What is nikwax made of

Nikwax is a British company that make a range of products for outdoor enthusiasts and two of those products are particularly useful for motorcycle owners. Nikwax Tech Wash and TX Direct are two products which, when combined, clean your gear and revitalise the waterproofing built in them from the factory.

It might sound a little far-fetched, but waterproofing technology — beyond just putting a one-piece impregnable plastic suit over yourself and drowning in your own sweat — has been with us for decades. While the technology has been around for decades, it has not always filtered down to motorcycling gear, with waxed cotton and dubbin-covered leather the key to staying somewhat dry on a wet ride for many years.

However, particularly over the last twenty years, there has been an explosion in the quality of the technology now incorporated into technical motorcycle fabrics. Waterproof and breathable membranes such as Gore-Tex report , brought to the market in the s, are now commonplace and have been previously discussed here on webBikeWorld. What we tend to forget about however, is the DWR coating which lies, microscopically, on the very top layer of the jacket or trouser you wear on your bike.

In years past, the only DWR that motorcyclists knew was some form of wax to prevent water from soaking into your jacket but, with advances in chemistry and the filtering down of technology to motorcycle garments, things have changed. One thing, however, has stayed the same.

That is our need to lower the surface tension between water and the outside of your jacket, with the end result being that water beads up on your jacket rather than soaking in to it and preventing the waterproof-breathable membrane from properly working. These days, factory-applied DWR coatings are, typically, fluoropolymer-based chemicals, which encourage water to bead up rather than spread over a wide area and soak into the fabric of the jacket. They do this by lowering the surface tension of the fabric and creating microscopic peaks and troughs which encourage water droplets to maintain a ball shape so they can easily roll off of the fabric.

It seems complicated, but in reality a microscope — and a lot of reading — is needed to fully grasp the significance of surface tension and the behaviour of water molecules in keeping us dry on the road. All in all, it is very similar to how water beads up on an oily surface, but DWR fluoropolymers, or fluoro-surfactants, tend to also resist oil stains and contribute to keeping your garment cleaner for longer. While this type of technology might sound almost miraculous, there are downsides.

One is that there are rising environmental concerns about the prevalence of fluorocarbons in our environment. The US Environmental Protection Agency has studied fluorocarbons and reported that they are present, at a low level, in human blood and may be somewhat toxic.

The other downside is that they require some maintenance and renewal over time. The Nikwax products reviewed below do not use fluorocarbons. We therefore exclude them from all our aftercare products. What can ruin your DWR? As your garment is worn, the factory-applied DWR coating can wear off through abrasion and general wear-and-tear.

Take a second and think about how you sit on your bike: Certain areas of your garments are touching the bike constantly. For example the crotch area, an area where gear often leaks first, is always against the tank while your arms will tend to rub along the side of your jacket either while riding or while walking about. As we ride we hit the falling water harder and our gear is, arguably, subject to more consistent abrasion than trekking gear. My counterpoint to that is, people might go hillwalking or trekking once a week but but many motorcyclists need their gear to work everyday if they are commuting and therefore their gear, or rather their DWR, wears out faster.

This is where the Nikwax range of products comes in. All you need to do is turn the garden hose on yourself! If the result of the garden hose test is a jacket or trousers that have become soaked on the outside but yet have managed to keep you dry inside, then you may be wondering what the fuss is all about.

A key issue though is that such a layer will not, on its own, keep you warm, and being covered in what is now an expensive damp cloth is not good for your concentration levels and comfort! If you were to take your jacket apart you might notice that underneath the outer layer which you see every day is a very thin fabric, sometimes it is almost slimy to the touch.

Examples of this include, again, Gore-Tex but also eVent, Reissa, etc. Nikwax is a UK brand of specialist outdoor cleaning and protecting products and a number of their products are targeted at motorcyclists, including their Tech Wash washing solution and TX Direct DWR refresher.

The system is a simple two-step process where you wash your jacket with Tech Wash and then, immediately if you like, coat it with TX Direct. It can be a time consuming process but yours truly decided to put these products to the test.

Nikwax Tech Wash is one product in a large field of cleaning products aimed specifically at fabrics such as Gore-Tex with their integrated DWR coatings. You may be wondering why is it not possible to simply wash your jacket with your usual washing detergent those that you use on your everyday clothing. Well, it is possible, but not all that productive. But a quick Google search will not bring you one definite answer as to why normal detergent will not work.

However, from my research, there are two complementary reasons. One is that normal detergents aggressively break the surface tension of water remember that was mentioned earlier?! The other reason is that detergents which are not soap which means almost all of the usual suspects in the detergent aisle of your local supermarket tend to remain on a fabric if not thoroughly rinsed off. As such, if detergent is not rinsed off it will be activated by rainwater, weaken the surface tension of any rainwater falling on your jacket, and thus encourage it to soak through your DWR.

Pure, fat-based soap will just turn to a grease and have no effect on your DWR. While it is almost impossible to find the exact ingredients for proprietary products such as Nikwax Tech Wash, its Material Safety Data Sheet. Indeed this is exactly what I found when I washed my jacket. The Richa Sky jacket which I was washing had quite a bit of ingrained dirt in it, but that was to be expected from it being in use every day although the dirt had not really affected the performance of the DWR, what with me having survived a lot of rain through the Irish winter without being wet underneath.

The interior thermal liner was also in need of a wash, having soaked up its fair share of sweat over time. The instructions on the Tech Wash bottle state that, if you are washing the garments in a washing machine, you should clean out the detergent drawer first.

The first step then was for me to take the detergent drawer from the washing machine and rinse some gunked-up detergent from it.

Considering the amount of effort it took to rid the drawer of all detergent, it was easy to imagine the amount of detergent left behind on clothing after a standard wash. While it would not be enough to cause skin irritation, it might well be enough to cause rainwater to penetrate your DWR. They stretch and move with the fabric so they work better and last longer.

Nikwax will not change the look or feel of the fabric. The treatments are WaterBased, environmentally safe and non-flammable. Ideal for all types of equipment and accessories. Nikwax waterproofing treatments are made from breathable elastic water-repellent elastomer called TX.

Treating sleeping bags with Nikwax makes them less susceptible to humidity and allows them to stay drier longer. Nikwax Rope Proof can substantially reduce water absorption in climbing ropes dynamic and static. We have been successful at maintaining strength, impact force, fall ratings, static elongation, sheath slippage and knotability within UIAA and the manufacturer's allowable limits.

Nikwax products are SAFE to use. No propellant gases, non-toxic, no fluorocarbons, environmentally safe. By using Nikwax you can renew your gear and reduce the impact. Certificate Number FM Certificate Number OHS Certificate Number EMS Autumn weather has fully set in and the desire to get outside in the chill is low. However, we love to inspire you in all manner of ways to experience nature, and getting outdoors is good for mind, body and soul. So embrace the chill and treat yourself to the wonders of the natural world […].