Do you feel like your waterproof shell is letting you get a little damp lately? Is the strange smell coming from your sleeping bag bothering the dog? Can you fondly remember past meals by looking at the stains on your fleece? Sounds like it is time to take action and clean and care for your favorite, and expensive, gear. Without too much effort on your part, you can have your technical fabrics back to performing almost like the day that you brought them.

First a few rules to follow when cleaning any piece of technical gear. Read the label care instructions. While most technical gear is cared for in the same basic way, some manufacturers have specific instructions for their garments. Rule #2: never use fabric softener, or dryer sheets that contain fabric softener, when caring for any of your garments. The oils and other substances in fabric softener will clog breathability pores of your garment which will make it less breathable, in turn making you feel wet.

Have you ever been in a rain shower wearing your waterproof breathable shell and fell like the inside of your jacket was wetter that the outside. Your jacket is not leaking it just needs a little tune-up. Your shell has a durable water repellent, or DWR, that will wear down over time. The surface of the jacket will also pick up dirt, oils and salts that will affect your jackets breathability. With these two factors going against you, your jacket will "wet out." This is what happens when your excess interior body heat is not allowed to breathe out and the outside rain is not repelled off, all causing condensation inside leaving you felling damp and clammy.

Bringing that shell back to almost new is easy with a few simple steps. First, use a cleaner that is specifically made for synthetic fabrics. A household laundry detergent tends not to rinse completely from the garment and may affect the water repellency. Next empty pockets seal Velcro and zippers and turn your garment inside out. And last it is best to use a front load washer as the top load agitator type will pull at zippers and Velcro tabs and may damage them.

By following the instructions on your synthetic fabric cleaner, the end result will be a like new garment, but you are not done yet. Next you should revitalize the water repellency of the garment. Again use a product made specifically for your garment for the best results.

The water repellency also comes in two different types, a spray on and a wash in formula. The spray on is better because it lets you hit the areas where the repellent is needed most with more spray. You know the drill by now, follow the label instructions and this time it involves a dryer on medium heat. The heat will bond the durable water repellency to the garment. And now, without too much effort, you are done.

Now it’s on to that nasty sleeping bag. You will follow the same basic steps that you did on your jacket with one big exception. Most home washer and dryers are not big enough to handle a sleeping bag correctly, so grab a role of quarters and head to the local Laundromat. If you have a down bag, use a cleaner specifically made for down products. If you have a synthetic filled bag, the same cleaner you used on your shell will work.

After washing you can apply the spray on water repellent to further protect your bag. The large laundry sized dryer will allow the bag to tumble freely and dry evenly and correctly.

We are almost done; all that is left is the fleece. You can use the same synthetic fabric cleaner we have been using for the rest of the wash. A few things to remember for fleece are, again no fabric softener, and it is best to wash your fleece separate from the rest of the wash. Fleece should be air dried, but if you must use a dryer set it to low or air dry.

Now, there is a point in every piece of gear’s life when it is time to say goodbye. After many years of faithful service things do wear out and do need to be replaced with a new and improved model. But if your gear still has life in it, follow the care instructions on your garment, use the correct cleaning products and invest a little time and you can keep your technical gear performing for many years. Stop by your local outdoor outfitter, they have the correct cleaners and treatments and advice to make gear wash day a success to help you Take It Outside.