How to Clean and Waterproof a Shell Jacket

A JACKET THAT IS CLEAN IS A JACKET THAT PERFORMS.

As you prepare for your next season of outdoor and mountain adventures, ask yourself if your gear is ready to perform its best. Especially your technical outerwear, like your shell jacket.

CONTENTS

• What is a shell jacket?
• When is it time to clean my jacket?
• When is it time to re-waterproof my jacket?
• How to clean a shell jacket
• How to re-waterproof a shell jacket

WATCH: HOW TO CLEAN AND RE-WATERPROOF YOUR SHELL JACKET

Watch our Sustainability Specialist: Product, Mhairi, take you through the steps on how to clean your Shell.

WHAT IS A SHELL JACKET?

A shell jacket refers to any technical, non-insulated and lightweight rain jacket or outdoor jacket that is designed to repel water while still maintaining breathability. They most often utilize a multi-layer fabric system and some type of membrane layer internally to allow sweat vapor to escape, while simultaneously keeping out precipitation. We developed the HELLY TECH® system – our own unique technology for waterproof and breathable outer layers. Shell jackets are the standard for staying dry during outdoor activities like hiking, exploring, and mountaineering, but they require intentional care in order to maintain their high level of performance. They will lose water-repellency over time and with wear & tear, but they can be rejuvenated.

WHEN IS IT TIME TO CLEAN MY JACKET?

Reason #1 to clean your shell jacket: It’s dirty.

It’s time to clean your shell jacket when something obvious happens to it.

Did you...

• bump into a sappy tree on your last hike?
• store your jacket at the bottom of your closet, all crumpled and creased?
• spill your “summit beer” all over your jacket?
• start to notice an undesirable odor coming from your jacket?

Reason #2 to clean your shell jacket: It’s wetting out.

Once a jacket’s face fabric starts absorbing water rather than repelling it (this is called “wetting out”), the breathability of the jacket also stops functioning properly. If you lose breathability in a jacket, your body heat and sweat vapor cannot escape, creating more moisture vapor, leading to a “leaking” feeling of moisture against your skin. This is referred to as “sweating out” from the inside.

If your waterproof-breathable jacket is “wetting out”, it is time to clean it. Nearly all outdoor brands and manufacturers use a hyper-thin DWR coating on the outside face fabric of their waterproof jackets; this coating is what causes water droplets to bead up and roll off. There are various types of DWRs, but most often, when your waterproof jacket “stops working” it is simply because its DWR layer has faded away, flaked off, or been soiled by dirt, grime, or other agents (food residue, other liquids, campfire smoke, snot, etc.).

WHEN IS IT TIME TO RE-WATERPROOF MY JACKET?

Cleaning your jacket is the first step to reinvigorating the water-repelling function of the DWR.

Many times, simply cleaning a jacket that hasn’t been cleaned in a long time is enough to do the trick, bringing the DWR back to life.

In a scenario where a jacket has already been properly washed but is still “wetting out” afterward, then a quick reapplication of DWR may be in order.

HOW TO CLEAN A SHELL JACKET

Shell pants can be cared for in the same way as jackets. So don’t neglect those bottoms. Simply follow all the steps, but substitute in your pants.

STEP 1: READ THE CARE LABEL

Locate and read the manufacturer care label on your jacket(s). Be careful to follow any guidelines the manufacturer has included regarding water temperature, products to avoid, etc. For Helly Hansen jackets, that label is most often found on the left hip of the jacket. Today, nearly all technical waterproof outerwear is made of synthetic fabrics such as polyester, polyamide, nylon, etc.

The common “DO NOTs” for washing technical waterproof outerwear:

• do not bleach
• do not dry clean
• do not iron
• do not use standard laundry detergent
• do not forget to close all velcro straps and zippers
• do not use fabric softener

STEP 2: INSERT JACKET

Zip up all the zippers and place jacket(s) in the washing machine with a maximum of one like-item.

NB: All technical apparel should be washed by itself or with same-category items. For example, multiple synthetic rain jackets may be washed together, but do not mix in other types of garments (cotton, baselayers, denim, wool, etc.). Different fabrics require different care and cleaners.

STEP 3: ADD TECHNICAL CLEANER

Avoid laundry detergent. Instead, replace it with a technical cleaner designed for synthetic technical outerwear, like Nikwax Tech Wash.

STEP 4: RUN WASH CYCLE

Most often, use medium temperature water, and a medium-strength cycle. Consult the care label to be sure. More often than not, this single wash cycle will be enough to have cleaned your garment(s) and revitalized the repellency.

STEP 5: DRY JACKET

Always follow the care label for specific drying instructions.

If instructions are not clear, a common method is to tumble dry the garment(s) on medium heat. Tumble drying helps to reactivate the existing DWR treatment. Otherwise, air-drying can be an alternative.

NB: Extremely high heat can damage the seam-taping of some synthetic outerwear. Opt for medium temperatures instead; be careful not to overdry or overheat synthetic technical outerwear.

HOW TO RE-WATERPROOF A SHELL JACKET

STEP 1: CLEAN JACKET

Refer to the entire section above, but skip the final “drying” step.

STEP 2: RUN A SECOND CYCLE

“Wash” the jacket again, but this time use a liquid DWR product like Nikwax TX.Direct, instead of the performance wash you used previously. Do not dry the jacket in between these back-to-back cycles.

NB: Many DWR aftercare treatments are "wash-in", which means they use the process of a washing machine to reapply DWR functionality to a jacket. Some DWR treatments are "spray-on", meaning that they are applied with a spray bottle while laying the jacket flat on a protected surface.

STEP 3: DRY JACKET

Always follow the care label for specific drying instructions.

If instructions are not clear, a common method is to tumble dry the jacket(s) on medium heat. Otherwise air-drying can be an alternative. Nikwax TX.Direct does not require heat activation to work properly.

NB: Extremely high heat can damage the seam-taping of some synthetic outerwear. Opt for medium temperatures instead; be careful not to overdry or overheat synthetic technical outerwear.

A LITTLE CARE GOES A LONG WAY

Caring for your gear, even minimally along the way, can prevent longer-lasting damage to gear. Damaged or ineffective gear is not used to its maximum (or used, at all …). We should all strive to be responsible consumers, focusing on maximizing the useful lifespan of our outdoor technical garments, instead of replacing them prematurely and unnecessarily.

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