Just brush off the loose dirt after it's dry and treat your footwear with commercial water-repellent spray. Never use waterproofing wax or grease - they may impair your footwear's breathability. UP

Clean with lukewarm water and allow to dry naturally. Then treat with water-repellent spray when dry. Never use waterproofing wax or grease - this may impair your footwear's breathability. UP

Yes, absolutely - and that's an important detail. Your feet stay drier from the inside out, because your perspiration is evaporating out of the footwear, not staying inside to make your feet feel clammy and uncomfortable. Especially in colder weather, breathability is crucial for keeping your feet dry and warm. UP

Just look for our label on the footwear. All GORE-TEX? footwear carries our name as well as the manufacturer's brand. We even include a GORE-TEX? footwear booklet in the box. Remember: if it doesn't say GORE-TEX? footwear, it isn't. UP

Yes. No leather is inherently waterproof, and most "waterproof" footwear requires applications of special waxes or greases to stay that way. Not only is this inconvenient, but it severely compromises the breathability of the footwear. And it's not guaranteed to keep you dry. With GORE-TEX? footwear, the waterproofness and breathability are never in doubt. UP

There's no mystery here. Just toss your GORE-TEX? garment in the washing machine in warm (104? F/40? C) water. Use powder or liquid detergent, but skip the fabric softener and chlorine bleach, please. Then tumble-dry on a normal warm setting and you're ready to go. That's it. Be sure to read the manufacturer's care tag in your garment for specific instructions. See our Care Center for more information. UP

Nubuk and Suede are both difficult to care for and clean. Nubuk is top grain leather in which to grain has been buffed to resemble a suede-like appearance. Both are nearly impossible to clean. We recommend that you consider our Nubuk and Suede kit. This product contains a Nubuk foam cleaner, “mooncloth” and protection spray. This will give you a limited amount of protection to normal wear and prolong the life of your leather but will not prevent damage from major accidents.

First introduced in 1978, GORE-TEX? fabric is created when we laminate our patented GORE-TEX? membrane to high-performance textiles, which are then used by authorized garment manufacturers to make outerwear, accessories, and footwear. UP

Only a limited number of specialist apparel manufacturers are licensed to use our fabric in accordance with our strict quality standards. We test every product design before it is approved for production and sell GORE-TEX? fabric only for the production of approved designs. Plus we guarantee the performance of all finished GORE-TEX? apparel, footwear, and accessories - not just the fabric from which the finished product is made.

GORE-TEX? fabric is available only to our licensed manufacturers, who create garments and footwear to our exacting standards. UP

Gore, we manufacture GORE-TEX? and WINDSTOPPER? fabrics - not the finished garments you find in stores. To see products made with Gore fabrics, you have several options: contact us to learn which of your favorite brands contain our fabrics; contact your favorite retailers to request their catalogs; or use our Store Finder to locate stores near you selling GORE??? products. UP

Yes. GORE-TEX? fabric is windproof, so it blocks cold air and wind that can disturb your body heat and cause windchill. However, GORE-TEX? fabric itself doesn't have any special insulating qualities, so in really cold conditions, wearing extra layers underneath your outerwear will ensure that you stay warm and comfortable. UP

GORE-TEX? fabric will last for many years. It's incredibly durable, and unlike other "waterproof/breathable" fabrics that can lose waterproofness after repeated laundering, flexing, abrasion, or exposure to body oils or insect spray, the waterproofness and breathability of GORE-TEX? fabric is guaranteed under any conditions you may encounter. UP

Wash your garment as often as you need to. In fact, washing and tumble-drying will actually help restore the water-repellency performance of a GORE-TEX? garment. See our Care Center for more information. UP

They're high quality leather which means that you can wear them out on the street without having to worry about ruining them like you would suede soles. You can create a suede-like sole by scuffing up the soles with a wire brush or on the pavement. This is a good idea as the soles can be really slick otherwise.

Gently clean the surface using a cotton cloth or any other soft cloth soaked in a solution of 5% neutral detergent for wool. Thoroughly remove all traces of detergent with a damp cloth, and then apply a suede protective substance when dry. Should the suede surface become wet, dry as soon as possible using a soft, dry cloth. Suede may be damaged by using brushes with bristles made of nylon or any other synthetic fibres, or solvents containing alcohol, petrol or alkaline acids.

It really depends on you. The GORE-TEX? membrane won't deteriorate with time, and our garments are guaranteed to be durably waterproof and breathable. Just use common sense and wear your garment for its intended use; i.e, don't wear a lightweight cycling jacket on a backcountry camping trip. And obviously, a ski instructor who wears his or her garment every day will need to buy a new one sooner than a skier who takes his or her garment out twice a year will.

ALL our GORE-TEX? fabrics are waterproof, windproof, and breathable. However, there are many different outer fabrics and fabric constructions available so that you can choose what's most important to you: weight, texture, abrasion resistance, and so on. UP

The GORE-TEX? membrane has 9 billion pores per square inch, with each pore 20,000 times smaller than a water droplet. These tiny holes are too small for water and wind to pass through from the outside, which is how we can guarantee you'll stay dry and warm in a garment made with GORE-TEX? fabric. But these same pores are large enough for moisture vapor to pass through, so your body's perspiration is able to escape and you don't get clammy and uncomfortable.

Minor punctures and tears can be fixed with a GORE-TEX? Fabric Repair Kit, available at specialty outdoor retail stores. The special adhesive patches allow you to make instant repairs to preserve the waterproof integrity of your outerwear. You can also visit or ship your GORE-TEX? garment to an authorized Gore Repair Center. See our Care Center for more information about both these options. UP