Outerwear - Cleaning & Care Guide

There are many misconceptions out there about cleaning Ski Jackets & Pants. Fundamentally, in order to keep working its best, they need to be washed and re-waterproofed on a regular basis. Gore Tex, or any other membrane requires the outer fabric to bead the water in order to maximise waterproofness & have any semblance of Breathability.

Over time, the pores in your outerwear's membrane get filled with dirt, oil & other various grime. This inhibits the garments ability to breathe and wears down the DWR coating, ultimately leading to reduced waterproofing performance.

Outerwear Cleaning Steps

The process for cleaning your outerwear is pretty simple. Zip it all up, then Machine or Hand Wash following the instructions of the detergent and garment.

A specialised 'Tech Wash' detergent is important to ensure you don't degrade the DWR or damage the membrane on your Outerwear. We have had great luck with Nikwax products over the years and strongly recommend their water based solutions.

If no instructions are present on your garment, its generally safe to us a warm wash, with a rinse cycle or two, and minimal spin. Avoid the use of any fabric softeners, bleach or stain removers.

After washing, a medium heat tumble dry will help to re-activate the DWR. You can also line dry and re-activate the DWR coating with an iron on medium heat, no steam with a small towel between iron face and garment to prevent burning.

Re-Waterproofing

If water still isn’t beading off your garment after following the above steps, your DWR coating may be worn through. DWR Coatings are advertised to last for up to 20 launderings, but in reality, we rarely find that is the case. Good news is that re-applying a DWR coating is fairly easy.

There are two kinds of DWR application. 'Spray on' DWR are good for insulated pieces or anything with a lining. 'Wash In' DWR is only good for 3L shell pieces. If you are unsure, Spray is the way to go. 

The Outerwear needs to be wet to absorb the Proofer, so if it has fully dried after washing, re-soak it with water. Then apply the proofer that suits the garment.

How Often Should you Clean your Outerwear?

It depends. The DWR Coating will be the first noticeable failure and sign that your outerwear needs some love. When water stops beading off the surface and water begins to absorb into the fabric it is definitely time for a wash.

This rarely happens more than once a season, unless you are out in the elements every day. If you are a recreational skier, a great habit is to wash and care for your gear before putting it into storage for summer so that its ready to go for the next season.

If you ski back to back winters and put a lot of days in. We recommend to do a full care in Spring and a touch up once in Autumn when you get back from Overseas.