Customer Reviews

TX Direct Spray-On Waterproofing

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

First a warning. DO NOT APPLY THIS STUFF INDOORS! Here is the problem with doing the waterproofing in your bathroom with this stuff: As soon as the molecules come in contact with air, they start to expand, and if you breath it in then it will expand in your lungs. It basically feels like there is no air in the room. It can literally kill you.

Outdoors or in a really well ventilated room it's not a problem, and once applied there's nothing wrong with letting it set and dry indoors. On the other hand, you don't want it getting on walls and such which are not clean--because they'll be very difficult to clean afterwards.

But now for the good news: This stuff actually works like it shows in the picture on the label. All these waterproofing fluids make this claim--that water will bead off--but Nikwax actually delivers, and it works not only on high tech fabrics, but common fabrics such as cotton as well.

I've ridden through many a typhoon--yes, actual typhoons in Japan--and the rain did not penetrate my cycling jacket. I was dry as a bone under my waterproofed jacket. The jacket wasn't nearly this waterproof when it was new.

No worries about washing it off when your favorite sports clothing gets really stanking--costing you time and money to reapply after each washing. This stuff still works after a good five or six washings with regular laundry soap. It also works on cotton, wool.

The one claim you would think wasn't true is the fact that it not only maintains but enhances the breathability of fabrics it's applied to. This is entirely true, and makes sense when you think about how breathability is effected by moisture blocking up the fabric--whether rain or sweat--and how that's prevented by Nikwax.

Not just for sports, I'm sure it will work far better than Scotch Guard on your fabric covered furniture, school bags, Converse All Stars, and whatever else you might want to make resistant to spills and therefore stains.

Nothing bad to say about this stuff, except that you shouldn't spray it indoors. It really works.

When applying this, it's best to take a sponge you're never going to use again and spread it on your fabrics after a few sprays. Spraying on so much that it covers your fabrics by spraying alone is a tremendous waste of the contents and costs more money of course.

I've tried other wash-in products for my Gore-tex/waterproof jackets and they don't work. This stuff works great and restores the water-repellancy to the surface of my jackets.

I follow these steps:

1. Wash with some type of sports wash or mild powdered detergent;
2. Hang for a few minutes to get the water out;
3. Spray the jacket with this product;
4. Put in the dryer on low heat.

Horse blankets get very dirty ... the more you wash... the less water repellent... unless you use a special blanket wash which gets expensive.... the spray works great... tip... spray the blanket when wet-- before drying... then either put in dryer for a short time ( helps set the spray) or put it in a warm (sunny) place to dry.... I was impressed at the how well water was repelled on even old blankets...

First off, this is NOT waterproofing. Think of it more as a conditioner or "booster" for already waterproof gear. TX Direct is designed to help already waterproof gear stay that way, it won't work at all to waterproof regular textiles. You'll need Scotchguard or something similar for that application.

I've always used the NikWax TX direct wash-in waterproofing to keep my waterproof textile motorcycle gear working properly. After reading up on the wash-in versus this spray-on, I decided to switch and try the spray this time.

The first thing I noticed is the pants feel softer and are more comfortable to wear than with the wash-in waterproofing. We've ridden through two rain showers since and the gear has a similar bead-up as with the wash-in solution, so I am happy.

For those who do have waterproof gear (gore-tex, etc), wash first using the TX-Direct wash, then spray this on your still-wet gear and allow to air dry. Using regular detergents with waterproof gear will destroy the original waterproofing and also keep the TX-direct from working properly.

I went by the instructions to first clean with an appropriate cleaner my REI Goretex rain parka. After removing from the washing machine, I then applied this product per instructions. I used the dryer method to dry it. First time out in rain water did not bead up. Hasn't since. What a waste of money. I give this a negative five stars for misadvertising.

It may be that it does not work on this particular REI brand...who knows?

Someone once told me that what seals Goretex and allows rain to bead up is to just iron the fabric with a warm iron. Forget the chemicals. I will try that.

I bought a new raincoat for my dog. It is made of a woven polyester fabric and is supposed to be waterproof. She wore it for the first time on a dizzly day and the fabric quickly changed color from the drizzle -- the fabric is definitely NOT waterproof.

So I treated the coat with Nikwax TX-Direct Spray-On. My dog wore her coat in moderate rain and only a few small spots changed color! These small spots were spots that I missed while applying the the Nikwax.

After a 30 minute walk in heavy rain, the rain eventually soaked through the coat. I was drenched too. But I'm happy with how the TX-Direct Spray-On performed.

I used this to renew the waterproofing on my Carhartt Mens Tall Waterproof Breathable Coat. I'm not sure if the performance would be better on a Gore-Tex coat (never owned one), but on a PU coat it renews to a like-new finish for, at most, 2 hours of rain (while the original lasted a month before succumbing to the elements), after which point the waterproofing degrades rapidly. I haven't tried it yet on some other items that I need to renew waterproofing on. I'll update this review if the results are better.

As for spraying inside, I only spray inside (it really doesn't ever stop raining here) and it's fine; it smells like Armour All and there's really much worse things most people spray in their homes. One note though: my floors are cork, and they get extremely slippery for a few weeks afterwards if I don't put a few rags underneath the item to catch runoff and overspray. It's great to spray it at night in your 300sq ft apartment and then walk out in the morning half-awake and slide a metre in bare feet. Gets the blood flowing!

Boy I wish this product had worked for me as well as the other reviewer. That's the results I expected but didn't get. My experience:

I read up on all the various waterproofing products because my cloth (600 Denier Carbolex) motorcycle jacket needed to be treated. So I decided on Nikwax. I bought the wash and the spray on waterproofing, since the wash-in waterproofing would waterproof the inside, which wasn't needed. With the spray I could only get it on the outer shell. I followed the instructions, first wash the garment then spray and let dry. Then I wore it in the rain a few weeks later. I got soaked. It actually made it worse than before. I wish I had just left it alone. I've used the inexpensive spray-on products that work better than this product. Save your money.

Saw lots of good reviews here and elsewhere, so I was hopeful this would be the solution for my 14-year-old Gore-Tex jacket. The jacket had been completely waterproof up until the last year or so. Tried Nikwax and followed the directions exactly. Went out in a rainstorm the next week and the jacket was no more waterproof than it was before I treated it.

I have been a Nikwax user for a few years, but I have usually used the wash in products for my waterproof jackets/pants. The day before a big hike the weather forecast turned from worse to foul and I considered replacing my aging jacket that day, but while shopping a salesman told me to try the spray in formula as I didn't have enough time to use the wash in formula. The only advice he gave me was that I needed to follow the directions to a "T" to get the results I wanted. Anyway I sprayed my jacket that night and by morning it was good to go and kept me dry for an 18 mile deluge in the Cascade Mountains. Great alternative to the wash in formulas!