While selecting the best snowboard jacket for your needs, you must have done plenty of research and shopped around before finalizing your investment. All that hard work and money could go to waste if you don’t care for your snowboard gear.
Remember, for your snowboard jacket to perform consistently well, you need to maintain it regularly. Also, remember that snowboarding jackets can lose their water-repellant abilities with time. However, washing and caring for your jacket the right way can revive its waterproofing capabilities.
Snowboarding jackets are waterproof and breathable, among other key factors. To this end, they deploy multiple layers of fabric along with a special membrane that lets sweat evaporate while keeping out the cold and moisture.
When you should wash your snowboard jacket
A little amount of care can go a long way. Here are the times when you should ideally wash your snowboard jacket.
- End of the season – When you will store it soon.
- Midseason– To allow for consistent performance.
- The start of the new season – so that you can get off to the best possible start.
Even minimal care for your snowboarding gear can prevent or at least delay permanent damage. If snowboarding gear is not taken care of, its qualities can start diminishing rapidly.
You should also take note that the same method used for washing your snowboarding jacket can work nicely for your snowboarding pants. So besides washing the snowboarding jacket, it is also vital that you wash the lower garments.
If you find that your snowboarding jacket is no longer waterproof, you may be wondering how you can revive this important capability. The good news is that it can be done quite easily simply by washing it the right way. It is not too different from doing your laundry. But there are a few small and vital changes.
Here’s how it is done: step-by-step
Read the Label First
First, find the manufacturer’s label on your snowboarding jacket. Take note of the directions stated therein. Be sure to avoid doing things that the manufacturer has warned against. You will want to take care of the maximum safe temperature, wash products to steer clear of, etc.
Here is what most manufacturers tell their customers to avoid.
- Don’t use bleach.
- No dry cleaning.
- No ironing.
- Don’t use ordinary washing detergent.
- Remember to shut all zippers and Velcro straps.
- Avoid the use of fabric softener.
However, you should still look for the label on your snowboard jacket to find the relevant do’s and don’ts list.
Put Jacket in Washing Machine
You should now put the snowboarding jacket and your snowboarding pants in the washing machine.
Remember only to put items belonging to the same category in the washing machine. Hence, you can wash different snowboarding jackets at the same time. However, you should not mix your snowboarding jacket and pants with wool, denim, down insulation, baselayers and cotton. Since these are different fabric categories, they require different washing products and methods.
Best Detergent to Wash Your Snowboard Jacket
You should not use ordinary detergents for washing your snowboarding jackets and pants. Instead, you can make use of a technical cleaner that is formulated for washing such specialized fabrics. One of the best by far is Nikwax Tech Wash (ASIN: B000LN5O8O).
This special detergent works for synthetic shells as well as insulated snowboarding pants and jackets.
If you have loaded 1 to 3 garments in the washing machine, you should pour in 3 full cups (amounting to 150 ml) of the special detergent. For 4 to 5 garments, you should pour in 5 full cups of the detergent or 250 ml.
If it’s a front loader washing machine, you should put in a maximum of 2 garments along with 2 full caps of Nikwax Tech Wash or 100 ml of the stuff.
If your district has hard water, then pour in an extra cap of the Nikwax tech wash detergent. If you are washing your gear in a high-efficiency machine, then you can reduce the detergent to half the amount mentioned above.
Wash Cycle
You should limit the wash to medium temperature water. The cycle should be medium-strength only. Check out the manufacturer’s label on your snowboarding jacket to be completely certain.
Dry the Jacket
Drying instructions tend to be more specific. So you should take a look at the care label first. If instructions aren’t clear, you can simply use a more generic method. That is, tumble dry the clothes using medium heat. You can also go for air-drying.
Make sure that too much heat is not applied to the snowboarding jacket. With very high heat, the seam taping could get damaged. It is much safer to go along with medium temperatures.
One wash is often enough not just to wash your clothes but also to revive their waterproofing capability.
Taking proper care of your snowboarding apparel can help to extend their lifespan and allow them to perform as per your expectations.
You should have your garments washed according to the way described above at periodic intervals.
One widely prevalent myth is that you should not wash your snowboarding attire. Nothing could be further from the truth. Your snowboarding apparel will look visibly dirty, but it may also fail to perform as intended. The fabric may actually start wearing off under the layer of muck and grub that it has accumulated.
Our Final Thoughts
Washing snowboarding jacket – As you may have discovered, it is not much different from washing your ordinary clothes. However, you should be sure to use the special detergent mentioned above and follow the manufacturer directions mentioned on your attire’s labels.
