Is it waterproof, water-resistant or water-repellent?

Is your jacket waterproof, water-repellent or water-resistant? Or is it all of these? Do you know what is meant by each of these terms? In any case, they are often mixed up, while there is indeed an important difference in meaning between the three terms. That is what we are going to talk about in this blog. We will also look at some common measurement methods and classification systems that can tell you something about a product's resistance to water.

Table of contents

• The term water-repellent
• The difference between waterproof and water-resistant
• Water column
• IP coding

The term water-repellent

The word water-repellent itself gives some indication of what it means. A product called water-repellent repels water to a greater or lesser extent. This may be because the material the product is made of is naturally water-repellent or because the product has been treated with, for example, DWR impregnation to make it water-repellent. By water-repellent, we refer only to the water-repellent "effect". It does not indicate the extent to which the product protects against water or the quantity of water it protects against. This is because a product may be water-repellent but not offer the desired protection against water.

The difference between waterproof and water-resistant

Protection against water is described by the terms water-resistant and waterproof. What is the difference between the two? The exact meaning may vary from product group to product group, but the bottom line is that water-resistant products offer a little protection against water, while waterproof products offer more or less full protection. In the case of clothing, for example, we can say that water-resistant jackets will keep you dry during a small shower, but for protection against prolonged rain or a heavy downpour, waterproof jackets are the way to go.

And how does the term water-repellent relate to this? As we mentioned earlier, when we talk about water-repellent, we are talking purely about the water-repellent effect. Both a water-resistant and waterproof product almost always have a water-repellent effect, but a waterproof product does not need this effect to be waterproof, whereas a water-resistant product needs it to be water-resistant. Indeed, in the case of a hardshell jacket, the membrane is ultimately responsible for water protection and the water-repellent DWR coating main function is to maintain the jacket's breathability. Read more about this in our blog on waterproof membranes.

Despite our attempt to explain it as clearly as possible, we can imagine that the above still raises some questions. After all, where exactly does water-resistant stop and when do we speak of waterproof. Fortunately, there are measurement methods and industry standards that can give us some clarity. In these, we do find differences depending on the type of product.

Water column

With textiles, the so-called water column indicates how high the protection against water is. The water column of a mackintosh, for example, is calculated by means of a test. Such tests can be carried out by both the manufacturer of the specific fabric and independent laboratories. There are different test protocols in use, but most of them consist of placing a tube of about 2.5x2.5 cm on the fabric. The height (in millimetres) of the water in the tube before the fabric starts to leak is called the water column. Some manufacturers add extra pressure to simulate the effects of wind. Different tests and methods can give different results. This is therefore a good reason not to get blinded by a product's stated water column. Taking this into account, it is best to interpret the test values as follows:

IP coding

Appliances use the so-called IP coding to classify their protection against moisture, but we are also increasingly seeing the outdoor sector using this measurement method. Ortlieb is a well-known example of this. IP stands for "Ingress Protection", which translates to protection against ingress. The IP coding has been internationally standardised. IEC 60529. This coding consists of two numbers, the first indicating the degree of protection against touching and intrusion of objects/solids and the second indicating the degree of protection against intrusion of moisture. See the tables below for the exact meaning:

Protection against contact and penetrating objects

Protection against moisture

Frequently, we also come across IP values such as IPX3 or IP3X. This X indicates that in the first example, the degree of protection against touch and penetrating objects has not been tested and is often irrelevant. In the second example, this applies to the degree of protection against moisture.

In this blog, we have tried to explain the differences between water-repellent, water-resistant and waterproof. However, if some things remain unclear, please contact our customer service team. We will be happy to help you with all your questions. By the way, there are many other properties of materials that it is good to know what they mean. You can find them on our material properties page.