My wife found one of my old North Face soft shells and wanted it. I told her she could have it but it was fading from black to a dark grey/greenish color so I told her I would RIT synthetic dye it black so it's less faded looking, it's in good condition otherwise. Any water resistance it once had from the factory was gone probably 10 years ago.

I know it's never going to be "waterproof" and probably not as water resistant as it was new, but what's the best fabric treatment you guys have found to get a light rain to bead off it instead of soak through?

ETA- similar to this

Nikwax or Scotch guard spray on water proofing. Nikwax also has a formula for doing it in the washing machine.

I tried that Nikwax stuff prior to a weeklong canoe trip.  I give it a C+.  Not great.  Not horrible.  Nowhere near as good as when my jacket was new.

Nikwax but you have to follow the prep instructions (cleaning) and don't expect it to be like original.

Used the spray stuff Scotch Guard on my wife's jacket after the rain proofing wore off.  Worked.

Thanks for all the replies, I'm going to attempt to use this combo.



hopefully it adds a little bit of the water resistance back to the jacket. Dyeing it last night definitely improved its appearance.

I did the Nikwax washing machine stuff today, the jacket is unbelievably soft now, I flicked some water onto the surface and it is beading up nicely, I guess we won't know until it rains for real.

But I'm satisfied so far with how it came out.