Nikwax Baselayer Treatment Ups Wicking

Nikwax founder Nick Brown with his new BaseFresh conditioner for base layer clothing.

Mildy fuzzy product shot. We blame the Chateau Nikwax blanc...

Fresh out last week's OutDoor trade show in Friedrichshafen, Germany, was a new product from gear care specialists Nikwax called BaseFresh, which claims to not only deodorise your base-layer clothing, but also to dramatically improve wicking performance.

We had a good chat with Nikwax and Paramo founder, Nick Brown, who confided that he'd been user-testing the new product for months and has been highly impressed, which of course,  he would say.

Less Pong, Better Wicking

The interesting bit is that not only does BaseFresh claim to reduce odour with baselayers - less of a issue these days, but still handy - it's also reckoned to dramatically improve wicking, soften fabrics and reduce drying times into the bargain, by coating the textile fibres at a microscopic level.

That's how we remember the conversation after a glass or two of wine anyway. You don't want to get it on your waterproofs either as it'll encourage water to penetrate and spread across the fabric, the opposite of DWR in other words.

All of which sounds great if your base-layer clothing isn't moving the moisture quite as fast as you'd like and reeking unpleasantly at the same time. We're also kind of intrigued as to what its effect might be if used with merino wool, which tends to absorb and hold moisture away from the skin rather than wicking. Or even cotton or cotton mixes. Mental cogs whirring...

Just Stick It In With Your Normal Detergent

Anyway, the good news is that we have several sample sachets of BaseFresh sat right here and we're going to dig out a suitably manky base layer and give it a whirl. You use it alongside regular detergent too, no need to segregate out your technical clothing, so it should be properly user friendly too. Needs to be kept away from shell clothing however, though a DWR will apparently take over the top of it if you do make a laundering howler...

More feedback once we've tried it and more Nikwax info at www.nikwax.com.