Last year, I had the pleasure of watching the rewaxing guy do his thing at the Barbour US HQ in New Hampshire. While dropping off and picking up some jackets, I asked if I could watch the process. The back room is off limits to the public, but my Irish silver tongue worked it's magic. Well, his English was as good as my Spanish and that's not saying much about my Spanish. Mostly, I watched and managed to get a few questions out. I wish I had been able to video the entire thing so I could record the order in which he covered the jacket with wax. I got the key points and will make a little video sometime soon, showing what I learned from him and what I've figured out on my own.
I've rewaxed two jackets before today: a Bedale and a Transport Jacket. Today I rewaxed three jackets: a Border and two children's Bedales. It got a little crazy at the end when I was rushing the work so I could run out and pick up the kids, but it all got done and I managed to clean up before my wife got home. Here are a couple of the pictures of the process. I have some other pictures of the Transport Jacket rewax that I'll post tomorrow. Cheers.
Thanks for the pics. I have one of my Barbours (Beaufort from 1988) off to NH at the moment for some repairs and reproofing. Have you ever tried your hand at repairing tears and holes with one of your repair kits? My much loved 1993 Bedale has some holes in the elbows and forearms and I'd love to do the patching myself but I'm not sure how to go about it.
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried to repair any holes or tear in any of my jackets-yet. I'm not great with the needle and thread and the repairs that I've needed have been pretty significant. I got some of my jackets from eBay in various states of disrepair: loose zipper, torn liner, ripped pockets and a few blood stains that had leaked out of a game pocket. It just seemed better to have the pros in Milford restore them. Where I live, I can drive there to drop off and pick up the pieces, so I save some money on shipping. Although, I usually buy something in their factory outlet while I'm there, so I'm not really "saving" money. Now that everything is up to par, I might try my hand at some of the smaller repairs. I'll let you know how that goes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading. Cheers!
Giving an dried out Bushman his treats ;) looked like new after 4 hours. The back is waxed on the photo but the arm is up right next.
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Thanks for the thorough review and pictures. I have been a Barbour owner for 25 years and have three jackets...two Beauforts and a heavy weight Moorland (same design as Beaufort but heavier cotton). This blog just encouraged me to rewax a 10 year old Beaufort jacket...even though it has not had a terribly hard life, it took a second waxing session to get it back to original shape. Two questions for you...do you have a preference between the Thornproof finish or the Sylkoil? Also, do you know where one can purchase the Barbour repair kit. Thanks and keep up the good work.
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