Musto BR2 - a bit fishy

[choppy]

Happy New year to everybody -

Increasing wet/damp & cold meant I finally plucked up courage & cash for new set of BR2 salopettes (marine superstore) and wore them once or twice Nov time, they work well but having dried at home (In November)they still hold a mild fishy niff -
I understand the glue scenario and the "sure its not you ? " comments and its not a huge problem but out of interest is this normal ?
Cost best part of 200 quid after all.

Cheers

 

[Sandy]

Did you rinse them in fresh water before drying? Hanging kit up outside while raining also works.

 

[choppy]

Thank you - & No

 

[lustyd]

Or wash them properly, as per the care instructions. Usually machine wash and tumble dry for Goretex and similar fabrics (which BR2 now is). Then Grangers to proof the outer layer to prevent it holding water and making you cold (this isn’t to make the fabric watertight)

 

[Martin_J]

You mention the "sure it's not you" comments but have you really asked anyone else for their opinion of the smell...?

Bear in mind that ones sense of smell can change over time... and with long covid, there's also a chance of ones sense of smell changing..

I for one lost the ability to smell both diesel and coffee... I noticed the lack of coffee taste and smell quite easily.

I didn't notice the issue with diesel until I'd serviced the boat engine (a couple of years ago), changing both primary and secondary fuel filters... then wondering how I'd done it so cleanly without even getting a single whiff of diesel.

 

[penberth3]

Or wash them properly, as per the care instructions. Usually machine wash and tumble dry for Goretex and similar fabrics (which BR2 now is). Then Grangers to proof the outer layer to prevent it holding water and making you cold (this isn’t to make the fabric watertight)

Hang on, these are brand new, worn twice. They shouldn't need that sort of treatment.

 

[Sandy]

Hang on, these are brand new, worn twice. They shouldn't need that sort of treatment.

Personally, I never put Gortex through the tumble dryer.

 

[Supertramp]

Goretex can become very smelly if it doesn't dry out properly and remains damp, especially walking or camping for several days. But it's not usually a problem when sailing for me. Might be new garments "bedding in"?

I never wash mine beyond a freshwater rinse - washing will definitely remove surface treatments and I find does the membrane no good at all despite the claims that it rejuvenates it.

 

[lustyd]

Hang on, these are brand new, worn twice. They shouldn't need that sort of treatment.

Depends what happened on those two occasions. If clothes are dirty or smelly, wash them!

 

[lustyd]

Personally, I never put Gortex through the tumble dryer.

Personally I follow care instructions from the manufacturer for my £1000+ oilskins. Why would you not?

 

[RunAgroundHard]

Personally, I never put Gortex through the tumble dryer.

However, putting Goretex through a tumble dryer is the stated solution to reactivate the repellant. As stated above, follow the manufacturers care instructions.

Outerwear Care Instructions.

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO DRY MY GORE‑TEX GARMENT?​

We recommend line-drying your garment; it uses less energy and reduces your impact on the environment. Once it’s dry, tumble dry the garment for 20 minutes to reactivate the durable water repellent (DWR) treatment on the outer fabric. Do not tumble dry GORE‑TEX SHAKEDRY™ garments, no need to reactivate the DWR treatment in GORE-TEX SHAKEDRY™ garments.

 

[oldbloke]

Depends what happened on those two occasions. If clothes are dirty or smelly, wash them!

If you had a moment like in the video in the Boom Control thread they could get very smelly very quickly

 

[Sandy]

However, putting Goretex through a tumble dryer is the stated solution to reactivate the repellant. As stated above, follow the manufacturers care instructions.

Outerwear Care Instructions.

Having been involved with the writing of both national and international standards there is nothing in the Care Instructions that say that you MUST tumble dry the garment.

But as my Gortex is over 12 years old and still fully functioning what do I know?

 

[lustyd]

Mine is a similar age and still beads the water nicely on the outside and is fully waterproof. Mine also don’t smell bad as I’ve washed them a few times a year and followed the care instructions to the letter
The tumble drying step on my MPX is needed for the outer fabric layer. Without tumble drying it doesn’t fluff up properly so doesn’t bead properly when dry. They specifically mentioned this in the care instructions as necessary along with the reason why.

 

[Sandy]

Mine is a similar age and still beads the water nicely on the outside and is fully waterproof. Mine also don’t smell bad as I’ve washed them a few times a year and followed the care instructions to the letter
The tumble drying step on my MPX is needed for the outer fabric layer. Without tumble drying it doesn’t fluff up properly so doesn’t bead properly when dry. They specifically mentioned this in the care instructions as necessary along with the reason why.

As long as they function as designed and keep us warm and dry it really does not matter if you tumble dry or not, as this poorly controlled experiment has proved.

 

[lustyd]

As long as they function as designed and keep us warm and dry it really does not matter if you tumble dry or not, as this poorly controlled experiment has proved.

But they don't function as well if you don't follow the care instructions, that's what I was saying. The care instructions were quite clear about what to do and why. Yours may be different but mine requires the drying step due to the outer fabric layer. You can give us all the anecdotes you like, but Musto were quite clear and my oilskins are very clearly less effective if I don't follow those instructions. If they don't go through the drier then the outer fabric soaks up moisture and reduces the temperature of the wearer (me!) due to evaporation. The moisture in the outer also makes the inner fabric membrane less effective.

 

[Sandy]

But they don't function as well if you don't follow the care instructions, that's what I was saying. The care instructions were quite clear about what to do and why. Yours may be different but mine requires the drying step due to the outer fabric layer. You can give us all the anecdotes you like, but Musto were quite clear and my oilskins are very clearly less effective if I don't follow those instructions. If they don't go through the drier then the outer fabric soaks up moisture and reduces the temperature of the wearer (me!) due to evaporation. The moisture in the outer also makes the inner fabric membrane less effective.

Thank you for your concern that I am not following Gortex's instructions, but I am more than happy with the performance of my aging MPX between 0° and 60° North, and am a happy sailor. I am hoping to go a bit further north in the next few years and will report back then.

 

[lustyd]

Out of interest, can you tell us what the outcome was when you tried following the instructions? Or did you never do it and assume it’s just as good?

 

[Sandy]

Out of interest, can you tell us what the outcome was when you tried following the instructions? Or did you never do it and assume it’s just as good?

Are you sponsored by the Big Tumble Dryer Inc.?

Lets agree to disagree - what I do works for me, what you do works for you. After all it is just a bit of material that keeps us warm and dry in the prevailing conditions.

 

[Martin_J]

Bacm the the original post... Choppy hasn't come back to say if others detect the same fishy whiff as well..

The other thing that needs to be considered is electrical problems in the house. Are these salopettes hung up in the electric meter cupboard by any chance? Perhaps you have an electrical problem in there as well.

I only mention this because many years ago I lived in a flat (on the seafront) and every morning for months we thought the people in the flat below were cooking fish for breakfast.. It was a very very fishy smell.. It seemed to come from the hallway cupboard that we suspected had a draught of air from the flat below.

It turned out that the smell followed on from us using the electric shower each morning and the electric meter tails (in the hallway cupboard) had been overheating.