How to Waterproof Tactical Pants
There are plenty of tactical pants on the market that are water and stain resistance.
Blackhawk uses a Durable Water Repellent, while EOTAC, Propper, Woolrich and 5.11 Tactical all employ DuPont™ Teflon. But what happens to these treatments after several thousand washes? And what if your brand or style wasn’t water repellent to begin with?
Looks like it’s time to do it yourself.
First you’ll need to do some research to find the right waterproofing product for your fabric type. We hear Nikwax’s Cotton Proof product works well on cotton and polycotton. It’s advertised to give water repellency and increase breathability. Another plus is that it’s environmentally friendly and does not affect the cosmetic appearance.
Make sure your pants are clean prior to the application wash. Either hand or machine wash the pants, but be sure the detergent dispenser is cleaned with the residue removed.
Place Nikwax Cotton Proof in the machine dispenser, and use the cotton wash cycle. If you’d like to handwash the pants instead, just use the Nikwax during that process.
While Nikwax doesn’t require heat activation, you can still tumble the pants dry on a low setting. First check with the care instructions on the label though. You can also hang dry the pants.
The video below displays how Nikwax works on all types of apparel.
