Cleaning my Summer Jacket

With the colder weather approaching, its time to wash that summer gear. Actually the only summer gear that I have is a Klim Induction jacket and a pair of Induction Gloves (but I use these year round). Basically it is a screen door allowing air from everywhere. It is still armored but has a lot of free flowing air to keep you cooler in the warmer months.

I try to wash my outer gear at least once a year. I am always amazed at how dirty this jacket gets. With the new Himalayan, the windscreen is not nearly as big as the Triumph hence I get a lot of road grime and bugs. Looking over the jacket carefully, it was really dirty. The nice thing about this jacket is that since it is not waterproof, I do not have to treat it after washing. This makes the process VERY simple.

The first steps before cleaning the jacket is to empty all the pockets. There are only 3 of them. The big outer zippered pocket, the inner zippered packet and the medical pocket (usually on the sleeve and marked with an asterisk (*)). If you are NOT using this medical pocket, you should. Mainly for the blood type. Klim will send you a laminated card for any jacket you purchase. Fill it out accurately as it contains helpful information in case you get into an accident.

Once you have emptied your pockets, make sure they are zipped closed. The next step is to remove all the armor. On the Induction, you have the back plate, two shoulder plates, and two elbow plates. They are held close with Velcro. Just undo the Velcro and then fold the armor plate in the shape of a 'U' and it will slide out easily. Make sure to closet the Velcro once removed.

The last step is to zip up the jacket. Now you are ready for washing it. I like to add a bath towel to the washing machine when washing the jacket by itself. It helps to offset any imbalance for the spin cycle. I wash on delicate. Use a gentle soap such as Woolite. For the wash cycle, use Gentle or Delicate. Also add an additional rinse cycle to ensure ALL the soap gets removed. I also wash it using cold water. Just start it up and wait.

Once the wash cycle has completed, you need to dry the jacket. Yes, you can dry these jackets in the dryer. Just use a low setting. It will make a racket because of the zippers but having the extra bath towel will help reduce the noise.

Once the jacket is dry, reverse the process for the armor and the medical card. Again, make sure you fold the armor in a 'U' as it will slide in without much resistance. Once assembled, I let it hang up for a day to ensure it is completely dry before putting it back in the closet for the next warm season.