Washing Gore-Tex Sounds Like Good Idea

Oh Great GearGuru, I’ve been soiled. Tragically true. Is there an easy way to spot clean GoreTex?

Seems the lift dribbled a small bit of grease down the back of my jacket and I don’t want to go through cleaning the entire garment. What to do? What to do?

Brian Borowiec

Gear Guy: It’s perfectly OK to wash Gore-Tex garments. In fact, it’s advisable.

In your case, I’d spray the offending spot with some pre-wash stain remover, such as Shout, then wash it in warm water (use powdered detergent). Dry on warm cycle. I’d be very surprised if that didn’t remove the spot, or at least render it nearly invisible. If you must use stronger methods, such as a petroleum-type spot remover, check an inconspicuous corner of the jacket for color-fastness, then work the spot gently with a Q-tip dipped in stain remover. Wash and dry as per above, then spray the cleaned area with a water-repellency restorer such as ScotchGuard or Nikwax.

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