Generally, the hydrophobic treatment of textiles pursues two different goals:

The water pressure-resistant finishing of tarpaulin, marquees and covers which is characterized by the fact that fabric pores and spaces in the fabric are blocked. Such finishings are not breathable and therefore hardly suited for apparel textiles.

The water-repellent finishing, on the other hand, which is characterized by the fact that the individual textile fibres are coated by hydrophobic agents, preserves the fabric pores and spaces which also preserves the breathability. Such finishings are typically used for apparel textiles. They distinguish themselves by good water beading effects but are not suited for finishing canvas covers and marquees due to the low water pressure resistance.

Fluorocarbon resin-based proofing agents are used in specific textile finishing baths. To achieve optimal proofing effects, the textiles need to be thoroughly rinsed after the washing process to ensure that surfactant residues are rinsed out of the textile surfaces as far as possible.

For a better absorption of the proofing agent, the finishing baths are slightly heated to a temperature of 20 °C to 40 °C. The initial finishing of textiles requires a higher concentration. Postfinishing is performed with a lower dose of proofing agent.

The finishing in the bath takes approx. 10 minutes, then the bath is drained and the textiles are spun. During spinning, select a slightly reduced speed and a slightly shorter spinning time to ensure that a sufficient amount of proofing agent remains on the textiles. After that, the textiles are dried well and in particular completely.

Membrane items should be turned inside out after drying and then dried again for a short period. If upon verification of the proofing effects the water repellency is found to be below optimal, this indicates that the textiles have not been dried thoroughly enough. This problem can usually be solved by a second drying process. Even if the proofing agent has been absorbed well by the fabric, it is activated only in the drying process so that the full proofing effect emerges only after the drying. The orientation of the proofing on the textile surface also requires some time. The effects increase once more after the drying phase and should ideally be verified several hours after the completed proofing.