How to Revive Water Repellency of Your Raincoat

Tokyo, Japan

Virtually all rainwear is treated with a durable water repellent (DWR), to make the raincoat repel more water. Most raingear on the market is water resistant and not waterproof. A waterproof coat would be made out of vinyl or rubber.

DWR can wear down over time due to normal wear and tear, oils from skin, dirt and scrapes. Rain wear fabric will need to be retreated. You can purchase a water repellent fabric spray and treat your coat at home. 

First wash your raincoat with a gentle detergent such as Forever New Biodegradable Laundry Soap on a gentle cycle or hand wash depending on the garments washing instructions.

Let your coat dry before treating with DWR. Hang your coat outside and spray a thin even layer of DWR per instructions. Let the fresh DWR treatment dry for one or two days. 

Next, gently treat you coat with heat. You can tumble dry on low if the garments instructions allow for a tumble dry. Alternatively, you can steam the coat with a clothes steamer or hang the coat in the sun for an hour.

These steps should insure that your rainwear is water repellent and will protect you from the rain.

You can purchase Mycra Pac raincoats at our flagship travel store at Stanford Shopping Mall in Palo Alto, California. We carry Mycra Pac raincoats, rain jackets, rain hats and rain gear at Going In Style Travel Accessories, 609 Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, CA 94304 - Visit the Stanford Travel Store website www.stanfordtravelstore.com for directions to Going In Style.