Wetting out at a glance
- Cause
- DWR worn off the face fabric
- Feels like
- Leaking from the inside
- Fix
- Wash and reactivate, about an hour
What it feels like
You notice it as a dark patch spreading across the shoulders and forearms while the inside of the jacket goes clammy. The instinct is that the jacket has failed. It usually hasn't.
What is actually happening
What's happened is that the outer fabric is saturated. A membrane moves vapour by letting it pass into drier air on the other side, and a soaked face fabric puts a layer of liquid water in the way. Vapour stops moving, sweat condenses on the inside of the membrane, and you end up wet from your own output. The wet fabric also conducts heat away from you far faster than dry fabric does, which is why a wetted-out shell feels cold as well as damp.
How to fix it
The fix is DWR maintenance, not a new jacket. Wash with a technical cleaner to strip out the oils and detergent residue killing the finish, then apply heat to reactivate it. If beading still doesn't return, reproof and heat again. An hour of work restores most shells people have already written off.
What this means when you're choosing
- Water beading on the shoulders and forearms, which go first
- A dark patch spreading while the inside feels wet
- Whether a wash and tumble restores it before you buy a new jacket
The common mistake
Buying a new jacket
A jacket that wets out is almost never a jacket that has failed. Wash it in a technical cleaner to strip the oils and detergent residue, tumble dry warm to reactivate the finish, and top up with a spray-on or wash-in DWR if that is not enough.
Common questions
How can I tell wetting out from a real leak?
Look at where the wet is. A leak shows up as water at a specific point, usually a seam, a zip or a worn shoulder. Wetting out shows up as a broad dark area on the outside with clammy condensation on the inside.
Does wetting out damage the jacket?
No. It's a surface condition and it reverses completely once the DWR is restored. Leaving a jacket dirty for years is more harmful than the wetting out itself, because oils and grit degrade both the finish and the membrane.