Tag: dwr

Get your waders ready for spring with these cleaning and prep tips

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Here are a few easy tips for prepping your waders for a busy spring and summer fishing season.

The days are getting longer, and seasons are kicking off. Time to get your gear prepped and ready. 

Apply a fresh DWR treatment to your waders and jackets. 

The DWR, or Durable Water Repellent coating, is what makes water bead up and run off your waders and jackets. This coating is what helps keep your technical garments breathable and keep you comfortable. When the coating wears down the outer face of your garment gets saturated with water and you’ll start to get the dreaded ‘wetting out’. This term simply refers to reduced breathability, so the wearer gets clammy and damp from sweat and condensation build-up.  Heading this off is as easy as picking up a bottle of ReviveX DWR spray and treating your waders and jackets. 

Tip: If your waders are really dirty, clean them first before applying the DWR treatment with some ReviveX Pro Cleaner. 

Check your belt 

Check that your belt is still with your waders.

We know, it sounds basic, but it’s better to check now than realize it’s not there when you go to put them on at the fishing spot. If your belt is missing get yourself a new one – it’s a safety item.

Clean and lubricate your zippers

We recommend cleaning and lubricating the zippers on waders and jackets on a regular basis.  Zipper Cleaner and Lubricant and Zipper Lubricant Stick from Gearaid do the job nicely and will help keep your zippers operating smoothly and performing like they should.  If your zipper is dirty, or isn’t running as smoothly as it once did then pick up one or both of the products mentioned here and fix it up. 

Clean out pockets

Are your pockets full of old gear, line trimmings, protein bar wrappers, etc? Go ahead and clean it out now and give yourself a fresh start to the season. 

Replace worn out gear

Is it time for a new jacket, new boots, new waders? As you go through checking your gear be real and fill in any gaps in your gear closet with replacements.

Why you should be maintaining the DWR coating on your fishing waders and jacket

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What is DWR?
The waterproof breathable fabric used on waders and jackets helps to keep you comfortable by allowing warm air to escape outwards and breathe through the membrane, while simultaneously keeping water out.  The DWR coating is what makes water bead up and run off. You may have noticed that over time water will bead up less, and instead the outer layer may begin to soak up or saturate with water. This is often referred to as ‘wetting out’, which doesn’t mean the gear is leaking, but instead means the outer layer is saturated and inhibiting the inner membrane from breathing.  When this happens it can leave damp spots of condensation on the users under layers.

In order for air to pass through the outer layer of fabric there can’t be a saturated layer of water on the outer layer, which is where the DWR coating comes into play. If the outer layer is saturated, it essentially voids the ability of the membrane to do its job, and the warm air won’t be able to escape. This will make the user warmer, sweatier, and more likely to get that damp clammy feeling. 

The trick is to maintain the outer layer of fabric by keeping it clean and using a DWR reviver regularly so that water beads up and sheds off.  

We recommend cleaning and reviving the DWR coating on your waders and jackets regularly, usually 1-2 times per year is adequate (of course depending on use). We recommend Revivex by Gearaid as it uses a simple spray on and let dry method. Start by cleaning your waders or jacket with a simple scrub down or with Pro Cleaner, and then spray with Revivex Durable Water Repellent. Let it dry and you’ll be good to go. 

Then go have some happy and comfortable fishing!