Technical outerwear, gloves, and bivy sacks are gear investments that will last for years with proper care. Over time, sweat, dirt, oils, and daily wear and tear affect your gear’s technical performance, and items are often discarded from a belief that they can no longer hold up against the elements. Regular maintenance not only extends the lifetime of your favorite product but also elevates its performance by revitalizing the functional features of the materials and weatherproofing treatments applied at the factory during manufacturing. Our preferred partner Nikwax offers a full assortment of aftercare products that are specifically designed to safely clean and revitalize your favorite gear and outerwear.

Why Wash Your Outerwear?

Better performance.

  • Breathability – Waterproof clothing needs to be breathable. If your gear's fabric and waterproof membrane don't allow moisture vapor to pass through, your sweat will not evaporate, condensation will occur, and you risk getting wet and cold. To optimize breathability, the Durable Water Repellent (DWR) treatment applied at the factory to the outer fabric of your gear must be maintained, and the face fabric and waterproof membrane must be clean of dirt and oils.

  • Insulation – The insulation in your outerwear compacts over time, causing it to become less efficient. Washing your insulated gear not only revitalizes breathability but also cleans and revitalizes its insulation, returning it to like-new functionality.

  • Waterproofness – Sweat, dirt, and oils compromise DWR effectiveness, as do the residues left behind from cleaning with conventional detergents. These contaminants attract water, leading to fabric "wetting out." Regular cleaning with the right aftercare products removes these contaminants and revitalizes the factory-applied DWR treatment.

Extend the life of your gear. 

Dirt is abrasive, and it will increase the rate at which your gear breaks down. Regular maintenance of your gear removes the contaminants that break down the fabric of your favorite product.

Reduce waste/environmental footprint. 

A long-lasting product is a sustainable product. Up to 85% of discarded textiles end up in landfills, where they begin a decomposition process that could last hundreds of years. Routine gear maintenance keeps items out of landfills lessens negative impacts on the environment.

Save Money!

Your gear and outerwear are investments. The longer they last, the less often they need to be replaced, allowing you to save up for your next adventure!

Two mountain bikers take in a view of the mountains while sitting on their bikes on a wet, muddy day.
Two mountain bikers take in a view of the mountains while sitting on their bikes on a wet, muddy day.

Doesn’t washing my outerwear damage the fabric/GORE-TEX/DWR or ruin the down insulation? 

Absolutely not! The rumors you may have heard from your ski partner about decreased outerwear performance after washing likely come from two different camps:

  1. There is a misconception that washing a DWR-treated item degrades the DWR itself. This is true if your item is new off the shelf, but as soon as you start wearing it in the wild, it begins to get dirty. And as we know, dirt and oil decrease the effectiveness of all DWR treatments. Washing your dirty outerwear will undoubtedly elevate the performance of the DWR to a level above where it was before it was cleaned.

  2. People may have used standard detergents to clean their gear. Standard detergents will leave a hydrophilic residue behind that will mask the DWR’s effectiveness. We recommend Nikwax products to safely clean your outerwear, accessories, and gear to revitalize DWR, breathability, and insulation properties.

In the case of down insulation, many hesitate to saturate their item because water compacts down, and compacted down is a terrible insulator. However, since the down in your item naturally compacts over time, proper cleaning is the first step to revitalizing and de-compacting it. The second step is properly drying and teasing apart the down clumps by hand. This is a slightly tenuous process, but one that will reward you with like-new item performance.

FAQs

How does DWR work? 

Durable Water Repellent (DWR) primarily works by giving fabric a rough surface at the molecular level, making it hydrophobic: instead of soaking through, water beads up and runs off. Basically, it makes fabrics too spiky for water to seep in due to the high surface tension of water. Since DWR technology depends on the fabric's surface maintaining a particular shape to repel water, its effectiveness is reduced by dirt, grime, or grease on your apparel. Additionally, any time the fabric moves, stretches, or rubs against itself, grit on its surface will slowly abrade the DWR.

When and how often should I wash my gear? 

The general rule is the more you use, the more you wash. You do not have to wash your outerwear after every use, and you don't need to re-waterproof your gear every time you clean. Regular cleaning allows you to wash your item multiple times before it requires re-waterproofing because cleaning revitalizes the item's DWR. We recommend washing your gear when it shows signs of wetting out and re-waterproofing when cleaning alone does not revitalize the DWR (i.e., water no longer beads on the fabric surface).

What type of detergent should I use? 

Make sure you clean with the right product. Conventional laundry detergents leave a water-attractive (hydrophilic) residue that masks DWR, causing fabrics to absorb water and "wet out." We recommend Nikwax products to revitalize DWR, breathability, and insulation effectiveness. Beware of products that claim to clean and waterproof simultaneously. They are generally ineffective cleaners and may seal in dirt.

Do I need to reapply DWR treatment after every wash? 

As mentioned above, regular cleaning allows you to clean your gear multiple times before re-waterproofing. When cleaning alone does not revitalize your gear's DWR (e.g., water does not bead on the fabric surface), it's time to re-waterproof using an appropriate waterproofer.

My gear wets out every time I go out into the rain or snow, even after washing and reapplying DWR. What am I doing wrong?

  • There may be conventional detergent residue from a previous load of laundry on your gear. It is important to run the rinse cycle once before adding your gear and outerwear-specific detergent to the machine.

  • Is your gear fraying at the edges or coming apart at the seams? Fabrics naturally break down over time, as do waterproof/breathable material laminates. It may be time to demote your well-loved item to casual wear around town or work in the yard. All good things must come to an end.

