Waterproof outerwear
The one garment family where the manufacturer prescribes the tumble dryer rather than warning about it — because heat is what restores the water repellency.
What not to do
Sodium hypochlorite (chlorine bleach) is unsafe on Waterproof outerwear
Unsafe
Do not do this. The risk is established, and it is described below.
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
- Never mix with other cleaning products
Evidence
Strongly supported
Sources
W. L. Gore & Associates (GORE-TEX brand) · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That bleach must not be used on the garment. (states this directly)
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
- Test on an inconspicuous area first
In detail
A waterproof shell is a laminate: a membrane that blocks liquid water, faced with a fabric carrying a durable water repellent finish. Almost all the care instructions protect one or the other, and several of them run opposite to ordinary laundry sense. The manufacturer specifies machine washing at 40°C with a SMALL AMOUNT OF LIQUID DETERGENT, and excludes powder detergents, fabric softeners, stain removers and bleach — softener in particular defeats the point of the garment, because the finish works by repelling water and a softener deposits something that attracts it. Rinsing twice and minimising the spin removes residue that would do the same. Then the instruction people get wrong: once dry, tumble dry a FURTHER 20 MINUTES to reactivate the repellent. Heat is the reactivation step, not the hazard, though high temperatures are still excluded. Ironing is gentle, through a cloth, without steam. One variant of the same brand reverses three of those rules — no tumble drying, no ironing, no re-treatment — which is the clearest argument for reading the garment's own label.
Properties
Sensitivity
- Acids
- Not known
- Alkalis
- Not known
- Chlorine bleach
- Sensitive
- Heat
- Sources disagree
- Abrasion
- Not known
- Porous
- Not applicable
“Not known” means nobody has established this, not that the material is unaffected.
What works
Detergent is safe on, in specific conditions, Waterproof outerwear
Safe only in specific conditions
This is only appropriate within specific limits. Outside those limits, no claim is made.
Only within these limits:
- A SMALL AMOUNT of LIQUID detergent only — powder detergents are excluded
- No fabric softener, no stain remover, no bleach
- Rinse twice and minimise spinning, to clear residue that would attract water
- Machine wash at 40°C
The residue is the hazard rather than the chemistry: a garment that works by repelling water fails when something water-attracting is left on it.
Precautions
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
- Rinse thoroughly afterwards
Evidence
Strongly supported
Sources
W. L. Gore & Associates (GORE-TEX brand) · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That the garment is machine washed at 40°C with a small amount of liquid detergent, and that powder detergents, fabric softeners, stain removers and bleach must not be used. (states this directly)
Why
- Waterproof outerwear is explained by Water-repellent and water-attracting surfaces
Aftercare and prevention
- Rinsing and drying requires the aftercare Waterproof outerwear
The aftercare IS the treatment here: twenty minutes of warm tumble drying after the garment is dry restores the repellent.
Hacks and claims involving this
- Fabric softener is fine on everything Does not work
- Never put a waterproof jacket in the tumble dryer Does not work
Sources for this page
Sources
W. L. Gore & Associates (GORE-TEX brand) · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That the garment is machine washed at 40°C with a small amount of liquid detergent, that powder detergents, fabric softeners, stain removers and bleach are excluded, that after drying it is tumble dried a further 20 minutes to reactivate the durable water repellent, and that one named variant must not be tumble dried, ironed or re-treated. (states this directly)