bueller, bueller, is anyone there???

would really like to here some feedback from some houdini users post-wash.

thanks
Jeff

Detergents can strip any DWR on any jacket.

Jaiden said "My houdini has been washed once, and now it wets out really easily."

I understand detergents and washing can ruin the DWR of clothes. But with that happening wouldnt it make it less likely to wet out because of the dwr being removed from the pours?

I believe the issue is not a removal of DWR, but a compromising of it's DWR-ness if you wash it with standard detergent. It's why there are special washing liquids for DWR's.

First, I will recommend the Montane Litespeed as my wife and I are thrilled with it and do take it on just about every hike except in mid-summer.

As to wetting out of any windshirt, I always wash mine in Nixwax Techwash and then spray on Nixwax DWR coating on the outside of the piece. Other brands make competing products like ReviveX and Granger's. The tech wash cleans without stripping out the desirable character of the fabric, nor does it leave any undesirable residue behind. The spray-on DWR treatment also comes in a wash-in form but I've never bought into the idea of a DWR on the inside of a garment.

IMO a windshirt is not a rain jacket! They serve two functions. While a windshirt will fend off the first few drops of rain, it's function is to insulate you from the cooling effects of wind and perhaps let your body heat escape a little more slowly than without it. If it really starts to rain, it will give you time to dig out your raingear. A jacket that is "waterproof" will not serve you well as a windshirt because you will sweat to death while hiking in such a piece. For that and other reasons, my rain gear consists of a poncho.

Michael, you've just made several succinct points. So just to reiterate, a wind shirt is just that: a wind shirt. Its purpose is to prevent or reduce chilling through convective heat loss. It can be, but not necessarily so, water resistant (as opposed to water repellent). This is usually achieved by a DWR finish that is washed in or sprayed on, but be aware that this will fail after 2-3 hours of steady rain. Running the garmet through a dryer at low heat for 30 minutes will restore the DWR coating. Occasionally wash the shirt but not with detergent, as the DWR will be ruined and the pores of the fabric become clogged with the detergent residue. In an earlier discussion of this the consensus was that Granger's spray on lasted a tad longer. Since I'm a Montbel devotee, I'm saving my pennies to get one of their hooded windshirts to replace my current hoodless Golite, although it does a durn good job.