Waxing your Barbour Jacket

This truly is ‘adulting’ at its finest. ‘Waxing your Barbour jacket’ actually sounds quite wanky, but if you have a Barbour wax jacket, then you’re going to want to look after it. I’ve had mine for about five or six years, and every year when I wax it, it looks amazing and it really helps to keep it waterproof.

When the weather starts to feel autumnal I know I need to wax my jacket; whether that’s a chill in the air in the morning, the ripening of the blackberries or the sun setting much earlier than it used to.

When the cooler, wetter weather hits, I absolutely live in my jacket; mostly when walking Bella or popping into Moreton-in-Marsh with the Handsome One for a quick drink in front of the fire at The Manor House. It’s definitely worth giving it a bit of love each year and it’s really not difficult to do.

A few years back, I went to the dry-cleaner in a Waitrose and asked them how much it would be for them to re-wax my jacket – £60 plus it would be gone for six weeks. No thank you. So, I researched what I needed to do, invested about £10 in a tin of wax (free delivery from Barbour this weekend) and gave it whirl! You need to wax your jacket each year and the wax will last you a couple of years, minimum.

This year was no different, apart from the fact I was waxing two coats. The Handsome One was working hard outside laying the base for a shed (there is always something to do when you own a house), so I thought I’d wax our jackets.

You only need a couple of sponges, a tin of Barbour Wax and a bowl of boiling water to melt the wax.

1. Remove everything from your pockets – I found multiple poo bags, a carrot, lip balm, chewing gum and some tissues in mine. The HO has some poo bags in his – this pretty much sums everything up!
   Then use a sponge with some cold water to wipe your jacket down. Do not use hot water, don’t use soap and definitely never put your jacket in the washing machine!
2. Take the lid off your wax, put it in a bowl of boiling water, so the wax softens which makes it easy for you to apply. This takes about 15 mins and sometimes I need to re-boil the kettle and add fresh boiling water.
3. Taking your sponge (you could use a cloth, but I find a sponge gives you a better finish) and use this to apply the wax to your jacket. Really work it into the shoulders, arms and all the crevices. Also, don’t be shy, be quite liberal with the wax and leave the tin in the bowl whilst you’re doing this. However, don’t wax any of the inside or the corduroy collar.You’ll see in the picture below that I’ve applied it to the right side of my jacket, and look at the difference already!

Try to be quite methodical with how you apply the wax as well. This just helps you ensure that you don’t miss any areas.

4. If you’re after that perfect finish, then get your hairdryer out and give your jacket a little blow-dry! I’m much to lazy for that, so I apply the wax and then hang the jacket off a door-frame for at least 24 hours, ensuring that the jacket doesn’t come into contact with anything, as you don’t want the wax getting on your clothes.

Wax on, wax off guys!

A x