Recently, Ashley and I were sent a couple of Kiwi Products to test out. Kiwi is a maker products for shoes and the outdoors. Their products are sold in many retail locations, two examples are Target and Walmart. We were sent their Heavy Duty Water Repellent and their Performance Fabric Protector.
I had an opportunity to try their heavy duty water repellent when I went on my Mt. Whitney climb in 2010. At the time I was looking for an option to make my hiking shoes water repellent. I tried Kiwi's heavy duty water repellent. Because of all the wet weather we had in the 2010 California rainy season, there was still plenty of melting snow on Mt. Whitney, to the point where we used ice axes on certain sections. I followed the directions on applying the Heavy Duty Water Repellent and the product performed great while on Mt. Whitney. My hiking shoes repelled water, as advertised. This was a great cheap solution to make my hiking shoes water repellent for a hike. I have used this product on my shoes several times since the Mt. Whitney trip and each time it has worked as advertised. One negative to this product is that the smell will last for a day or two. If you are going to use it, make sure to apply it to your shoes a day or so before your hiking trip. I would not recommend using this on tents as the smell will take about 24 hours to dissipate. Once the product drys out, there is no odor. The silicone bonds to the leather/fabric of your hiking boot to create an extremely tough water barrier, while still allowing the article to breath. The package says you could spray this on articles of select types of outdoor clothing, however, I have not done that and don't necessarily feel comfortable doing so. This is, however, a great affordable product to make your hiking boots temporarily water proof for any hike where you expect to encounter water.
We had a chance to test out the Performance Fabric Protector on a section of one of our tents. This is a non-silicone polymer and does not have the same odor problems as the above product. There is no odor with this product and it is not silicone based like the previous product, and thus it has more applications. It did a good job of repelling water, from the tent and I would recommend its use on tents. The product also can be used on other apparel such as jackets, pants and performance gear. It did not discolor the clothing I tested it on. In reality the only use that I see myself using this product is on our tent to protect from outside moisture. As I indicated above, I am not one to spray many things onto the cloths I am wearing. This is another affordable great product which will make fabrics and other materials water proof for a period of time.
I had an opportunity to try their heavy duty water repellent when I went on my Mt. Whitney climb in 2010. At the time I was looking for an option to make my hiking shoes water repellent. I tried Kiwi's heavy duty water repellent. Because of all the wet weather we had in the 2010 California rainy season, there was still plenty of melting snow on Mt. Whitney, to the point where we used ice axes on certain sections. I followed the directions on applying the Heavy Duty Water Repellent and the product performed great while on Mt. Whitney. My hiking shoes repelled water, as advertised. This was a great cheap solution to make my hiking shoes water repellent for a hike. I have used this product on my shoes several times since the Mt. Whitney trip and each time it has worked as advertised. One negative to this product is that the smell will last for a day or two. If you are going to use it, make sure to apply it to your shoes a day or so before your hiking trip. I would not recommend using this on tents as the smell will take about 24 hours to dissipate. Once the product drys out, there is no odor. The silicone bonds to the leather/fabric of your hiking boot to create an extremely tough water barrier, while still allowing the article to breath. The package says you could spray this on articles of select types of outdoor clothing, however, I have not done that and don't necessarily feel comfortable doing so. This is, however, a great affordable product to make your hiking boots temporarily water proof for any hike where you expect to encounter water.
We had a chance to test out the Performance Fabric Protector on a section of one of our tents. This is a non-silicone polymer and does not have the same odor problems as the above product. There is no odor with this product and it is not silicone based like the previous product, and thus it has more applications. It did a good job of repelling water, from the tent and I would recommend its use on tents. The product also can be used on other apparel such as jackets, pants and performance gear. It did not discolor the clothing I tested it on. In reality the only use that I see myself using this product is on our tent to protect from outside moisture. As I indicated above, I am not one to spray many things onto the cloths I am wearing. This is another affordable great product which will make fabrics and other materials water proof for a period of time.
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