Waterproofing Snow Gear - Does it Work?

NikWax TechWash: bit.ly/2PtXmCC
Wash In Waterproofing: bit.ly/2PgVdK4
Not everyone can afford new outer wear for the mountain every season, and due to wear and tear the waterproofing on outer wear looses its effectiveness over time. The NikWax products are a popular option is you want to breathe some life back into your clothes, but the question is: does it work?
IG chris.is.snowboarding

[@BimmerDudeXi]

I truly didn't expect the hot tub test, lol. It had me cracking up. Great content.

[@ChrisEyres]

Thanks dude! What you guys saying? Mtn is pretty tough at the moment

[@TaylorPhase]

im about to try this stuff out. hood was raining here this week

[@l3v1ckUK]

It'll be interesting to see how well it works on my ten year old Burton jacket when I rewaterproof it before Japow in January.

[@ChrisEyres]

Maybe see you out in Japan, I'll be looking for vintage jackets

[@charlesjohnson3994]

You guys in Hokkaido now ??

[@BoardThroughThePain]

I just did a 2 part video on this 3 weeks ago, & am plotting a pow day field test next.

[@ChrisEyres]

Nice man, mine didn't hold up too well today. It was a perfect test day; including rain, gotta love the mid mountain rain

[@BoardThroughThePain]

@@ChrisEyres I was impressed with mine. I dint stand in the shower lol. I started off with a pair of pants that had 0% water repellency left last season and this year I had a dry bum from the start and stood in a snow gun for a while. At least so far I am happy. Pow test, yet to come to my area.

[@moediesel3370]

Chris going HAM on the Gear! Wash in is OK. But I found that the Spray On treatment works the best after a good cleaning. Kudos for an entertaining Vid!

[@ChrisEyres]

Good to know, and prob especially useful on problem areas like shoulders, which I find loses it quickly partially from the backpack straps

[@xSchneeHenryx]

Whirlpool on the balcony? You are living the dream!! 🙌🏻

[@lilkae101]

Very informative. 10/10 would recommend more hot tub tests. Maybe next time try a comparative test? Say.... Nikwax vs completely wrapped in saran wrap??

[@ellstackeradventures]

I agree

[@ChrisEyres]

Vs climbing in a garbage bag

[@sublimehoneybee]

Matt Kramer 🤣🤣🤣

[@johtodev]

Content gold. Please send more stuff for Chris to review!

[@ChrisEyres]

This is test everyone was curious about

[@sapphstaffsbt5800]

you didnt use enough of the tx direct wash

[@ChrisEyres]

I followed the instructions, but I think you're right. Always use a whole bottle when possible (just good life advice in general)

[@seppstarthebest]

still have a now ~5year old scott softshell without a membrane. when new it was totally waterproof for about quarter to half a year anyways, rolling the beads off perfectly. that state even survived a couple times washing before it started to fade. will try the nikwax today and wonder how good it's gonna work. btw. you should probably linex yourself ;)

[@ChrisEyres]

I think the one takeaway I got from people is to be generous with the waterproofing, if it says use half the container, use 3/4 kind of thing, good luck

[@seppstarthebest]

quick update: i'm pretty happy with the initial result; only checked lower sleeves under the tap and about 97 % of the surface remain completely dry. considering the age of the jackets and miles of rubbing against each other, i expected the outcome to be worse... probably not jacuzzi proof, but still enough for a bit of fun in a medium shower

[@Naybothemighty]

Perfect timing 😁 getting ready to Nikwax all our gear before heading to Morzine 👌

[@ellstackeradventures]

True

[@ChrisEyres]

Nice man, I'd suggest presoak for a while to help

[@Naybothemighty]

@@ChrisEyres Hearing you dude 👍 I live beside the sea. I'll report back once I've run down the beach to corroborate your findings.

[@Ransomed77]

I found the same thing when I used the washing in on my TNF GorTex shell. Basically uses for water replant!

[@nickprice540]

Just bought this combo for the gear, thanks for the review

[@Bad_Riders]

Great test but a tad excessive... i dont think ive ever been caught in in shower grade rain. The hot tub saturation test was great though... how long did it take to dry your pants out?

[@ChrisEyres]

Overnight was fine, they're lightweight. Haha, no test is excessive, but I couldn't think of anything to top the hot tub

[@ljb5762]

I've tried nikwax and Granger's, simply put they don't work. Or should i say i couldn't get them to work for me

[@ellstackeradventures]

Same here

[@ChrisEyres]

I noticed a difference but not much, no "wow" factor. I wouldn't suggest not doing it. I'll milk toast fence sit this one out.

