Lowepro’s Workshop Tips
#2 Refreshing Your Bag’s Durable Water Repellent
Your Lowepro camera bag was built and designed to protect your camera gear through the toughest situations and the most challenging assignments. It is built not only to be useful and comfortable, but also to be durable so that it can last longer, reducing both our and your environmental impact.
That's why we have created Lowepro Workshop Tips, a series of guides on how to maintain, repair, and refresh the integrity and functionality of your camera bag, so it can have a longer life.
Your Lowepro bag is your companion on memorable adventures, and we want to preserve it not just for the memories, but also to reduce our environmental impact.
Lowepro’s Workshop Tip #2
Refreshing Your Bag’s Durable Water Repellent
After cleaning your bag, you might want to check and see how the water repellent treatment is doing. All of our bags come new with a Durable Water Repellent treatment, but over time, you might need to refresh it to maintain protection. For this, we recommend a simple PFC-free non-aerosol spray-on DWR. We don’t recommend the type that you apply by washing in because machine washing a bag can force water between the layers where it can get stuck.
The first step is to empty the bag so you don’t accidentally DWR anything that does not need it, especially your gear. Different types of spray might have different preparation steps so check the directions. Once you have done any necessary steps, you can spray the DWR on the areas that need to be treated and let it sit for a couple of minutes. If the solution starts to run, simply catch it with a cloth and rub it onto the surface and wipe away any excess with a damp cloth. Let the bag dry for the recommended cure time according to your chosen solution which is usually pretty quick. After that, you’re ready to get wet on your next adventure.
Your ever reliable photography and adventure companion is dependable in almost any situation and rugged environment that you might want it to withstand. Over time, constant exposure to the elements or accidents may require you to extend a bit of TLC to reinforce or refresh your bag’s protective features. While it takes a number of years and a lot of adventures to wear them out, these very easy and simple tasks extend the life of your bags and the protection they provide your precious camera gear for even longer.