Goretex gloves

[steveg]

Have had my hein gericke gortex gloves for 3 years and have started to leak when exposed to very prelonged heavy rain , eg today !

Have been looking on net to see if there is any treatment I can apply to restore 100 percent waterproof , found a product called Revivex

Any one used this ?

Cheers Steveg

[TEC]

Never heard of Revivex but have heard (and used) Nikwax. Had mixed results with it over the years but found that once Goretex has started to leak its not often to get 100%, heavey downpour waterproofing again

[Sid Squid]

Are they textile gloves? If so then read the second paragraph.

If not then:

As you may know Goretex is a breathable membrane liner inside the glove outer skin, it has gazillions of teeny weeny holes in it which are smaller than a water droplet, so rain water doesn't get in, but bigger than a water molecule so sweat can get out. If you just wanted waterproof you could put a rubber glove over them and they'd not let water in - but you'd have sweaty hands. Anything that is a waterproofer for leather etc is the waxy equivalent of rubber gloves - it works by being a waterproofer, it doesn't and indeed cannot mimic the function of the membrane, which is probably torn.

In the case of a textile jacket or trousers, often the membrane is compromised by being dirty - this wicks water across the membrane, washing with a suitable cleaner often improves the waterproofing, also the outer being clean and sheer again means a lot of water just runs off before getting anywhere near the membrane. If there's leather on the garment it'll probably not respond well to cleaning. Of course, just like above, if the membrane is damaged cleaning it won't make it heal up.

[steveg]

Thanks for the replies , got a feeling that gortex gloves have a 5 year guarentee, will give Hein Gericke a buzz , worth a try

Cheers Steve

[Dave20046]

I saw some the other night and favourited them,on a diffo pc right now but will link you when I can if u can wait.

[embee]

Along the lines of what Sid said, the other thing with goretex is that if the membrane is wet on the outside, the water vapour from your perspiration (or sweat if you prefer) won't necessarily pass through, so you start to feel damp and clammy. Sometimes this can be mistaken for the membrane leaking but it isn't.

[steveg]

Originally Posted by embee

Along the lines of what Sid said, the other thing with goretex is that if the membrane is wet on the outside, the water vapour from your perspiration (or sweat if you prefer) won't necessarily pass through, so you start to feel damp and clammy. Sometimes this can be mistaken for the membrane leaking but it isn't.

they were soaked as you could ring them out and loads of water came out ...

Regularly used garments with a Gore-tex membrane will need very regular cleaning and re-proofing, for this to have only happened after 3 years is amazing.

Unless there is a fault with the membrane, "leaking" is usually just condensation build up on the inside from the sweat not being able to pass out through the membrane because of 3 reasons:

1. Salt build up from sweat on the inside of the membrane

2. Dirt on the outer fabric which physically blocks the way

3. The outer fabric "wetting out" when water hits it; this is when the outer fabric absorbs the water, physically blocking the membrane, thus not allowing it to breathe.

When you re proof a Gore-tex garment, you are not really doing anything to the membrane itself, you are re treating the outer surface with a DWR, durable water repellency agent, so that the water beads off and stops wetting out. When cleaning a garment, you are removing the salt build up from sweat, on the inside of the membrane which can clog up the membrane and stop moisture from passing.

Use some Nikwax glove proof to proof and tech wash to clean, or similar.