Can i use DWR on sl bag that never was water resistant?

[Tortoise]

(Edited subject)
I think nq111 was saying that this is possible. Has anyone else tried it?

I'm thinking mainly of the foot box, as I tend to move around a lot and this inevitably comes in contact with condensation on the tent inner.
(Yes, I have an Akto, so there can be plenty of that.)

Doesn't matter for short trips, but as I'm trying to go lighter, and maximise the use of my quilt, I want to make sure it stays as warm as possible.

Ta

[wayno]

theres spray on products like these ones

http://www.grangers.co.uk/product.cfm?c ... roductid=6

http://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/products/pr ... oductid=16

[Tortoise]

Thanks for the thoughts, Wayno. It looks like they are only for 'reproofing' though. Have you ever used them on sleeping bag fabric that never was water resistant?

[wayno]

well effectively when you're reproofing you're treating something that doesnt have water resistance... i havent used it on a sleeping bag, if you know someone who has this stuff you could try it out on a small piece of your sleeping bag.
its basically designed to work on nylon .

[Strider]

Isn't there a risk of it penetrating the down? I'm sure I read this somewhere...

[Tortoise]

I guess that's the sort of thing I was concerned about - if it would have other unwanted side effects. I'll keep looking to see if I can find where you might have read that, Strider. Ta.

[wayno]

grangers says it's for sleeping bags

[wayno]

the other option if you're worried about water getting into your sleeping bag and worried about the treatment is to get a bivy bag

[Moondog55]

If you use Nikwax Downproof on the sleeping bag it effectively leaves a small amount of a reasonably resistant DWR treatment on the nylon shell fabric. You can do lots of things but sometimes those things have deleterious side effects, if the sleeping bag is more than a few seasons old I don't think it will hurt at all. I would certainly wash the bag first tho

[nq111]

Yeah - just use one of the better brand spray on DWR treatments (i use grangers). Just need the material to be wetted out first - so after a wash is a good point. I haven't worried about the down - just don't spray on too much .

The DWR on the sleeping bag doesn't get as much hard use as a jacket so lasts better.

[Tortoise]

Thanks everyone.

I wasn't sure re Grangers as the blurb only mentions 'reproofing'. And i'm trying to avoid the extra weight (and cost) of a bivvy. I figured other people (especially in tassie!) must have dealt with this all the time before the availability of water resistant fabric for sleeping bags.

[wayno]

you could try putting your raincoat over the end of your sleeping bag