Long Term Report: Atsko Permanent Water-Guard
March 13, 2006

Tester: Rosaleen Sullivan
Age: 56 years
Gender: Female
Height: 5’ 9’’ / 1.75 m
Weight: 180 lb / 82 kg
E-mail: rosaleen43 (at) msn (dot) com  
Home: Eastern Massachusetts, USA

Tester Background/Style
I’ve been backpacking off and on for about 20 years. I’m still in the process of “lightening up.” My normal gear includes a hammock, down bag and jacket, hiking poles, and an alcohol or fuel tablet stove, with my retooling gear for each trip. I also make some gear, and often nudge myself out of a design daydream on the trail. Most trips last 3 days, but I have backpacked 10 days straight. While the majority of my journeys are within New England, I’ve hiked the Grand Canyon, the length of the Smoky Mountains, and other trails far from home.
Manufacturer: Atsko, Inc.
URL:  http://www.atsko.com
Year of Manufacture: 2005
Product Specifications:  Permanent Water-Guard (aerosol spray can) 10 fl oz (296 ml) for synthetics, Sport-Wash 18 fl oz (532 ml)
Product Information (furnished by Atsko and from my Initial Report)

Atsko Sport Wash residue- free laundry detergent  rinses Completely. It  leaves nothing behind to  reduce fabric  performance, and also removes the residue from other laundry  products. Lost features  like water repellency,  wicking of perspiration,  low friction, insulation, breathability, and stretch  are restored and  maintained for the life of your garment.

Sport Wash (R) and Water-Guard (L)

Atsko Permanent Water-Guard (Item #1357) is for Polyester, Nylon, Polypropylene, Acrylic, Lycra, Acetate, etc., the man made fibers.  These products create DWR by applying nano scale linear molecules with fluorine atoms that can be oriented by heating for maximum exposure to water causing high beading and shedding of water and soil.  The application is so thin (ideally one molecule tall) that it does not affect breathability of the dry fabric.  In the rain, of course, a DWR has a huge impact on breathability.  A garment that beads away water can still breathe while a soaked outer shell is a 100% barrier to the transmission of vapor.

Product Descriptions (Also from my Initial Report)
Atsko Sport-Wash is a colorless, odorless liquid detergent that is purported to remove dirt, odors, and possible residues, including optical brighteners and perfumes, from clothing and sports gear.  It is available in several sizes: As a tester, I received the 18 fl oz (532 ml) bottle.  Atsko Permanent Water-Guard is available in formulations for natural and synthetic fabrics.  As a tester, I received item #1357, the Water-Guard intended for synthetic materials, packaged in an aerosol container, net weight 10 fl oz (296 ml).   The Water-Guard instructions specify that items must be washed clean of residues, specifically in Sport-Wash, and heat-treated to activate the polymer finish after the Water-guard dries. 

Experiences with the Atsko Products
Since my Initial Report, I have continued to use the Sport-Wash for any fleece, wool, silk, or “performance” synthetic fabrics used by my family members.  I even (cautiously) washed a sequined and beaded silk top marked “Professionally spot clean only” that I had worn to my son’s wedding.  I have been pleased with the results.  I have seen no evidence of fading, shrinking, or damage to the fabric or trims.  The washed items looked clean and, for the most part, smelled clean.  An outer wear jacket that I’ve worn nearly daily since mid-November looked clean, but I could still smell a hint of campfire smoke in the inner lining.  That slight remaining smell did dissipate within a week and has not returned.  A wicking shirt that I wore continuously on the trail for 4 days in February did achieve an appreciable “ripeness,” as I had hoped.  I couldn’t duplicate that hot, humid, rainy funk that I can embed in a shirt in the summer, but this shirt had an unfortunate fragrance that I wanted to annihilate before returning to a dresser drawer.  Washing it in Sport-Wash accomplished that for the majority of the odor and all of the visible dirt, but it didn’t completely remove the underarm stench.  A second wash accompanied by a direct application of Sport-Wash to the armpit area removed most of the remaining odor.  This is an old shirt, so there may be some odor layering to fight.

