Washing textile riding gear

[Farmer]

My old Tour Master Transition II, and over pants have never been laundered. It is faded, dirty and it stinks. Will I do it any harm just tossing it in the washing machine with wife's regular detergent? Will it lose its water resistance? Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[Cruzin]

Don't do that. Regular detergent wrecks it unless you rinse it several times.

I can't remember the name of the stuff but REI sells it, found it:

http://www.nikwax.com/en-us/products/pro...oC37_w_wcB

It is a 2 part system one to clean the textile garment and the second one to waterproof it again. I usually do my Aerostich once a year.

[Sleddog]

The Nikwax Cruzin mentioned is a good product & the same that Aerostich recommends. I used to never put my 'Stich in the dryer. Aerostich told me to put it in the dryer, on delicate setting for about 20 minutes. The heat reactiviates the Goretex. My old Darien had lost it waterproofness. After washing with the Nikwax & putting it the dryer it's as good as ever!

Like Cruzin , I wash & dry every year.

[Cruzin]

I let the Nixwix soak into the material for a few hours before starting the wash cycle.

I always let mine air dry, never tried using the dryer figured that would wreck it.

[Frump]

Now days I usually just look for a rain cloud and ride into it... that gets most of the bugs and dust off. Technique seems to work best during the warmer summer months though. After that I just try to ride fast enough that I can't smell myself. Considering that you are a farmer and only have time to ride when it rains anyways, this strategy might actually work well for you. I tried the technique a couple weeks ago, my jacket looks great, but when I was opening my modular helmet the other day in the parking lot at work, I noticed my favorite gloves now smell like a Labrador who spent a morning swimming in a gravel pit (e.g. like a labradoodle Scoot/T-Bone). Wasn't sure how to deal with that until one the ladies at work overheard my grumbling to myself and suggested spraying them with Febreze ... she might be on to something, that stuff works!!

You can just let the gear soak for a while in luke warm water, wash on gentle w/o detergent, and then air dry in a dryer or on a line. I have have mixed results with both Nikwax Tech Wash/TX.Direct and Campdry. It probably won't hurt to try the Nikwax once.

Stuff some dryer sheets in your pockets and you will smell like a new man. As a bonus deer don't like dryer sheets, so you can throw away your deer whistles and just go with the sheets.

PS - There is no simple method to fix fading, but if you only ride when it rains they won't fade as fast.

[Sleddog]

This, from the Gore-tex site

http://www.gore-tex.com/en-us/support/re...repellency

[Farmer]

Thanks for all the replies and opinions. Decided against ordering any special treatments and just went with our regular laundry soap and set the machine for an extra rinse. Then ran the jacket and pants through a second time with out any soap. Turned out great (Looks any way),and are now hanging to dry, I did some research and found that the Tourmaster gear is not Gortex, but has there own waterproof lining bonded to the inside of the outer fabric. Time will tell if the water resistance remains as it was. My biggest concern was that some of the stitching might come apart in the machine but it all seems to be intact.

[Lapchik]

I usually wash mine without the spin dry, then either no heat tumble dry or hang to dry to avoid seam blow out