It has been useful for the shoulders of my walking waterproof which gets a lot of wear from my rucksack without the same level of muck-exposure as my bike jackets. After several years of wear, my trusty Berghaus Goretex waterproof was beginning to let in a little rain. Once the garment has been washed, you’ll need to tumble dry it or (lightly) iron it to activate the waterproofing. That’s largely down to surface dirt or abrasion stopping the durable water resistant (DWR) layer on the outer surface working as intended, and to sweat and oils clogging the pores of an internal membrane barrier. As with any normal detergent, I found I needed to spot treat and give a bit of a scrub to particularly mucky areas of kit (as a mountain biker, plenty of my waterproofs have a healthy amount of mud ingrained to them).

She's not just confined to the trails though and regularly rides - and occasionally races - on gravel and road too. But he is allowed to use a few capfuls of the washing and waterproofing solutions any time he wants. All you have to do is fill two caps full of the liquid, pop it in the washing machine with the garment and hit start on a full cycle as you would with regular detergent.Instead the waterproofing solution actually revitalised the jacket and trousers to the extent that the mud, splashes and rain just beaded on the surface of the clothes and ran off. I was instructed to give the powder drawer a through clean out so as to remove any ordinary washing powder as this can interfere with the cleaning and waterproofing process. Here’s the technical stuff: “The Tech Wash and TX Direct Wash from Nikwax is a twin pack of two 300ml bottles and can be used together to improve waterproofing of wet weather clothing. I’ve subjected these to a bit more spot cleaning and used the reproofing spray to save putting the whole jacket through the machine again.

If you have garments with wicking linings or want to reapply to hardwearing areas (or items such as tents) then the TX. When used it can revitalise the breathability and water repellency of any much-used and loved waterproof jacket or pant. Standard laundry detergents won’t cut it because they leave residues on your jacket, causing the DWR layer to wet out. Direct Wash-In in your washing machine for re-proofing to give really comprehensive cover in all the nooks and crannies. NikWash Tech Wash is a hydrophobic (water repellent) cleaner which cleans your garment without leaving such a residue.Re-waterproofing your technical cycling kit should usually be a two-stage process and we explain how best to keep your kit in tip-top condition, and what the best waterproof treatments are.

The effectiveness of any re-proofing product is dependent on how clean your garment is in the first place.When I pointed this out to the G-Force he asked me why I had not treated his jacket and trousers to the same loving treatment! I’ve not used the Spray-In quite as much as I thought I would, preferring just to get a whole jacket clean and waterproof and the convenience of the washing machine.