How to keep your soft shell clothing working as good as new.
This week's Monday Tip – how to look after your soft shell clothing and keep it working as well as it did when it was new.
So you've got a soft shell, maybe a membrane-based one – clue: it's most likely completely wind proof, Gore Windstopper for example – or maybe a straight, close woven fabric and you'd like to keep it as happy and water repellent as possible. How do you do it?
Cleaning
First, as with all outdoor clothing, it needs to be kept clean. Follow the washing instructions on the care label inside the garment. As with water-proof clothing, you can use 'normal' washing powder or liquids or gels, but they will leave residues which mask the water-repellent treatment usually applied to the garment at the factory.
If you do use normal detergent and it will clean better than pure soap-based products, we'd suggest double rinsing afterwards then, if you're going to re-proof the garment, maybe an additional soap-based wash with either pure soap or a technical outdoors cleaner.
If you're not really bothered about water repellency, just wash as normal with normal washing stuff and carry on using it.
Proofing
Once your garment is dry, you have a choice. Either you can use it as it is or you may want to reproof it to restore the water repellency of the fabric. The advantage of restoring the DWR – durable water repellent – treatment is that your soft shell will work better in rain with the drops tending to bead and run off rather than soak into the fabric.
If you do decide to reproof, you'll need a specialist reproofer from the likes of Grangers or Nikwax. Nikwax actually produces a treatment specially for soft shells call Softshell Proof, but a standard proofer should work fine.
If your garment has no drop liner or textured furry inner, a standard wash-in proofer is the way to go. Alternatively, if there's some sort of wicking liner, use a spray-on proofer instead.
In either case, follow the instructions on the bottle for best results. Most modern proofers no longer need to be heat treated after application, but may work better if you do. The exception to this is the Grangers 2 in 1 cleaner and reproofer, which still needs heat application to work. Follow the care label and if you use an iron, avoid reflective trim or you'll stop it from working.
And that's it. You should now have a clean, water repellent soft shell that shrugs off showers and smells lovely. Enjoy.
