Dane is wearing the classic beaufort with classic hood and zip in liner with classic tartan. It’s a really good one to start with, but the bedale is also a really good choice.
After my favorite Barbour brown jacket (aka Buddy) which they stop making found its way into the hands of an illiterate dry cleaner, I had no other choice but to rewax the jacket. Something people have stated is impossible. Don’t listen to other people without thinking about it yourself first. They are wrong. You can save your Barbour jacket.
The secret to rewaxing a washed or dry cleaned Barbour Wax Jacket is the bottom seam of the jacket. If you remove the rear bottom seam, you have access to the inside of the entire jacket. This way I was able to place a large black trash bag inside to protect the jacket liner while I applied the wax to the other side. I also used thin flexible sheets of hard plastic 12 x 12 inches (cutting boards) as well to minimize contact with the plastic bag and makes application easier as well due to its stiff form. Let it dry and harden with the hard plastic in place. The next morning separate the hard plastic from the inside and go to the next section leaving the black plastic bag in place. You will need more than one large plastic trash bags.
So far so good. This step is slow. You have to do this over an entire week since you have to go from section to section. I started with the rear section from side seam to side seam, then hit it with hair dryer and let it sit over night to dry. Step and repeat until done. Remember that you will want to let the jacket sit and dry for a week afterwards to dry out the solvent, then fold it up and put it in the freezer to cool the inside to prevent the inside liner from soaking any wax. Then stuff the jacket with dry cotton towels or old rags/shirts. Then go back and do a final coat on the outside of the frozen jacket to even out things. Final step is to hit it with blow dryer with shirts inside and let dry overnight. Excess wax will soak into old shirts instead of the liner.
Now remember that this wax has some sort of solvent in it and that solvent helps it soak into the cotton and keeps the wax soft. Once the solvent evaporates when drying for a week, the wax hardens, stays put and does not move from the outer shell to the liner. If you do not let this jacket dry for a week or more afterwards you will end up soaking wax into the liner and have to start over washing your jacket. Let it dry for a month in a warm dry place if possible. Then wear and enjoy next winter.
It is sad that the people at Barbour don’t just charge $200 to repair or refresh the jacket. With the people and equipment around to sow the seam back on, they should pull all the seams, separate the liner from the shell, then wash, repair and rewax shell then sow it back together. Hell, I bet people would pay more to save their buddy. Since they wont, this is what you can do to save your jacket.
Thank you for your input. The reason that Barbour doesn’t go so far with their repairs is down to cost versus time. The wonderful people who handcraft each and every heritage piece simply can not keep up with the demand. The charge for so much time in labour would far exceed $200; in addition the cost of shipping to and from England makes the $400-$500 for a new jacket a more cost effective option.
Having said that, thank you for providing a step by step guide for those who can not part with their beloved Barbours so that they may take on the challenge themselves. There really is nothing like rolling up your sleeves and waxing a Barbour. Legend has it that Steve McQueen once passed up a date with a super model so that he could wax his Barbour.
Do you offer a waxing service at lark ? I know you have a barbour re-waxing day,unfortunately I’m in Toronto, and I have a Bedale that needs rewaxing. Thank you
We may do the re-waxing again next fall, get in touch with us then and we will see what we can do to help you out. Being in Toronto need not be a hurdle.
Great video! Out of curiosity, which jacket/hood/vest feature in the video?
Dane is wearing the classic beaufort with classic hood and zip in liner with classic tartan. It’s a really good one to start with, but the bedale is also a really good choice.
Outstanding video! What artist/song is playing in this video?
We’ll have to ask our audio engineer, he is so good at what he does!
A lovely tribute and wonderfully helpful video. Thanks!
After my favorite Barbour brown jacket (aka Buddy) which they stop making found its way into the hands of an illiterate dry cleaner, I had no other choice but to rewax the jacket. Something people have stated is impossible. Don’t listen to other people without thinking about it yourself first. They are wrong. You can save your Barbour jacket.
The secret to rewaxing a washed or dry cleaned Barbour Wax Jacket is the bottom seam of the jacket. If you remove the rear bottom seam, you have access to the inside of the entire jacket. This way I was able to place a large black trash bag inside to protect the jacket liner while I applied the wax to the other side. I also used thin flexible sheets of hard plastic 12 x 12 inches (cutting boards) as well to minimize contact with the plastic bag and makes application easier as well due to its stiff form. Let it dry and harden with the hard plastic in place. The next morning separate the hard plastic from the inside and go to the next section leaving the black plastic bag in place. You will need more than one large plastic trash bags.
So far so good. This step is slow. You have to do this over an entire week since you have to go from section to section. I started with the rear section from side seam to side seam, then hit it with hair dryer and let it sit over night to dry. Step and repeat until done. Remember that you will want to let the jacket sit and dry for a week afterwards to dry out the solvent, then fold it up and put it in the freezer to cool the inside to prevent the inside liner from soaking any wax. Then stuff the jacket with dry cotton towels or old rags/shirts. Then go back and do a final coat on the outside of the frozen jacket to even out things. Final step is to hit it with blow dryer with shirts inside and let dry overnight. Excess wax will soak into old shirts instead of the liner.
Now remember that this wax has some sort of solvent in it and that solvent helps it soak into the cotton and keeps the wax soft. Once the solvent evaporates when drying for a week, the wax hardens, stays put and does not move from the outer shell to the liner. If you do not let this jacket dry for a week or more afterwards you will end up soaking wax into the liner and have to start over washing your jacket. Let it dry for a month in a warm dry place if possible. Then wear and enjoy next winter.
It is sad that the people at Barbour don’t just charge $200 to repair or refresh the jacket. With the people and equipment around to sow the seam back on, they should pull all the seams, separate the liner from the shell, then wash, repair and rewax shell then sow it back together. Hell, I bet people would pay more to save their buddy. Since they wont, this is what you can do to save your jacket.
Hi there Yukon Dave,
Thank you for your input. The reason that Barbour doesn’t go so far with their repairs is down to cost versus time. The wonderful people who handcraft each and every heritage piece simply can not keep up with the demand. The charge for so much time in labour would far exceed $200; in addition the cost of shipping to and from England makes the $400-$500 for a new jacket a more cost effective option.
Having said that, thank you for providing a step by step guide for those who can not part with their beloved Barbours so that they may take on the challenge themselves. There really is nothing like rolling up your sleeves and waxing a Barbour. Legend has it that Steve McQueen once passed up a date with a super model so that he could wax his Barbour.
Do you offer a waxing service at lark ? I know you have a barbour re-waxing day,unfortunately I’m in Toronto, and I have a Bedale that needs rewaxing. Thank you
We may do the re-waxing again next fall, get in touch with us then and we will see what we can do to help you out. Being in Toronto need not be a hurdle.