Cleaning Ski Jackets & Cleaning Winter Jackets

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Cleaning a waterproof ski jacket is a process

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Ski jacket cleaning is a must to keep your jacket breathable and waterproof. Technical waterproof/breathable ski jackets usually use a two or three layered construction consisting of an outer woven nylon or polyester fabric, a microporous polyurethane coating or laminate applied to the inside of the outer fabric, and a fabric lining on the inside. The outer surface of the jacket is also treated with a DWR (Durable Water Repellent) finish. The DWR makes water bead up and roll off your jacket. Keeping the water beading off your shell will keep your shell breathing at its maximum level. Your jacket must be clean to keep the water beading up, so wash it.

Follow the manufacturer`s directions on the care label and don`t be afraid. Body oil, grease, sap, sunscreen, wood smoke, cigarette smoke, air pollution and any kind of dirt will clog the pores of your jacket and decrease the performance of both the interior laminate or coating and the exterior DWR. Many people are hesitant to wash their jackets and fear that the DWR finish will be ruined. In reality, just the opposite is true. Washing your jacket in a residue free soap or detergent and drying with either a dryer or an iron will give new life to the DWR.

A residue free laundry soap is required (as in not optional). All soaps and detergents are not alike. (Note that soap and detergent are just two names for the same thing.) A residue free detergent is required to properly clean and refresh the DWR properties of the jacket. Most common laundry soaps leave residues behind - perfume, fabric softener, whiteners, UV brighteners, etc. All residues are bad for the hydrophilic properties of your jacket and will clog its pores, thereby reducing water repellency, breathability, and moisture transfer. Residues will cover the fluorpolymer in the DWR which will allow water to spread out and soak into the fabric instead of beading up and rolling off.

Buy a special residue free fabric wash for your jacket. Residue free detergent will make insulation like down, Thinsulate, and Hollofil fluff back up. There is a list of readily available products at the bottom of the page that are recommended by ski jacket manufacturers.

All Ski Jackets

All ski jackets perform best when clean. While the performance of coatings and laminates will be diminished slightly with every washing, most manufacturers use the 80/20 standard where at least 80 percent of the fabric`s performance is retained after 20 washings. Twenty washings is a lot of seasons for a ski jacket. Keep in mind that the DWR finish can be completely restored. Wash your ski jacket if it looks dirty or if water is soaking into the shell fabric. Restore the DWR as necessary.

General guidelines

Do not dry clean. Restoration of your ski-jacket requires washing with water.
Unzip all zippers and close all flaps and tabs.
Wash in cold water.
Wash and dry separately - give your ski jacket plenty of room in the machine.
Do not use fabric softeners or bleach.
Use the minimum amount of soap.
Follow the manufacturer`s instructions on the package of fabric wash.
Use either the gentle cycle on your washing machine or hand wash.
Rinse thoroughly. Use a second rinse cycle.
If hand washing, gently squeeze the water from your jacket - Do not wring or twist. This can damage the waterproof/breathable coating or separate it from the inside of the shell.
Tumble dry on low to medium heat (permanent press setting). Do not dry your ski jacket by hanging it over a heat source. This can also damage the waterproof/breathable coating.
Only use the wash-in type of DWR to restore the waterproofing on an un-insulated, un-lined shell. You don`t want to get the DWR in down or synthetic fills or linings as the breathability of the jacket could be compromised.
All ski jackets can be sprayed when damp to restore the DWR after washing.

Stain removal

Remove gum or sap from your ski jacket by freezing the substance with some ice. Then use a butter knife to scrape off as much as possible. Wash in the machine with a residue free laundry detergent. For stubborn stains, brush with a soft bristle brush with some of the technical wash diluted with water.

Use dishwashing soap to get grease out of your ski jacket. Then wash in the machine. Mineral spirits can be used on really tough stains but you must re-apply the DWR afterward.

Hard Shells

Gore-TexR, Hyvent, ConduitT, eVent and other layered materials can all be machine washed. Most manufacturers suggest washing in warm water on the gentle cycle with a residue free cleaner made specifically for performance fabrics. Tumble dry on medium or low heat. The heat from the dryer will revive the DWR finish. You can also iron the jacket to refresh the DWR if you line dry the jacket. Do not dry clean your hard shell ski jacket.

Do not be afraid to dry your hard shell. The low, medium or permanent press cycle on home dryers are all safe for your shell. Heating the jacket either in the dryer or with a medium or cool iron is an essential part of restoring the outer waterproofing finish.

