?
 

SKIQUATTRO

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i do not wash with waterproof stuff as it'll waterproof the inside of your jacket/pants that are supposed to be 'breathable'...i spray waterproof..
 

severine

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what do you use to do the re-waterproofing?
For the softshells, I just found a product at REI by Nikwax called Softshell Proof. It's supposed to be good for all Windstopper, Windbloc, and Polartec stuff, too. It is not supposed to affect the breathability of the fabrics.

To re-waterproof the Gore-Tex type stuff, I have used this sort of thing in the past. You don't get many applications out of the bottle though:
http://www.rei.com/product/724690
 

cbcbd

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I try to wash my gore-tex hard shells as least as possible... if I do I use Nikwax TX-direct spray to rewaterproof
 

Glenn

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i do not wash with waterproof stuff as it'll waterproof the inside of your jacket/pants that are supposed to be 'breathable'...i spray waterproof..

Interesting. That's something I never thought of. Good post.
 
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