Nikwax effectiveness on restoring softshell jackets

Hey all,

I have a great softshell jacket that is now running on almost a decade. It has lost almost all of its water repellent properties. I was thinking about using nikwax but wanted to see if anyone had used it before. Most worried about it killing the breathability or not being effective to begin with.

Thanks for the help. 

It'll help. I'd use the spray on then stick it in the dryer.  

Edit: Revivex is the brand I've used. 

It didn’t help restore my OR jacket. You might have better luck?

I bought the wash and the Nikwax. 

I have used it before and it definitely works. Seems to wear off faster than the factory stuff in high wear areas, but that may also be due to the threads themselves wearing faster with age.

10 years old?  Just buy a new one. 

Double J wrote:

10 years old?  Just buy a new one. 

Look at Mr. Money bags over here

It doesn't work and will mess up the breathability. Wash in version is even worse for messing breathability.  

What kind of softshell is it? if it's a softshell without a fleecy backer i would use wash in, if it has a backer i would use a spray on. Tumble dry on low for best performance.

Double J wrote:

10 years old?  Just buy a new one. 

Some gear is worth keeping.

that guy named seb wrote:

What kind of softshell is it? if it's a softshell without a fleecy backer i would use wash in, if it has a backer i would use a spray on. Tumble dry on low for best performance.

Good info. thanks for the advice

Matthias W wrote:

Some gear is worth keeping.

And some gear is worth replacing. Shit wears out. 

I have not had much luck with spray-on coatings.  Maybe because the waterproof layer of fabric itself is worn out?

Been using Nixwax for a while on soft shell and hard shell layers and it’s worked well for me. I’d recommend giving the jacket a good wash with the appropriate cleaner prior to trying to revive the DWR. Otherwise you’ll just trap oil and dirt between the layers. 

Double J wrote:

10 years old?  Just buy a new one. 

If it's wetting through, restoring the surface may not be worth doing. But Nikwax is cheap enough, might as well give a try. As for the age, it just really depends on how well it was taken care of.

If you are finding nikwax to be ineffective this might be for a few reasons, the fabric may be so abraded that the surface energy of the fabric is so high not even a dwr will stop the fabric from wetting out. Alternatively (more likely) you have either dirt or soap residue on your jacket, residue from detergents are hydrophilic and can linger inside washing machines, I would recommend you thoroughly rinse your jacket in a bath or large clean bucket before you apply the dwr. For cleaning, soap flakes are a good alternative to expensive purpose made cleaners, I would once again recommend you clean it in a bucket of warm water to avoid contamination with detergents.

Maintaining dwr is a ball ache. 

that guy named seb wrote:

If you are finding nikwax to be ineffective this might be for a few reasons, the fabric may be so abraded that the surface energy of the fabric is so high not even a dwr will stop the fabric from wetting out. Alternatively (more likely) you have either dirt or soap residue on your jacket, residue from detergents are hydrophilic and can linger inside washing machines, I would recommend you thoroughly rinse your jacket in a bath or large clean bucket before you apply the dwr. For cleaning, soap flakes are a good alternative to expensive purpose made cleaners, I would once again recommend you clean it in a bucket of warm water to avoid contamination with detergents.

Maintaining dwr is a ball ache. 

Thank you! Very helpful.