advice needed on cleaning gore-tex

[griffy]

i have the cabela's guidewear rainsuit and want to know if anyone (or everyone) has some advice on cleaning gore-tex without ruining it. i have some oil based spots along with general dirt spots that need to be cleaned and for what the darn suit costs, i don't want to take a chance reckin' it. thanks in advance. griffy.

[Phil T.]

Contact Cabela's customer service if you've lost your lalundery instructions. I can remember this much: Never dry clean GoreTex!

[Starfish]

You can wash Gore-Tex in your washing machine. I pretreat greasy spots with Shout or whatever, then just launder it. Make sure you close up any Velcro flaps, cuffs, etc., or they get messed up with lint. I also zip shut all the pockets, or they'll get filled up like water balloons.

[chrism]

Do an arcive search - there was a good thread a few months ago.
Use a soap and not a detergent, rinse till you can drink the water, and put in the dryer on warm and/or iron. spot the oil stains with the soap - but try to avoid them in the future as they are a pain to remove and they don't help the material... when it gets old, consider the spray on / wash in water repellant.
The heat from the dryer or iron helps a lot.

[ETT]

I have no clue what you mean by "spray on / wash in" water repellant. Also heat from dryer or iron helps what? Sorry for my ignorance, but sounds like something I may need someday.

[Backwater Eddy]

Cabela's has a spray treatment called REVIVE-X that re-treats the GORE TEX for use after you do the recomended machine wash as per the directions.

REVIVEX cost is $9.95 an the cat# is WM-92-1405.

For recomended care check out http://www.gore.com/index.html this is there home site and look to care instructions in the outdoor wear dept.

Backwater Eddy.........><,,>

[FJH1]

ETT, Gore-Tex has a coating applied to the outer face of the fabric to repel water (makes rain drops bead up on the jacket). This coating is called the Durable Water Repellant (DWR). Over time the DWR will lose it's effectiveness and the outer shell of the jacket will have a tendancy to become water logged. You will still stay dry as the Gore-Tex membrane is still functioning, however, it's not as effective as it was with the DWR intact, plus the jacket gets heavier because it has absorbed water (you may find that sweat does not evaporate as easily and you will feel as though the jacket is letting water in). The DWR can be "re-activated" by washing and drying (and ironing) the jacket. A dirty jacket attracts water, and dirt helps to break down the DWR. Wash the jacket and bibs with POWDER detergent, don't use liquid as this can clog the pores of the Gore-Tex membrane. You can pre-treat any oil stains with Shout or something of the like. Wash and rinse the jacket thouroughly. Gore-Tex sells a product called Revivex. This is DWR in spray on form. When the jacket and bibs are still wet (after you washed them in powder detergent) spray on the Revivex. Then place the wet jacket and bibs in the dryer and time dry them for about 50 minutes on medium heat. This will distribute the DWR and "activate" it. Once dry you can further increase the effectiveness of the DWR by ironing the garments on a medium temperature. There is another product on the market called Nixwax (do a search and you will find their site). They offer a detergent specially designed for Gore-Tex as well as a wash-in DWR (as opposed to spray-on). Hope this helps. I wash my Gore-tex Guidewear at least a couple of times during a season.

Best Regards,

FJH

[griffy]

thanks a lot all. i knew this was where to find my answer.
good fishin'! griffy

[ETT]

Outstanding. Never heard of the stuff, but me & my guide wear appreciate it.

[jp]

How about gortex leather boots should they be mink oiled like a normal leather boot?

[delque]

Way to go fishermen, this is a great great site!

[John]

Take a look at page 194, the last page, of the 2001 Cablea's Tackle Shop catalog. A 5 oz bottle sells for $9.95.