Oh deep joy....just used my new Paramo Fuera windshirt for the first time and have been mighty impressed with it so far...it's done exactly what it said on the tin.

Unfortunately after cooking some veggie bangers on m'Trangia for a celebratory birthday breakfast I've managed to get Houses of Parliament sauce down the front.

My windshirt is a lovely pale grey colour...the two don't mix.

Do I really need to wash the blimmin thing with Nikwax Techwash or can I get away with Persil? Pardon my ignorance...

Soap flakes.

Go to tesco and use some Granny's Original flakes, the only ones i know you can get. Only about £1.50 and you get loads of washes out of it.

I've just washed my Fuera windshirt for the first time, but i decided to TX Direct it too, just to make sure. I'll probably give it a proof every 2 washes as that works for my paramo waterproofs.

BTW, Persil will make a right mess of things. Detergent will make the fabric absorb water. Soapflakes will help keep the surface water repellent.

tdave said "Soap flakes.
Go to tesco and use some Granny's Original flakes, the only ones i know you can get."

I seem to remember a Chris Townsend article some years ago which said that Boots own brand soap flakes were the same product (or at least made in the same factory). They work for me, but because I bought a lifetime supply in case they went out of production I don't know if they are still sold.

There is a product just called "Soap Flakes", which used to be Lux.

You can get it in Wilkinson, Waitrose and possibly others.

Interesting that there's a link to regatta on the soap flake page, i thought many companies still tell people to wash their waterproofs in detergent. The Tesco ones are not exactly the same stuff as the dri-pak stuff, but give a link to www.fmcgltd.com which appear to be a different company. Still, they're both soap flakes, so should both do the job.

I'll have to check boots out for the flakes too (it's a small boots) as i have to travel to a Tesco away from home to get the stuff, so a second source is good to have. It's worth it when you think how much you save on Tech Wash. Results with using TX Wash afterwards are still great.

BTW. they say you cant use them in the washing machine, but if you dont put too much in, then it's OK.

its a shame HP are moving production of the Brown Saurce to Norway.

they'd better not change its taste!
I'd like to bouycot the product in a move to support UK jobs but im not sure i can live without it!

If you need to wash the garment with normal detergent to remove ingrained dirt etc I believe you can do so - you can do so with Analogy garments.

Something like Ecover will be gentler than 'normal' detergents and clean it just as well.

Then you will need to wash the garment again with Tech Wash or soap flakes to remove the residudes left by the detergent, then use TX Direct Wash In (or the spray) to make the garment water resistent again.

HTH