
Caring For Your Outerwear: Best Ways To Extend The Life Of Your Fishing Clothing
The price of fishing apparel can range anywhere from affordable to costing you an arm and a leg based on the brand, materials used, and extra features. This number quickly amplifies when you add up the costs of shirts, pants, jackets, bibs, and hats.
Regardless of how much you want to spend, it is always advantageous to take proper care of your outerwear. Not only will it extend the life of your clothing and save you money in the long run, but it will actually ensure the optimal performance of your gear.
Things like taking the time to store, transport, and wash your apparel properly are all great ways to get the most bang for your buck out of any piece of clothing. Checking the tags inside of the gear is the perfect place to start when it comes to caring for your outerwear, but there are a few tips and tricks that most anglers don’t consider that can be equally beneficial. Let’s take a deeper dive and examine the best practices for extending the life of your favorite fishing apparel.
What Causes Clothing To Break Down?
Standard wear and tear is inevitable when it comes to any sort of clothing that you use outdoors. Whether it is excessive heat, rain, or snow, the elements are unstoppable when it comes to breaking down the fibers and protective coatings on your equipment. Sweat, dirt, and almost everything else out there contains bacteria that can eat away at the protective layers that shield you from the harsh environments where we tend to find fish.
Some fabrics are undeniably more waterproof, breathable, and comfy than others, which is why they are so commonly used in fishing outerwear. Generally, the more breathable a fabric, the less waterproof it is, and vice versa. This is why many fabrics are treated with protective chemical layers. They allow air to pass freely through the clothing while keeping moisture out.
Another key component of apparel’s durability is its physical construction. Things like seams and adhesives are used to hold things together, but they can wear out over time. It is always a good idea to look for outerwear that uses hemmed seams to prevent fraying and heavy-duty zippers that won’t break when the temperature decides to plummet.
These adhesives and glues act the same way any construction adhesive or wood glue might. They are going to expand and contract when the temperature outside fluctuates. You can’t fully prevent this fluctuation because the weather is always going to change, but you can try to mitigate it by storing and transporting your gear in temperature-controlled areas. We realize this isn’t always realistic, so at the very least, make sure they don’t have to spend any more time than necessary in extremely hot or cold areas.
All of our clothing here at WindRider is made with these in mind and backed by our lifetime warranty. Not all companies can say this, so make sure to do some research before ordering new apparel.

Storing Fishing Gear
It’s pretty common to damage your gear in the field, but what many don’t consider is that it is just as easy to harm your outerwear at home. You probably aren’t going to need to break out your ice fishing suit in the middle of the summer, but you should properly store it during the hot months so that it is in tip-top shape when the water freezes over. We have all experienced a situation when we pull gear out of storage, excited to use it again, and realize it is unusable at this point. For the sake of your sanity and wallet, prevent the situation before it happens.’
Keep Moisture To A Minimum
The most important thing to consider when storing your outerwear is to keep it someplace dry. Moisture opens the door for mold, mildew, and bacteria to grow freely. None of these are anything we want lingering in our clothes, so make sure they stay dry.
This also means giving the gear plenty of time to dry out before storing. You can dry some fishing outerwear in your dryer at home, but not always. It’s going to depend on the materials it is made of. Hanging clothing to dry takes longer, but it is usually the safest way to prevent unintended damage to your equipment.
Your storage area doesn’t necessarily have to stay at a certain temperature, but you want to prevent it from sitting in excessively hot or cold temps for extended periods of time. Areas that fluctuate in temperature are also no good because, as we mentioned earlier, they can wear out any adhesives within the equipment.
The important takeaway here is to take the extra time to make sure your outerwear is dry between uses. Don’t strip it off and throw it into a pile after a long day of fishing, it will end up smelling terrible and will shorten its life.
Safely Transporting Your Outerwear
The next piece of this puzzle is to be sure that you aren’t doing any damage to your clothing when headed to and from the water. This means ensuring that it isn’t exposed to excessive heat and moisture before or after use. You would be wise to apply the same logic to transporting your gear as storing it.
If it is wet, make sure you put it in a place where air can circulate to dry it out faster. This doesn’t mean tossing it in the back of the truck bed if you can avoid it. Truck beds allow air to flow, but they also let the sun beat down on whatever is inside, not to mention they make it easy for someone to steal your gear. Any sort of container will do, just don’t completely seal it off so your outerwear has a chance to rid itself of moisture.

