Reproofing a Barbour jacket

[Keith_Beef]

Hello, everybody.

I tried reproofing my Barbour "Beaufort classic" last week. I used the proprietary wax/grease, whatever it's called, but made a bit of a hash of it...

I warmed the wax, but thinking it might run and drip, I applied it to the jacket hanging up outside. It hardened too quickly, making it thick and patchy.

I tried warming it with a hairdryer indoord, and rubbing sleeves against back, etc., but the result is still patchy.

I wondered about putting some old cloth over it, and gently ironing through it, to soak up some of the excess wax and even it out.

Is there a better way than this?


Keith.

 

[Adi007]

Use the hairdryer but also have muslin patches to work the wax in ... never looks like new though ..

Hello, everybody.

I tried reproofing my Barbour "Beaufort classic" last week. I used the proprietary wax/grease, whatever it's called, but made a bit of a hash of it...

I warmed the wax, but thinking it might run and drip, I applied it to the jacket hanging up outside. It hardened too quickly, making it thick and patchy.

I tried warming it with a hairdryer indoord, and rubbing sleeves against back, etc., but the result is still patchy.

I wondered about putting some old cloth over it, and gently ironing through it, to soak up some of the excess wax and even it out.

Is there a better way than this?


Keith.

 

[Lemoneyewash]

Keith, how sneaky are you?
When the missus is out, stick the Barbour inside 2 old pillowcases and give it 20 minutes inside your tumble dryer, take it out when it's still hot and rub hard and like *&^% with a DRY, non fluffy cloth (to take of the excess).
You can re-apply as necessary.
The hair dryer works but it's not as good as a tumble dryer.

 

[ANDYLASER]

I did mine in the dryer after painting on the wax with a 2" brush. I neglected to use pillow cases. It took nearly an hour to remove the wax from the inside of the drier.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Thanks, lads, for the tumble-dryer idea.
And for the warning about what happens when you don't use the pillow cases!

Keith.

 

[BorderReiver]

I warmed the wax, but thinking it might run and drip, I applied it to the jacket hanging up outside. It hardened too quickly, making it thick and patchy.
Keith.

Plan ahead and rewax in the middle of summer.
I do mine on the clothes line in full sun.
Never looks like new but it's lasted at least 10 years of abuse.

I sent it back once for a factory "once over" and they covered all the frayed hems.

Has anyone any experience of the repair kit? A few holes are starting to appear in the sleeves.

 

[stuart f]

I used to work for Barbours and part of my job was to rewax customer returns. Now you would think it would be a hi-tech process but its not.

The wax was melted in a eletric pan set on a low heat until it became liquid,the tables we worked on were heated to warm the jackets,then we simply took tightly rolled rags held together with elastic bands dipped them into the melted wax and applied it to the hot jackets rubbing hard so as to get even coverage,once waxed all over we used another clean rag to wipe the excess back off,there job done.

As for doing it yourself at home i would suggest that you put the jacket in the oven or tumble dryer and get the jacket hot and i mean hot not just warmed through,melt the wax in a pan apply to jacket and work quickly wipe off excess, there done no hair dryers in sight. The quicker you apply it the better as it is important not to let the jacket cool or the wax will solidify again, hope this helps.

Just as to show "the quicker the better" thing we used to do about 10 jackets an hour, that was jackets from short fishing to stockman capes
CHEERS
STUART F.

 

[Yukon Dave]

After my favorite Barbour brown jacket (aka Buddy) which they stop making found its way into the hands of an illiterate dry cleaner, I had no other choice but to rewax the jacket. Something people have stated is impossible. Don’t listen to other people without thinking about it yourself first. They are wrong. You can save your Barbour jacket.

The secret to rewaxing a washed or dry cleaned Barbour Wax Jacket is the bottom seam of the jacket. If you remove the rear bottom seam, you have access to the inside of the entire jacket. This way I was able to place a large black trash bag inside to protect the jacket liner while I applied the wax to the other side. I also used thin flexible sheets of hard plastic 12 x 12 inches (cutting boards) as well to minimize contact with the plastic bag and makes application easier as well due to its stiff form. Let it dry and harden with the hard plastic in place. The next morning separate the hard plastic from the inside and go to the next section leaving the black plastic bag in place. You will need more than one large plastic trash bags.

So far so good. This step is slow. You have to do this over an entire week since you have to go from section to section. I started with the rear section from side seam to side seam, then hit it with hair dryer and let it sit over night to dry. Step and repeat until done. Remember that you will want to let the jacket sit and dry for a week afterwards to dry out the solvent, then fold it up and put it in the freezer to cool the inside to prevent the inside liner from soaking any wax. Then stuff the jacket with dry cotton towels or old rags/shirts. Then go back and do a final coat on the outside of the frozen jacket to even out things. Final step is to hit it with blow dryer with shirts inside and let dry overnight. Excess wax will soak into old shirts instead of the liner.

Now remember that this wax has some sort of solvent in it and that solvent helps it soak into the cotton and keeps the wax soft. Once the solvent evaporates when drying for a week, the wax hardens, stays put and does not move from the outer shell to the liner. If you do not let this jacket dry for a week or more afterwards you will end up soaking wax into the liner and have to start over washing your jacket. Let it dry for a month in a warm dry place if possible. Then wear and enjoy next winter.

It is sad that the people at Barbour don’t just charge $200 to repair or refresh the jacket. With the people and equipment around to sow the seam back on, they should pull all the seams, separate the liner from the shell, then wash, repair and rewax shell then sow it back together. Hell, I bet people would pay more to save their buddy. Since they wont, this is what you can do to save your jacket.