Repel
For many years we have tried to source a good water repellent, for restoring the breathability of waders and jackets, and aiding waterproofing. If the outside of waders stays wetted after use, they cannot breath, water vapour cannot be forced through water, simple physics. The problem was always the same, if it is wax or silicon based it will make future repairs impossible, so a single hook hole in waders could destroy them, as nothing sticks well to wax or silicon. If it was fluorocarbon based you needed to heat them up so much that the process of activating the resins damaged the waders, or they needed to be washed in a washing machine and tumble dried, and unless you got it exactly right you could do more damage than good. We tasked a number of suppliers with coming up with just the right stuff, and finally got one that did the job, and it did it well!
I first tried it on an old tweed cap, one that had never been designed to be waterproof and always leaked, but was warm, and perhaps a little lucky! I liked it. I followed the instructions, spray it dry it then warm it up, simple enough. I splashed some water on, it splashed off. I ran it under a tap, it ran off. I placed it on a pint mug, poured water onto its surface, and the next morning not a drip had passed through - it clearly worked!
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I then treated everything i had, fishing jackets, shooting jackets, a dish cloth and a paper tissue napkin. It worked on them all, the napkin held water out of a glass for 24 hours, but when untreated worked for 3 seconds. However, it is not a water proofer, and though these little experiments show it worked well, and may actually waterproof things, it is not designed or sold for this, it is sold to bead water up so it runs off materials.
It may not work on everything, and a material previously treated with wax or silicon will really effect the performance. The trick to the best performance with this is get it as warm as possible after application, this activates the resins and bonds them on. Once its physically dry the resin curing starts, so leave it some place nice and warm overnight.
COMMON QUESTIONS
How long will it last?
Well this will depend on the application, the material, the usage, the age, how much effect is working? There are probably thousands of variables, but the boffins say 10 washes, so a good long time. If the effect starts to diminish, get it hot and it will start all over again. My Boat bimini canvas cover lasts 5 years, as every sunny day reactivates it.
Will it work on my xxxx jacket/hat/trousers?
To be honest i have not tried it on every product made past and present, so dont know. It is a chemical that does not know what it is being sprayed onto. It does not like water and throws it off. It worked on everything from maps and books, to tissue paper and a wooden shed door (overspray from doing my jacket) it works on car seats and soft tops, jackets, hats, boots basically anything fabric or leather.
Will it stop my jacket leaking?
It will not turn a net into a bucket, it is not designed to fix leaks. It is a very good water repellent and can stop water passing through a fabric, whilst still allowing water vapour to pass through. I have had loads of folks report it stopped leaks for them, but i stress thats not what its for. It is cheap, give it a go!
What is it?
It is a C6 fluorocarbon, nothing new. The C8's are better repellents, but are dangerous to humans and watercourses, so were a no go for us. The active ingredient is available in a number of DWR (durable water repellents) , at way higher prices, and all we do differently is this. We dilute it far less than everyone else and way less than the chemists recommend. We would get decent and satisfactory results diluting it twice as much. But we want it to work well, despite perhaps not being applied perfectly every time. We work from my old diving workshop and so our costs are low, we mix, bottle and label it here and will not be advertising it, so our costs will stay low. We bought it in and specified its properties to use ourselves in our wader business, but it works well and we are happy to sell it.
Why did you call it Repel?
Because i could not get the word repellent on the bottle label - Next!
How do it get it?
Click the blue links above or below and get it directly from us, we also sell it on Ebay as Repel, search Repel by diver dave, it is £6 a bottle, plus £3.50 postage, so £9.50 on ebay for one,or £15 for 2 including postage. You can simply email me at dave@davegordon.co.uk and send your delivery address and paypal payment to dave@davegordon.co.uk and I will post it out or use the links below. These prices are for the UK only at the moment.
CLICK THE LINKS ABOVE TO BUY THE PACK SIZE YOU WANT.
Please make sure you add your delivery address to the paypal notes box.
phone 07970041452 - Monday - Friday, between 0900 to 1700 only please, email out with these times