Wash Care
How to clean and re-proof your Buffalo Shirt, Jacket, Trousers or Salopettes.
Regular washing helps maintain the performance of Buffalo products and keep your friends. It restores the loft of the pile fabric and separates the fibres, revitalising the performance. In the eventuality of the pile becoming matted even after washing, the fibres can easily be restored by brushing to separate the fibres.
A QUICK INTRODUCTION…..
As you prepare for your next season of outdoor and mountain adventures, you may need to ask yourself if your gear is ready to perform its best. Especially, your technical outerwear.
Buffalo Systems Jackets and Shirts are the benchmark for staying dry during outdoor activities like hiking, bushcraft, exploring, and mountaineering, but they require intentional care in order to maintain a high level of performance. The outer face fabric will lose water-repellency over time and with wear & tear, but this can be rejuvenated by undertaking a couple of simple steps…..
Caring for your gear, even in a small way can help prevent longer-lasting damage to gear. Damaged or ineffective gear is not used to its maximum potential – or used, at all!
In our world, we should all be striving to be responsible consumers, focusing on maximizing the useful lifespan of our outdoor technical garments, instead of replacing them prematurely and unnecessarily.
A little care goes a long way.
By the way, your Buffalo Trousers and Salopettes can be cared for in the exact same way as our Jackets and Shirts, so don’t forget about the pants side of your Buffalo wardrobe.
Below, we have provided a simple outline for cleaning and re-proofing your Buffalo Systems outerwear. It is as simple as your normal washing routine, but with a couple of small and important tweaks.
The burning questions …
When is it time to clean my Buffalo Shirt or Jacket?
You will know that it is time to clean your Buffalo when you notice that the jacket or shirt fabric is starting to absorb rain droplets, rather than repel them.
A Top Tip ……
Nearly all outdoor brands and manufacturers use a thin DWR coating on the outside face fabric of their technical outwear; this coating is what causes water droplets to bead up and roll off. There are various types of DWRs, but most often, when your Buffalo “stops working” it is simply because its DWR layer has faded away, or been contaminated by dirt, grime, or other agents (food residue, other liquids, campfire smoke, snot, etc.)
Before Washing Your Buffalo
- We would advise you to run your washing machine without detergent and softeners for one cycle before washing your Buffalo garments to ensure the machine is completely clean, as well as removing any residue left in the washing machine tray.
It is important that individuals washing their Buffalo Systems apparel follow the washing instructions:
- Do not dry clean.
- Do not tumble dry.
- Do not use fabric conditioner.
- Do NOT use a wash in waterproofing agent
- Maximum washing temperature is 30°c.
- Ideally wash in Nikwax Tech Wash. Follow washing instructions
- Use only a small amount of detergent and no conditioner, too much detergent can leave a residue, likewise conditioner. Rinse well.
- Do not use ‘Biological’ detergents, as they can shorten the lifespan of the proofing and affect colour. If worried that too much detergent or ‘Biological’ has been used rinse thoroughly in clear water.
- Always close touch and close fasteners and zips.
- All Texturised Pertex products (Travelite trousers etc) should be turned inside out before washing to reduce pilling.
- Sleeping bags should be washed in an industrial machine such as in a laundrette.
- Nikwax TX Direct SPRAY ON can be applied to the Pertex or PForm outer only after washing. Follow instructions on the bottle. This will help restore the outer DWR treatment on the outer face fabric.