Properly Washing And Drying Apparel
Always check the tags or contact the manufacturer if you aren’t sure how to properly wash and dry your apparel. One wrong mistake is easy to make, and they aren’t always fixable. Incorrectly washing and drying your outerwear can remove the waterproofing layers, shrink, or tear equipment. So be sure to tread carefully when caring for your apparel.
Rinse Your Outerwear
Before we get into washing and drying your outerwear, let’s talk about rinsing it off. You may find this unnecessary, but it is actually quite the opposite. Rivers and lakes are teeming with bacteria, and it isn’t uncommon to pick up dirt and mud along the way when catching fish.
Any sort of use is going to lead to bacteria building up in your clothes. It’s helpful to rinse your outerwear off with a clean water source in between washes because it will remove some of these unwanted bacteria. This means you can get away without deep cleaning as often, and the gear won’t suffer from as much damage until laundry day rolls around.
Using A Washing Machine Vs. Hand Washing
Now, if you are going to use a washing machine instead of handwashing your outerwear, make sure it doesn’t have an agitator. That column in the middle of your washer can tangle your apparel up and lead to stretching or tearing. These sorts of things can be patched or sewn, but it’s always better to have everything intact so small holes don’t form. You also want to make sure to use warm water, it will clean better than cold water and hot water can mess up the waterproofing on your clothes.
You also need to be careful when picking a detergent. Bleach and fabric softeners are almost always a bad idea. They can damage waterproofing and stain your clothes, so keep them away from your fishing essentials. Always use the most basic detergent possible, the gentler the better.
This eliminates the possibility of accidentally using something that will harm the fabric. Let’s be honest, you probably aren’t trying to impress anyone with your “fresh scent” fabric while in the boat, and if your day on the water went according to plan, you are going to come home smelling fishy anyway.

Drying Fishing Outerwear
Extra care should be taken when drying your gear because dryers can get too hot and hurt your gear. Newer dryers are more user-friendly and usually have multiple temperature options, which is great. That said, you can’t be sure exactly what temperature they are getting up to, and excessive heat will damage any adhesives or fabrics that can melt. We don’t recommend it, but if you absolutely have to use a dryer, make sure to tumble dry at the lowest possible heat setting.
It is always much safer to hang clothing out to dry. It takes more time, but you won’t have to worry about shrinkage and undue damage. You can speed this process up by alternating back and forth between turning them inside out. It will give both sides of the fabric a chance to dry out, more evenly drying the clothing.
Stain Removal
Stains are unavoidable when it comes to outdoor recreation, especially fishing. Nightcrawler dirt, fish blood, and beer can all leave an unsightly stain on your clothing, especially if they aren’t properly waterproofed. Some of us don’t mind the stains that come along with fishing, but some of our gear definitely looks cooler than others, so we want to keep it looking fresh.
There are too many possibilities out there to list when it comes to staining your fishing apparel, so you might have to do some research. The best piece of advice we can offer is to be wary of commercial stain removers. They can contain a number of chemicals that can damage or further stain your best fishing clothing. The best plan of attack is to start with gentle detergents, soap, and water. If that doesn’t work, you can break out the heavy artillery, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
Waterproofing
If you have ever noticed that the water isn’t beading off of your jackets or bibs like it used to or the jacket doesn’t seem to breathe as well, it’s OK this isn’t the end of the world. Given enough time, bacteria and the elements will break down your waterproof shielding, but luckily it’s possible to restore this DWR (durable water repellent) layer.
There are plenty of products on the market to help you do this, and the majority will work just fine. For the most part, they involve washing your gear with the product instead of detergent. It is a super easy process that will make your outerwear feel like new again.
There isn’t an exact number of uses you can get out of your clothing because every situation is different and some anglers will put more of a beating on their gear than others. The best way to tell it’s time to restore the DWR is when you notice the apparel “wetting out”.
This is when moisture starts to absorb into the outer layers of the garment instead of beading up and rolling off. If your favorite fishing clothing is starting to feel wet and heavy whenever you break it out, then there’s a good chance it’s time to reapply the DWR.
The Final Word On Caring For Your Fishing Outerwear
At this point, you are almost an expert at caring for your fishing outerwear, all you need to do now is put these ideas into practice. Always look into the materials of a piece of clothing before you decide to do any sort of maintenance. You’ve got nothing to lose, and the knowledge will save you from spending unnecessary money. Keep these four things in mind, and you will be able to enjoy your apparel for much longer:
- Never dry clean - the chemicals used can damage the DWR
- Always hand wash and hang dry when possible - there will be less chance of accidentally damaging your clothing
- Store in a dry place - this includes allowing things to dry before storing them
- Keep away from flames and other excessive sources of heat - heat can lead to melting or damaging the DWR