How to Re-Waterproof a Raincoat | DWR and Seam-Seal Tutorial

[@wh3l4n26]

The waterproof jackets don’t lose their ability to stop water from penetrating through. It just wets out preventing the jacket from breathing so you just get hot and clammy inside thus creating condensation which is what makes you wet.

[@teatimewithja]

Thanks for the clarification - sweat inside a rain jacket is the bane of my existence.

[@macm3924]

What are you about? Condensation doesn’t make you wet. When the jacket is unable to bead off the rain, the rain soaks through

[@teatimewithja]

For me I think it is both - a combination of sweat inside the jacket and some water getting through/around the jacket.

[@dizmop]

@@macm3924 what do you mean condensation doesn't make you wet? please explain the process of condensation for us in layman's terms

[@peter2160]

If it was already waterproof, what’s the benefit of fixing the dwr (thanks for defining that btw, had no idea what that was called before this video)

[@teatimewithja]

The waterproofness had definitely held up a lot better than I expected but in the "before" images you can see the coat has wetted out. That is, the outer layer is soaked even the water is not getting through the actual porous interior layer. This soaked outer layer can reduce the breathability and make it easier for water to soak through seams. The DWR adds water repellency which keeps the outer layer from getting soaked as you can see in the "after" images. Does that answer your question?

[@peter2160]

@@teatimewithja yeah thanks. I bet it gets heavy without shedding the water as well

[@teatimewithja]

It does get heavy. AND it takes longer to dry out.

[@Commendo2024]

Some people(Myself included) ignore the washing tag and use liquid detergent instead of mild powdered detergent. This allegedly can strip off the dwr coating and the jacket owners(Myself included) end up here watching videos on how to make your jacket waterproof again.

[@peter2160]

Also, is this gore Tex process the same for an arcteryx jacket?

[@teatimewithja]

Gore-tex is just the material. It is trademarked but many of the major outdoor brands use it, including Arcteryx. It has a lot of tiny micro-pores which are much smaller than a liquid water droplets (keeps the water out) but much larger than water vapor (lets evaporated sweat out). That is the basic idea.

[@peter2160]

@@teatimewithja so same process I guess. Thanks

[@teatimewithja]

Many companies do use the exact trademarked Gore-tex material, but there are also very similar imitations out there. I don't have any experience with them though.

[@jamesrosales89]

how about if i don’t have access to a dryer for the heat ? i live off grid in the jungle... thankyou :)

[@teatimewithja]

That is a good question. I have heard of people using an iron on the lowest setting with a towel between the iron and the jacket, but I have never tried this method and you would have to be careful not to melt the jacket.. Also, I don't know if you have an iron in the jungle. But I expect a gortex jacket will hold up for multiple washings even without re-activating the DWR.

[@jamesrosales89]

@@teatimewithja Thanks so much for your help :) ‘gotetex will hold up for multiple washings’ ... how many do you think ? is there a way to predict the life span before the wetting out starts ?

[@teatimewithja]

I don't know of a way to predict that, I am afraid. This is actually the first time I have re-treated the DWR in 15 years, though I have dried the jacket maybe a couple times a year to re-activate the DWR. I would expect it to be very different based on the make/model/material, and based on how you use it. Mine lasted a LONG time, but for heavy use I would not expect more than a couple years.

[@oliverkuehn7576]

Do you have to trim off the detached tape ends? Seems they might stick down again with the seam sealer as adhesive and still provide better seam protection.

[@teatimewithja]

That seems like a good idea. The water based seam seal liquid was not especially sticky or glue-like, but if the seam seal tape is in good shape I think re-attachment could help. My old tape was pretty beat up. Maybe I should get some new seam seal tape and add that instead.

[@vujs]

Hey, I was wondering if you could give some advice for me. I also have an old jacket with some seams hanging loosely and some for which I am going to put on new gore-tex tape. Anyways, would you say generic fabric glue would be fine to re-glue some of the old seams or would you recommend what you were using. Also one last question, with the special seam glue, what was the function of it and why did you put it on top of the seam tape (how does that work). Thanks!

[@teatimewithja]

I may not be able to help you all that much, at least not from experience, since I have never fixed seam taping using fabric glue or any other method. I did consider re-taping the seams but I would have gotten new seam-tape for that, instead of using the partially-deteriorated old seam tape sections that were hanging off my jacket. While I am just guessing, I would think that regular fabric glue would be somewhat water resistant, though I believe you can buy specially-designed waterproof glue as well. My only warning there would be to make sure you keep the glue localized to the seam itself, and not spread over the material - I imagine glue would reduce the breathability of the fabric. I used a seam-seal in the video on all the seams to improve their water-resistance. I would guess that, for the sections where the original seam tape was still intact, the seam-seal was not really needed. But for much of my old rain jacket the seam tape is old and not stuck really well to the seam and has probably lost a lot of its water resistance. My approach was to seal the seam, both edges of the old seam tape, and everything in between. Good luck with fixing up your old jacket!

[@vujs]

@@teatimewithja Thanks!

[@craiggriffin5410]

This is perfect! Exactly what I was looking for. My only concern: Am I coating the inside of my dryer with waterproofing? I don't want it to affect other clothes.

[@teatimewithja]

I am glad I could help. Honestly, it is not something I have thought about before, because I am only finicky with my expensive outdoor gear care. For the rest of my clothes, I have never noticed any damage or residue after using the same dryer, but it probably is a good idea to not leave puddles and let it mostly air dry before using the dryer.

[@extendedp1]

Thanks for the video, is the waterproofing still holding up?

[@teatimewithja]

Thanks for watching. It is! The DWR refurbish is still holding up great, and water still beads up well. It may not be perfectly back to "new" condition, but the seam seal and new DWR coating made a significant improvement.

[@extendedp1]

@@teatimewithja great! Thanks for the update. I will give it a try on a couple of old gore-tex jackets from ebay.

[@teatimewithja]

Just now seeing this. How are those old jackets holding up? Were you able to apply the DWR spray?

[@UniversalDirt]

I used a similar Nixwax product and soaked the jacket (a 39 year old REI Gortex) in a bowl with excellent results.

[@teatimewithja]

I thought MY rainjacket was old at 15+ years. 39 years is impressive. Did you use the wash-in version of the product or the spray-on?

[@przezszybe]

What was your jacket. 15 years is really good! Was it paclite?

[@teatimewithja]

I am really happy with how this jacket lasted - it is a Marmot Gortex jacket, but I am not sure the exact model - I got this before I was paying attention to models. I will note that it was not my only jacket for 15 years, but it was my main jacket for moderate amounts of hiking/camping during that time.