How to Care For Your Gear

A man in a rain jacket smiles in front of a waterfall.

how to care for: Hard Shells & Soft Shells
Three friends in colorful jackets take a selfie while standing atop a mountainous overlook.

how to care for: synthetic insulation
A skier holds up a ski with their Outdoor Research Stormtracker glove in the foreground.

how to care for: Gloves & gear
A bundled up skier rides a chairlift on a clear blue day at the resort.

how to care for: Down

Hard Shell and Soft Shell Outerwear

Hard shell outerwear is usually constructed with 2-3 layers of fabric laminated together to create a waterproof, breathable barrier against wind, snow, rain, and moisture. Soft shell outerwear is softer and stretchier than its hardshell counterpart, offering a fantastic range of motion and comfort. To maintain the performance and breathability of either type of shell, an outerwear-specific detergent and DWR waterproofer are required. Our preferred aftercare product provider, Nikwax, makes outerwear-specific detergent for both hard and soft shells. To properly clean and revitalize your item, follow the instructions on the garment care label, outerwear detergent, and waterproofer. For best results, we recommend Nikwax Tech Wash, Nikwax TX.Direct (hard shells), and Nikwax Softshell Proof (soft shells).

A mountaineer looks over their shoulder at the snow-covered mountain in the background.
A mountaineer looks over their shoulder at the snow-covered mountain in the background.
Tips for washing hard and soft shells:

  • Do not use conventional detergents. For best results, we recommend using Nikwax Tech Wash.

  • Run the rinse cycle one time on your washing machine before adding your item to rinse remaining conventional detergent residue from washer. These detergents clog the tiny pores that allow your outerwear to breathe.

  • Empty pockets, close all zippers and Velcro.

  • Select ‘Extra Rinse’ cycle on washing machine if available.

  • Follow instructions on garment care label and aftercare products.

Tips for drying hard and soft shells:
  • Line dry or tumble on low setting if the care label allows. The warm air in the dryer reactivates the item’s DWR.

  • If you line dry your gear, the DWR can also be reactivated by using an iron to warm the fabric. Be sure to place a towel or other fabric between the iron and your outerwear item.
Tips for applying aftercare DWR (optional):

  • Apply aftercare DWR to clean items.

  • Follow instructions on garment care label and aftercare products.

Down

Down is one of nature's best insulators, offering a superior warmth-to-weight ratio and excellent packability. Washing down gear removes surface stains and revitalizes the down by reversing the compaction after extended wear. We mention it below, but we will repeat it here: only use a front-loading washing machine or a top-loading machine that does not have an agitator. The agitator in a top-loading machine will damage the baffles on your down item.

Tips for washing down:

  • Use a front-loading washing machine or a top-loading machine that does not have an agitator.

  • Run the rinse cycle one time on your washing machine before adding your down item to rinse remaining conventional detergent residue from washer. These detergents clog the tiny pores that allow your outerwear to breathe.

  • Pre-rinse your down item in the sink to thoroughly soak its materials. This allows the detergent to fully penetrate and clean more effectively.

  • Select ‘Extra Rinse’ cycle on washing machine if available.

  • Follow instructions on garment care label and aftercare products.

  • Run spin cycle multiple times beginning on low speed, incrementally increasing the spin speed to remove excess water. Wet down is heavy, so if items are spun too quickly while holding a large amount of water, internal baffles may be broken.

Tips for drying down:
  • Leaving down wet can ruin it completely.

  • If garment care label allows, tumble dry on a low setting until the down clumps have disappeared. This may take multiple drying cycles, and the shell of the item will dry much quicker than the down inside. Teasing apart clumps by hand between drying cycles will help restore the loft more quickly.

  • Add one or two clean tennis balls to dryer during cycle to help break up clumps. This will not damage your dryer.

  • Ensure sufficient room in the tumble dryer to house the item once dry, as items will return to their original size during the drying process.
Tips for applying aftercare DWR (optional):

  • Apply aftercare DWR to clean items.

  • Follow instructions on garment care label and aftercare products.

Synthetic Insulation

Gear that uses synthetic insulation requires less attention than its down-filled counterparts and can be cleaned similarly to hard and softshell outerwear. We recommend following the same guidelines for cleaning synthetic outerwear as those listed above for hard and soft shell gear.

Gloves and Gear

Gloves are subject to the most abrasion and grime of all outerwear, and the damage UV rays can do to tents and shelters are often overlooked. The same amount of care allotted to your outerwear should be used on your gloves, tent rain fly, and bivy sacks. We recommend Nikwax Tech Wash (gloves) and Nikwax Tent & Gear SolarWash (tents, bivy sacks).

A close up of a skier packing their backpack while wearing the Outdoor Research Stormtracker gloves.
A close up of a skier packing their backpack while wearing the Outdoor Research Stormtracker gloves.
Tips for washing gloves/tents/gear:

  • Do not use conventional detergents. For best results, we recommend Nikwax Tech Wash (gloves) and Nikwax Tent & Gear SolarWash (tents, bivy sacks). 

  • Run the rinse cycle one time on your washing machine before adding your item to rinse remaining conventional detergent residue from washer. These detergents clog the tiny pores that allow your outerwear to breathe.

  • Empty pockets, close all zippers and Velcro.

  • Select ‘Gentle Cycle’ and ‘Extra Rinse’ cycle (low speed) on washer if available. 

  • Follow instructions on garment care label and aftercare products.

Tips for drying gloves/tents/gear:
  • Line dry or tumble on low setting if the care label allows.

Tips for applying aftercare DWR (optional):

  • Apply aftercare DWR to clean items.

  • Follow instructions on garment care label and aftercare products.
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