Scotch-Gard on climbing skins.

Has anyone tried Scotch-Gard on climbing skins to make them more hydrophobic? What do the racers use?<br><br>After washing and spraying my Gore Tex clothing to get ready for skiing a few weeks ago, the thought occurred to me to try Scotch-Gard to make my skins more hydrophobic and slicker. It worked!<br><br>The skins that I sprayed were my new 60/40 mohair/nylon 110mm Coll Tex that I bought for my new Dynafit FR 10 skis. Since I will replace the Coll Tex glue when needed with the Ascension glue that I keep on hand, I thought it was worth the risk such as messing up the glue (The Coll Tex glue seems to be improved. About 15 years ago, before Ascension glue, I always carried a tube of Coll Tex while touring to add because it did not always seem to work well...). Damaging the glue seemed improbable, since I thought the mohair would soak up the Scotch-gard. It did, and they were noticeably slick today climbing deep pow with a crust beneath at Stevens Pass. I have some 65 mm Coll Tex 100% mohair skins from my 1992 randonnee skis that I now use on my Karhu 10th Mtn skis when I tele-tour. Mohair is slicker than nylon, but I did clearly discern that the 60/40 skins sprayed with Scotch-Gard were slicker than the other mohair skins that I have used recently also. I generously sprayed my new skins twice with several days' drying between.<br><br>I have used the Glop Stopper wax for years and carry it, and also have tried a couple of bottles of the Ascension teflon spray on my skins. Scotch-Gard seems to be slicker. Wet or wet granular snow will offer the real test.<br>

Should work. <br>I would use it (might look at the can to see if there's any solvents in it first).<br>I use ArmorAll. <br>Works good; no snow loads. <br>Cheap. Get it at Costco in the huge spray bottles. <br>Also best to let it dry. <br>Works fairly good on the topsheets, too.

What are the components of Armor- All? Is it a "silicon" spray? Scotch-Gard lists urethane polymer and polysiloxanes.<br><br><br>

from: www.armorall.com/faq/pages/protectant.html#faqtop

Q: What are the ingredients in Armor All® Protectants; including silicone, alcohol, ultra violet inhibitors, and petroleum distillates?

A: Armor All® Leather Care contains lanolin and natural moisturizers, and UV inhibitors. Armor All® Leather Protectant Spray and Leather Wipes contain water-based silicone emulsions, surfactants, and ultraviolet light inhibitors. Armor All® Original Shine Protectant contains water-based silicone emulsions, surfactants, and ultraviolet light inhibitors, humectants, dispersants and gloss enhancers. Armor All® Ultimate Clean Protectant contains water-based silicone emulsions, surfactants, ultraviolet light inhibitors and a fragrance.

from: www.chemicalindustryarchives.org/dirtysecrets/scotchgard/1.asp

Scotchgard ingredients belong to a large family of chemicals that degrade to form a chemical called PFOS, or perfluorooctane sulfonate. They are fluorocarbons, related to CFCs, which are now banned as ozone depleters.

Thanks for the good ideas.<br>This may be sightly off target-<br>I used Spray Base Cleaner to lube up my skicky snow shovel for digging out the 20 inches of new snow in my driveway that fell in 24hrs. The Armor All® and Scotch-Gard may get a whirl.<br>I tried silicone spray but, it was not as effective as the base cleaner for the big dig.<br>Joe

I picked up some scotch guard.. ingredients listed are:<br><br>Acetone, isopropanol, aliphatic hydrocarbon, carbon dioxide propellant, fluorochemical urethane and polysiloxanes.<br><br><br>Also I found an item at the Target sports section:<br><br>Kiwi Camp Dry - Heavy Duty Water Repellent - 13% Silicone spray. I tried this out on some gloves... it's a little smelly for a while until it dries. I think it has a lot of solvents in it. Recommend doing it in the garage or outdoors. I'll probably test this out on my skins and ski tops.