[@angusmeigh5141]

You have to use far more nikwax than they reccomend to waterproof a garment! They say use 2 cap fulls of wash in nikwax solution for one garment. But I use around 8 cap fills per garment. Also hand wash garments when reproofing them don't machine wash them. Because the machine is too vigorous. I have found that washing machines actually damage waterproof clothing and cause tapes on seems to come lose and destroy the waterproof eliminating on the inside of the jacket. By the way I strongly reccomend Barbour waxed jackets for outdoor wear as they are much easier to reproof. Just use wax and a hair dryer. Loden wool coats are also very water resistant and require no waterproofing at all. Loden is boiled wool which is made into coats. It is water resistant enough to keep you dry in up to two hours of torrential rain.

[@seanjenkins8750]

Did you use it as directed? I thought you needed to activate it once re proofed by putting it in a tumble dryer or onto a heated radiator.

[@seppstarthebest]

nah, it says on the bottle, it wouldn't matter

[@maricasingh5569]

Oh, few more subscribers than I thought. Haha. Was nice meeting u guys on the lift today

[@ChrisEyres]

Haha more than just my mum leaving comments 😋, nice to meet you, hope you get lots of snowboarding in

[@andersbomortensen757]

Dwr coating does not work in the long run. It does not make sense that the membrane is dependent on dwr to work optimally. Looking forward to they invent something better. Goretex is not worth the money. That's just my opinion

[@ChrisEyres]

good points Anders! Thanks

[@MegaKunteper]

says it provides waterproof on all types of leather but it never worked on my nubuck boots. they may have sent shoddy products to Turkey

[@ChrisEyres]

I'm always sceptical of wide claims like that

[@matthewcaulfield4371]

Love the humour Chris... Makes for a better vid. Thanks for the laughs. Matt from Australia.

[@ChrisEyres]

Thanks dude

[@Lauren-yn9ze]

I swear by Nikwax for my snowboarding and hiking gear. It can of course only return the clothes to their 'natural' state, so if your jacket is only 5k, that's all you're getting. But importantly, you mustly wash those kind of clothes with normal detergent. On top of the wash-in I also add some extra spray on key areas, so hood, shoulders and cuffs on the jacket (as that's where water collects if it's raining), and butt and knees on pants.

[@GrayFox-xd9ww]

I used spray model on gore tex castelli RoS cycling jacket. Spray doesn’t work looks like I need to spend another $400 on 2021 model smh...big let down

[@XXhouchXX]

Man I always just use tent spray, again not gortex level but gets the job done and is cheap

[@ChrisEyres]

Never tried it, might use it next time, thanks for the tip

[@olivercroker584]

Will this work on leather jackets

[@ChrisEyres]

Just synthetic materials I think, you should get some product specific for leather and then you get the joy of rubbing it in. Nikwax does have products for leather but I think it's for shoes, not sure for jacket. Just make sure whatever you get it should be specifically for leather

[@stetkal]

I love your style. Great video.

[@ChrisEyres]

Doing the tests that really matter :)

[@adam69_]

I use nikwax with my leather Ions and it makes a huge difference.

[@adam69_]

But it’s worth pointing out that it makes clothes and leather water resistant, not waterproof.

[@ellstackeradventures]

Cool

[@ellstackeradventures]

@@adam69_ good to know thank you

[@ChrisEyres]

Nice Adam, it's definitely more waterproof than it was. I dont think the chlorine in the hottub helped

[@robertaikema3241]

How dirty did your snowboard boots get?

[@ChrisEyres]

Pretty caked

[@robertaikema3241]

@@ChrisEyres could I see but you probably have the boots nice and clean for this season.

[@lucieciepka1031]

Would you say that it saved you some money at the end?

[@ChrisEyres]

Sorry for the late response, yes I think it’s a good product and definitely worth the $15 or so

[@cloudraker100]

I have to agree. I am not that happy with nikwax for waterproofing. The fleece wash is OK, probably 7 out of 10

[@king0vdarkness]

anyone tried nikwax on fleece jackets?

[@ChrisEyres]

Not I, but it would be interesting to see what happens...

