Taking Care of your Shell Jacket
August 30, 2009 posted by All Mountain Sports Staff
Filed under Outerwear Tips
Technical Shell Tips
The Care and Feeding of Your Waterproof/Breathable Shell
For best performance, it is a good idea to keep your waterproof/breathable Gore-Tex® or ConduitTM shell clean and its DWR (durable water repellent) finish freshly charged. This means, first of all, trying to keep oil and grease away from the garment. Secondly, it means washing it when it does get dirty and reapplying its DWR finish.
Shells can be machine-washed in warm (NOT HOT) water using regular powdered laundry detergent. DO NOT use Woolite or other cleaners with lanolin, any other oil, or fabric softener in them. Put the garment through at least two rinse cycles as the detergent interacts with the DWR finish and needs to be totally rinsed out of the material. Tumble dry at medium heat.
After the shell has been washed and dried, reapply the DWR finish. We recommend you do this after each washing and also at the beginning of your wet-weather season. Use the spray-on, rather than the wash-in, type products. Two brands we suggest are Revivex, from W.L. Gore, and Tech-Tron.
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for application. Once you have successfully cleaned and refinished your shell, it should work as well as new again.
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