Nylon fabric reproofing

[Wag67]

Hi folks, I’ve got a set of old but still clean and serviceable tatonka bike panniers. Trouble is that the waterproofing, which was a kind of rubberised material on the inside of the panniers has perished and peeled off. They’ve got a great Ortlieb type fixing system and they have served me very well in the past so I am loath to throw them. Anybody out there that has had success with reproofing nylon fabric? I’m thinking of using Nixwax( not sure of spelling ) tecwash and reproofer applied in a washing machine, but any good advice is welcome. Cheers

[meic]

I have waxed nylon stuff before and it sort of works. Granger Wax, which I think is discontinued now.
Barbour Wax is similar.
What I have found cheaper and easier to apply is silicone, in particular Fabsil Gold (the Gold is quite important as it is much more concentrated).
I reproofed my tent with this and it was good. I havent tried it on panniers as I tend to use drybags instead with my lightweight panniers.

[steady eddy]

Nylon usually relies on a polyurethane coating on the back to give it waterproofing, as it doesn't swell like cotton tent fabric when it gets wet and which seems to take well to spray on or paint on proofing. I have tried wash in without much lasting success on nylon or on anything else for that matter - It relies on tumble drying afterwards to activate it. Why not just pack you stuff in a bin bag to keep it dry, before you put it in your panniers. Its a lot cheaper than expensive wash in proofing with a low chance of success.

[meic]

Techwash and Proofer would be a waste of money as you are not trying to make an (expensive) breathable barrier, you are after a (cheap) 100% waterproof layer.
The only worry I would have about the effectiveness of Fabsil Gold would be about how tight the weave of the nylon is. It would have been tight enough new (as they choose to PU coat it) but by the time the layer fell off my panniers the fabric had got quite threadbare and the weave thinned out quite a bit.

[Wag67]

Thanks to all who replied, I think I’ll use Nikwax tech wash to get rid of as much road grime as possible. It’s not supposed to leave a residue, then use that Fabsil gold. I’ll keep you all posted with how much or how little success I achieve. British weather will reveal all.

[Gattonero]

Since you don't need breathability and is a fairly large and complex area, use a 3:1 mix of odourless white spirit and transparent silicone, apply with a brush and let dry well.
Still, I prefer to use bags inside the main panniers/bags because of ease in sorting out the things

[nick12]

Would you use the same 3 - 1 mix to rewaterproof a tent floor with ? As I need to reproof my leaky floor.