HOW TO RESTORE WATER RESISTANCE IN GORE-TEX CLOTHING, by 305HD

As a young Infantryman, I learned a few things; Don’t ever say “I’m bored”, even if you believe you Team Leader/Squad Leader/Platoon Sergeant is not within hearing distance (hint: when you utter those words, they somehow always are… they will, for the good of the Team/Squad/Platoon, make sure you are no longer bored); CIF (Central Issue Facility – where you get your equipment issued) doesn’t particularly care about how serviceable the equipment they issued out to you is; The only thing worse than being cold, is being cold and wet. This article focuses on the last point.

Gore Tex is a great material, when it is properly maintained. Just like any other piece of equipment, you need to take care of it. Over time, its water resistance degrades. This is predominantly due to the coating, Durable Water Repellent or DWR that is applied to the fabric breaking down. Gore Tex repels water through reducing the surface tension of the fabric (this is through the function of DWR) allowing the water to bead up and roll off of the fabric. A way to test this is to spray water onto the fabric. If it soaks in, then the garment needs to be retreated with DWR. If it beads up and rolls off, the DWR finish is working. Fortunately this is easily dealt with by simply reapplying DWR to the garment.

There are two methods of doing this. The first is a laundered in application. All you have to do is simply place the garment into the washing machine, with the DWR application, and wash it. Then you dry the garment on a medium heat. There is some dislike of this method as some people believe that this method not only treats the outer surface of the garment, but the inner surface as well, reducing the breathability of the garment (which is the whole point of Gore-Tex, the fabric allows for moisture to escape, but not enter).

The other method (which I prefer) is to use a DWR spray, and treat the outer surface only. Personally, I like Gear Aid’s Revivex spray. It’s about $19.95 plus tax and shipping (Amazon has it cheaper) for a 16.9oz spray bottle, which will be enough for multiple garments. You will want to carefully spray the garment and allow it to air dry for 24 hours. To ensure the shoulders are properly treated, I would suggest laying the jacket flat and treating the shoulder area separately.

The second, and bigger issue of maintaining Gore-Tex garments, is making sure that the seam tape is functional. Gore-Tex is a synthetic material, that when sewn, small holes are created. To seal these leakage points, a temperature sensitive adhesive backed seam tape is applied over the sewn seam. In USGI Extreme Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS) garments, the seam tape is GORE-SEAM, which I have been unable to locate for sale. In garments that are aged, or if the manufacturer uses a cheap, cut rate Chinese, dog shit, seam tape (looking at you Tru-Spec), the seam tape may peel from the garment or may break/crack. In this case the seam tape will need to be replaced.

The first step in replacing the seam tape is to remove the existing tape. This can be easily accomplished by applying light heat to the tape and slowly peeling it back. It is important to take your time with this step. Remember that the tape is applied with a heat sensitive adhesive, which melts into the fabric in order to form a strong bond. If you simply try to brute force your way through this, you run the risk of ripping fabric and/or seams. This is also a good opportunity to thoroughly inspect the stitched seams for rips/tears. On this note, you can also repair cuts to the body of the garment by using a wide bar stitch and the applying seam tape to the backside of the garment behind the repair stitch. They also sell adhesive Gore Tex patches for field repairs (some of these are put on like a sticker and then ironed on later to create a permeant bond – it would be a good idea to have some of these in your repair kit
equipment… you do have a repair kit and know how to sew, both by hand and with a sewing machine right?).

While I have not been able to locate GORE-SEAM, I have been able locate what, so far, seems to be a suitable alternatives. The key thing to look for in a Gore-Tex seam tape, is that it is a three layer tape. It is applied using heat, on a low/medium setting. You need to be careful to make sure that you do not linger to long in any one area, as you do not want to melt the garment itself. In general, six to ten seconds is all that is needed. As with anything, your mileage may vary. Start on the lower end of time and adjust based on your personal experience. Using a sheet of paper over top of the tape, under the heat source is a good idea. A standard iron, on the lowest setting, is suitable for this task. Once the seam tape is applied, it should be tight enough to the garment that you cannot pick at the edges.

The pants were generally the easiest to re-tape. I would suggest doing the pants first if you have not done this before. There is a bit of a learning curve and the simplicity of the pants seams, lets you learn with a less challenging experience.

Once you move to re-taping the jacket, the 2x4s come in handy when trying to apply the tape to the sleeves. The longer 2×4 works well for isolating the wrist to armpit seam (as well as the vented underarm zipper seams) and the shorter 2z4 works well for isolating the circumferential seams

The seam tape runs about $20.00/5 meters. In terms of total cost, you are looking at around $160.00 – $170.00 when the DWR refinishing coating is included. For comparison, if you go through a professional outdoors equipment repair center, you should expect to spend at a minimum $250.00 per garment for a complete re-taping and DWR treatment. The primary difference between applying the seam tape yourself with an iron, and having it done by a factory recommended repair shop, is that the “professional” shop also uses pressure rollers in addition to heat. You can get close to this by using a hand roller after applying heat. I would strongly suggest using a hand roller.

By doing this yourself, you learn more about how to maintain, and more importantly REPAIR, your equipment. Lastly, I am a firm believer in the principle that when you have invested your own time in doing something, individuals are more likely to take better care of their equipment.

MATERIALS

  • Gore-Tex 3 layer seam tape, 28mm wide
    • ECWCS style pants, size large long – 8 meters of seam tape and about 2 hours of work
      • The pants took about two hours to prepare and reapply the seam tape
    • ECWCS style, Gen II parka, size extra large long, 20 meters of seam tape and about 4 hours of work
      • The parka was considerably more labor intensive
      • The sleeves and hood were particularly a pain in the ass
  • Iron
  • Ironing board
  • Hand roller
  • Gear Aid Revivex spray
  • Scissors
  • 2×4 that is approximately 18” long
  • 2×4 that is approximately 6” long

Here we can see the absolute dog shit seam taping that Tru Spec did. Note the tape is not a three layer seam tape and the corners/edges are delaminating/peeling. This is not normal for a quality seam tape that is properly applied.

This is a factory applied Gore Seam seaming tape on a pair of ECWCS M81 Woodland pattern pants. The garment is about 20 years old and has seen more than a fair amount of use. Notice how the tape is not peeling and is still tight to the underlying fabric.