[@CapybaraCM]

I think you’re in the market for a scuba Dry Suit. Hilarious dude! Love the honest opinion since I have used this in the past and thought maybe it was just the way I used it which made it perform poorly... Hope your season is 🤙

[@venedar]

You must have the clothes in a dryer to reactivate the DWR (the heat does the job). Otherwise it will not be water repellent to the same extent. This is clearly stated in the Nikwax instructions.

[@shaunlehman9158]

Wrong

[@funktastic5323]

Not wrong! 20 minutes in the dryer at low heat will definitely improve the results!!

[@Blix79]

Did you just pour that whole bottle in the washing machine??

[@ChrisEyres]

I think it was just over half, I tried to follow the directions (maybe a little generously)

[@sublimehoneybee]

Hahaaaaa, um hot tub test? 🤣🤣🤣 anyway sweet you have one apres ski/board... stylin’ I washed my jacket with normal detergent, waited to dry, then applied Nikwax spray. It was drizzly today, but I didn’t get affected. I wonder if the chlorine from the hot tub would wreck the application🤔

[@ChrisEyres]

The chlorine didn't help, super wet out today and it was a mess

[@timroberts]

Amazing haha. Nothing like testing the product to the absolute limits 🤣

[@jezus22]

If I may ask. Why do to wear a hat indor?

[@ChrisEyres]

Keeps the heating bills down

[@jackk2898]

So you are sayin to buy GoreTex??!!! Haha nice vid man!! Now how does the Chlorine effect the Fabric😬🤣😂👍

[@nooboard]

Hahaha chriiiiiiiis what are you doing? lol 😆

[@ellstackeradventures]

I liked ur vid

[@ChrisEyres]

If it's waterproof in a hottub it'll be waterproof on the mountain. Unfortunately it wasn't hottub proof

[@nooboard]

@@ChrisEyres but chriiiiiiiiis.... :D

[@Vespidknight163]

Chris's Patent Pending HOT TUB TEST!

[@msyouzhu]

Hot tub level water proofing 😂 I don’t think even gore Tex can get to that level lol

[@ChrisEyres]

Prob have to dip myself in wax

[@CM-xr9oq]

I found Nikwax to be pretty worthless on old gear.

[@drsuperhero]

Wow hot tub test could only be defeated with a dry suit.

[@etow8034]

Nikwax TX.Direct and TX.Wash In is junk, shouldn't be called DWR as there is no Durable in it ! Only product today that is close to DWR is Atsko Permanent Water-Guard a water base PTFE DWR and even that is now discontinued ! Looking for C8 and C6 solvent base DWR !

[@chuck__van]

Hilarious, cackled enough to justify skipping todays sit-up routine. The stuff didn't work for me when I tried it so never got it again.

[@dubbreak]

The four thumbs down are because you didn't treat the dice pants.

[@sublimehoneybee]

dubbreak hahhaaaaa, right?😆😆😆

[@ChrisEyres]

The dice pants live on!

[@TomRelubbus]

To me, you have an uncanny likeness to Prince Harry

[@emilianpopov9699]

Talking about high expectations, lol

[@ChrisEyres]

I just wanted to see where the limit was. I should've realized at the shower. Plus they still have a very faint hot tub smell

[@chasennfish]

the face plant😂

[@ChrisEyres]

Wake up call

[@lukethompson2589]

Hilarious extreme test.

[@ChrisEyres]

I think I should have gone more extreme, can it handle a glacier fed river

[@ellstackeradventures]

That's so awesome ur in the 🚿 shower lol

[@kd1010163]

You and your buddies should get some old jackets and snow pants together and throw them on a fire. Record it on video and post it on here. It would be awesome if you could do that! Seriously.

[@GoCamp22]

😂

[@ellstackeradventures]

Hot tub test omg lol lol 😂

[@ChrisEyres]

Just having a bit of fun

[@ellstackeradventures]

@@ChrisEyres i love hot tubbing to

[@AndreasSchubertSnow]

hahaha amazing! You ridiculous character, you! Just wear a wet suit snowboarding bro

[@chuck__van]

Can I second that notion?

[@ChrisEyres]

Wetsuit, snorkel and mask for Japan would prob work wonders, snorkel especially

[@melabetancourt368]

Omg lmao 🤣

[@ChrisEyres]

🤷‍♂️ it said water proof

[@crudemood]

LOL

[@cameronwells5648]

Maybe the two part solution should be in a smaller volume of water in a bucket and soaked by hand? Increase the potency

[@ChrisEyres]

I think would be a good idea! I'll try sometime soon