Before my Initial Report, I applied the Water-Guard to several (washed as directed) tightly-woven nylon items and found that water could not penetrate their outer surfaces after treatment.  I used nearly the entire can to treat a filled sleeping bag, a pair of down pants, a small portion of a fleece jacket, and a non-water-proof homemade poncho/tarp.  (Details here)  Part of the test was to include the durability of the water-proofing.  I ordered more Sport-Wash and Water-Guard to help my complete the test, since I didn’t anticipate needing to wash the filled items within the test’s time frame.  I was hugely impressed that the Water-Guard in no way reduced the loft of the washed and fluffed synthetic-fill bag nor of the down filled pants.  Other water resisting products have reduced loft in some of my clothing or gear in the past.
After I bought more Atsko products, I sprayed some hiking socks, shoes, (homemade) pack cover, (homemade) gaiters, mittens and a fleece hooded jacket and pants.  Of course, I washed the items in Sport-Wash first. Since part of the proposed test was to include how well the Water-Guard stands up to laundering, I changed my focus to these items rather than the down or polyester-filled ones.  I wore the treated fleece clothing, socks, and shoes during a five day trip along a Pennsylvania section of the Appalachian Trail in February.  In spite of intermittent rain and snow, the test items’ outer surfaces remained dry.  I was basically shielded from head to toe by the Water-Guard.  Of course, water or rain could penetrate the socks when stretched so that their knitted stitches opened up, but the surface remained dry when exposed to light precipitation.  After two subsequent washings and machine dryings, the outside surfaces of nearly all (six out of seven) of the clothing shed water, even the force of fully flowing tap water.  It is quite the sight to see water bead up and roll off fleece!  I turned the garments inside out to wash them, so that the wash water could more easily penetrate the fibers from the inside.  Two washings later, the majority of the items still bead water on their outer surfaces.  The fleece jacket seemed to be a bit short-changed as I applied the spray.   (The can was low.)  The water-proofing on this jacket did not work as well after only one wash, so I have re-treated it.

Things I looked for during the test
          Did the products clean/waterproof as claimed? (Yes, for the most part.  I didn’t have
     as much luck as I’d hoped with some strong odors.)         
          Ease of use? (Very easy!)
          Convenience? (Yes!)
          Durability of waterproofing? (No sign of waterproofing breakdown after two launderings
     in Sport-Wash for 6 out of 7 items.)
          Drying time of waterproofing? (Fast on a dry, sunny day)
          Any odors from use? (None noted.)
          Color or textural changes?  (None.)
          Apparent weight change from application of product?  (None.)

Likes
         Detergent seems to clean and leave gear and clothing fresh, with down and filled items fluffed.
         Waterproofing did not diminish the loft of down or synthetic-filled items.
         Waterproofing seems to do an outstanding job. 

Dislikes
         None
Conclusion
The Atsko products I tested met and exceeded my expectations.  I am quite pleased that just an ounce of Sport-Wash can clean and mostly “de-gross” a washer-load of my synthetic hiking clothes.  Sweated-into synthetics can develop and retain nasty odors.  I will try to more thoroughly treat problem areas like underarms of shirts in the future.  The jacket that retained the smoky smell for a few days after washing had really reeked of smoke, campfire and friends’ cigarettes.  I suspect that washing it inside out in a water-saving front-load washer limited how much water could get to the inside of the jacket.  Removing it from this washer and turning it inside out during the wash cycle is not practical, so I may want to wash it twice in the future, or to wash it with a smaller load of clothing.  The Water-Guard did a remarkable job, and I really had to slow myself down to give fewer articles a thorough enough coating instead of a very thin coating on too many items.  Fleece has an absorbent nap and needs a heavier treatment than smooth nylons.  Tightly woven fabrics give better success for water-proofing than looser weaves.  My pack cover did “OK” in snow and light rain, but for periods in which I expect heavy rain, I will be making a silnylon cover.  The slightly looser weave of my batch of ripstop nylon is reasonably breathable, so the gaiters made from it and treated with Water-Guard will be accompanying me this summer.  I’ve been avoiding hiking in thick fleece, but with the Water-Guard coating, my heavy fleece may become my winter hiking pants of choice.  My husband is impressed enough with my protected clothing that he has requested that I treat some of his clothing before any outdoor archery tournaments, and my supervisor at work was impressed so much that I bought her a can of Water-Guard for Christmas.

Perhaps readers will be able to infer that I really enjoyed using these products and will continue using them in the future.

Thanks for reading my report, and thanks to BGT and Atsko for this opportunity.

Rosaleen Sullivan