Waterproofing textiles

How?
Cos the rain-deflecting properties of my trousers hae faded. What's the
recommended way of treating them so they offer my knackers a bit of
protection from the nasty Scottish rain?

 

Scotchguard

 

Gingerpose wrote

New ones, the only answer really and you know it. While you are making
up your mind which ones to buy try some of that spray on tent proofer
stuff that tent selling places sell.

 

See, I read that as "Waterproofing testicles", which amounts to the same
thing really. A good quality varnish?

Si

 

"New ones" - seconded!

I am also informed by those with considerably more expertise than me
in the design and manufacture of waterproof fabrics, that effort to
maintain the outer surfaces of the garments in as clean a condition as
possible (given the rigours of motorcycling useage) is beneficial.
They explain that deeply engrained dirt will hold water and this could
find its way through any chinks that develop in the waterproof barrier
(as well as increasing heat losses from the body). Additionally,
spraying the outer surfaces with some form of water repellant
treatment, after washing, will also enable rainwater to be shed more
easily, further enhancing the waterproofing properties of the garment.

 

This is certainly the case with mountain-type clothing - newly washed
jackets (using proper gore-tex wash, of course) are much warmer than
dirty old ones.

I'll have to look into whether my bike jacket's washable. Trouble is,
it's got external armour on the elbows and shoulders, so I'm not sure
if a machine wash is really a good idea :-}

 

Nikwax "Tekwash" seems to work...up to a point - depends on how badly
fucked the original waterproofing is.

 

Fabric softeners will *destroy* some types of impact foam! The
manufacturer of your jacket should be able to provide you with
cleaning instructions, if none were supplied with it/are printed on a
sewn-in label.

HTH

 

Thanks, but this isn't foam, but a hard external shell. It's a Dianese
gore-tex jacket with full articulated back protector (removable) as
well.

Oh aye, I'm sure it's in there somewhere. But I suspect it may be
hand-wash only, or perhaps require a large-capacity machine, because
of the rigidity of said hard armour.

 

Angle grinder.

 

NikWax.

 

Knickwax, Shirley.

Or Knackerwax, for making sure.

 

You're getting the knack of this aren't you?

 

I'm trying.

 

Does the manufacturer claim the garment features protectors approved
to EN 1621-1?. If so, there must be some foam in there somewhere, as
plastic alone will not attenuate transmitted force (unless the
"protectors" are not protectors at all, merely "plastic decorations")

 

**** nose. Such things are not high on my list of things to look into
when buying a jacket.

I'd imagine the former there's certainly some padding there. It's a
'techno touring' jacket, bought in 2001 and no longer available,
AFAICT. cost about 400 quid, IIRC, and has been worth every penny.