Soft Shells

Soft shells should also be cleaned regularly for best performance including re-application of the DWR as necessary. Soft shells can be machine washed in either warm or cold water using regular powdered laundry detergent that contains no fabric softener. Liquid laundry soap is not recommended as it can clog pores in the fabric and interfere with breathability. The same residue free cleaning products recommended for hard shells can be used to wash your soft shell ski jacket. Re-apply the DWR as necessary when the jacket is still damp. Then tumble dry on medium or line dry and iron. Do not dry clean your soft shell jacket.

Down Jackets

Down ski jackets should be machine washed according to the manufacturer`s care tag and line dried. Remove any faux fur trim prior to washing. Do not dry clean a down ski jacket.

Down jackets usually have lined pockets. Unzip the pockets and pull them out prior to washing. Machine wash your down ski jacket on the gentle cycle in cold water with a down wash product and rinse twice. Do not use fabric softeners or bleach. If hand washing, do not wring or twist. This can damage the waterproof/breathable coating or separate it from the inside of the shell.

Re-apply the DWR when damp. Tumble dry separately on the lowest setting to give your jacket lots of room. Include a sneaker or some tennis balls to break up any clumps of down.

Fleece Jackets

Turn your jacket inside out prior to washing. Fleece jackets should be machine washed in cold water on the gentle cycle using in a minimum amount of laundry soap. Avoid laundry soaps that contain fabric softeners or bleach. Fleece jackets should be line dried away from a direct heat source. You can safely use a wash-in DWR with a fleece jacket.

Removable Faux Fur Trim

Follow the instructions on the care tag to clean faux fur trim. While some faux fur can be hand-washed, most removable faux fur trim should be dry-cleaned only.

DWR (Durable Water Repellent) Finish

DWR products change the electrical potential of the surface area of the outer fabric of your ski jacket so that water is not attracted to it. When properly applied, water will bead and roll off instead of sticking, wetting out, or saturating the fabric. If water is no longer beading up on the outer surface of your jacket, it is time to refresh or re-apply the DWR.

To refresh the DWR, the first step is washing. Dirt, oil, grease, smoke, sap etc. will degrade the performance of the DWR. Often, simply washing your jacket, rinsing well and tumble-drying on medium heat for 30 minutes can revive the factory DWR. When washing no longer revives the DWR, it is time to reapply the finish.

Over time, the DWR will wear away. Dirt will wear away the finish. Abrasion will also wear away the DWR. Common areas of abrasion include sleeves, shoulders and areas under pack straps. Once the DWR is worn away, re-application will restore the original performance of the fabric.

To re-waterproof your ski jacket, use one of the widely available spray-on or wash-in DWR treatments for waterproof/breathable garments. While wash-in treatments are easier to use, they tend to be less effective than spray-on treatments. If your jacket is insulated or has a hanging mesh liner you will probably want to use a spray-on product. Wash-in treatments will also wash into your jacket`s liner thereby preventing it from wicking.

After either treatment, tumble-dry your jacket for at least a half hour on medium heat. The application of heat is a critical element in activating the DWR properties of the treatment. All of the aftemarket treatments for re-waterproofing your jacket recommend that some form of heat be applied to the garment after it is treated - either tumble dry or line dry and then iron.

Once you have successfully cleaned and refinished your ski jacket, it will work like new again.

Products commonly recommended by ski jacket manufacturers

Washing:
GRANGERSR G-Wash Plus
NIKWAXR TECH WASH
ATSKO`S SPORT WASHR
ReviveXR Synthetic Fabric Cleaner
ReviveXR Down Cleaner

Stains:
GRANGERSR Spray
Mineral spirits (to remove grease)

DWR renewal:
NikWaxR
ReviveXR Soft Shell Water Repellent
ReviveXR Water Repellent for Outerwear
GRANGERSR
Nikwax TX-Direct Wash-In for Down Jackets
Atsko Permanent Water Guard
Atsko Water-Guard Extreme

Ski Jacket Manufacturers

686
ARC`TERYX
Bonfire Snowboarding
Burton Snowboards
Cloudveil
Columbia Sportswear
Feathered Friends
FlyLow Sports
Helly Hansen
Marmot Mountain
Mammut Sports Group
Millet
MontBell Co, Ltd.
Mountain Hardwear
Nau
Oakley
Sport Obermeyer
Outdoor Research
Patagonia
Quicksilver
Rab Extreme Clothing
Ride Snowboards
Rossignol
Roxy
Salomon
Sessions
Scott Sports
Solstice
Spyder Active Sports
The North Face
Under Armour
Vans
Volcom
Westcomb