Woofy
08-15-2003, 08:35 PM
I've been using NIKWAX waterproofing products for sometime now on my leather and textile bike gear as well as boots, and was wondering if anyone else has tried these outstanding products?
Their apparel waterproofing is polymer based and non-toxic. The leather waterproofing treatment you put on WET leather and as it dries, the product is drawn into the open pores and when dried, your leather feels and breathes like it's never been treated but water beads up on the surface and the leather doesn't seem to absorb water even over hours or riding in the rain.
Their textile waterproofing is amazing! I use their wash and treatment to keep my Gore-Tex breathable. I commute year-round in Seattle and I get coated with road spray (dirt, oil, and worse). I learned fast the hard way that once the surface layer of my gear gets waterlogged and clogged with road goop, the surface is effectively sealed. At that point, it's as beathable as wearing GoreTex under rubber rain gear...Nasty!
With this stuff, you take your thoroughly cleaned jacket and riding pants, add their waterprooing treatment to a tub of water and then immerse and completely saturate the entire garment in the solution, effectively treating the entire garment, stitching and all. Once it dries, water beads up like a freshly rain-X'd windshield. Best of all, if I use their washing product, I can wash my textile jacket and pants several times before I have to re-treat. With Scotchguard, I have to re-treat after every washing. In wet Seattle, that translates to twice a month in winter.
Their boot wax is a substantially goopy-er product. I use it to treat and condition my Sidi, Danner and Wesco boots. It doesn't rot the stitching and doesn't smell funny. Danner repackages it and sells it under their own name. It seems to be as effective as Hubards Boot Grease without the smell.
NIKWAX makes a product specific for gloves plus a product that's applied to maps that when dry, makes the map water resistant. I haven't tried either of these...yet.
I'd like to hear if anyone else has tried this or other riding-related products they find particularly useful.
Their apparel waterproofing is polymer based and non-toxic. The leather waterproofing treatment you put on WET leather and as it dries, the product is drawn into the open pores and when dried, your leather feels and breathes like it's never been treated but water beads up on the surface and the leather doesn't seem to absorb water even over hours or riding in the rain.
Their textile waterproofing is amazing! I use their wash and treatment to keep my Gore-Tex breathable. I commute year-round in Seattle and I get coated with road spray (dirt, oil, and worse). I learned fast the hard way that once the surface layer of my gear gets waterlogged and clogged with road goop, the surface is effectively sealed. At that point, it's as beathable as wearing GoreTex under rubber rain gear...Nasty!
With this stuff, you take your thoroughly cleaned jacket and riding pants, add their waterprooing treatment to a tub of water and then immerse and completely saturate the entire garment in the solution, effectively treating the entire garment, stitching and all. Once it dries, water beads up like a freshly rain-X'd windshield. Best of all, if I use their washing product, I can wash my textile jacket and pants several times before I have to re-treat. With Scotchguard, I have to re-treat after every washing. In wet Seattle, that translates to twice a month in winter.
Their boot wax is a substantially goopy-er product. I use it to treat and condition my Sidi, Danner and Wesco boots. It doesn't rot the stitching and doesn't smell funny. Danner repackages it and sells it under their own name. It seems to be as effective as Hubards Boot Grease without the smell.
NIKWAX makes a product specific for gloves plus a product that's applied to maps that when dry, makes the map water resistant. I haven't tried either of these...yet.
I'd like to hear if anyone else has tried this or other riding-related products they find particularly useful.