I washed my Firstgear TPG Teton jacket today for the first time. It looks a lot better but I'm wondering how much its "waterproofness" might have been degraded. I used Nikwax Tech Wash according to its instructions, and they not surprisingly recommend their TX Direct Wash-in to improve water repellancy. My plan is to defer using the Nikwax TX Direct until after the jacket's second washing - unless it's common knowledge that I should use it now. Any estimates on how much one washing has degraded the jacket's performance - 1%, 50%, 100%?
i think you've taken quite a bit of the durable water repellant (DWR) coating off the jacket's exterior. it's not really meant to be washed. really, you should dumped a bottle of that nik-wax wash-in DWR and wash it another time. 1. no waterproof breathable membrane works worth a piss if the exterior material becomes saturated (or filthy) 2. that Nik Wax wash in works really, really well. last time i gave my Darien this treatment, the water would actually puddle up in the creases of my jacket as i was running down the road. the material just would not accept any water. 3. it get into all the nooks and crannies that the spray on stuff can't get to. i do my jacket once a year (about 12,000 miles +/-)
