Delamination: What It Is, Why It Happens, and What to Do

We make bags to be used—sometimes hard, sometimes daily, often for years. With that kind of life comes wear, and one question our Customer Service team hears often is about delamination: that peely-looking fabric that can appear over time. To shed some light on what’s really going on, we asked our resident delamination expert, Shelby, to break it all down (no pun intended): what delamination is, why it happens, how to slow it down, and what your options are when it’s already started.

Take it away, Shelby!

What Is Delamination?

So, you’ve had your TOM BIHN bag for a while now, it’s been treating you well, and then one day you notice something odd. The color of your bag’s interior looks off, it feels tacky, and is it peeling?

The wear you're experiencing isn't something wrong with the fabric. Some peeling of the urethane can be expected as a bag ages. If you’re active on r/backpackers or r/manybaggers, you likely see this topic come up frequently. The general consensus is this kind of wear is typical after several years of use, from us or any other bag manufacturer (and I would trust a stranger on reddit with my life). The most notable difference between us and other bag manufacturers is their bags typically wear faster than the coating.

While the urethane coating cannot be re-coated, it won’t affect the durability of the fabric and only slightly affects the water resistance of the bag if the exterior Durable Water Repellant (DWR) hasn't been maintained (more on that later).

How To Prevent

The number one thing you can do to prevent pre-emptive peeling is to make sure the bag is clean and dry before you put it away. You don’t have to throw your bag in the dryer if you get caught in the rain (and also just don’t do that in general). Tossing it in the closet, especially if it won’t be pulled out in several days or even worse, months, won’t allow it to dry properly. This can lead to the urethane layer breaking down, corroding zippers, and generally smelling bad. 

Similarly, avoid extreme heat when possible that can wear the adhesive bonding of the urethane. So, don’t leave it in the back of your car all weekend, avoid dryers (no, really, don’t do it), and just generally hot spots.

Humidity also plays a factor in urethane delamination, which makes sense considering what we’ve covered(moisture and heat). Obviously, we can’t prevent you from living in Florida, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

Certain soaps and chemicals can also lift the urethane, since harsher soaps are generally built to do just that- strip the fabric. Make sure you hand-wash your bag with a mild soap — environmentally friendly dish soaps typically work best. You can check out more on our official cleaning instructions here.

How To Remove

While avoiding over-washing your bag can be a good preventative measure, if the peeling has started and you want to go ahead with removing it this would be the first move. Warm water, dish soap, scrub and rinse/repeat. Once the bag has dried, turn the bag inside out(when possible) to peel the urethane away, and a 1:1 Isopropyl alcohol and water mix can be used to dissolve what’s leftover. 

You might find you only need to treat one panel of fabric, most likely one area gets used more than another. I would recommend leaving unaffected areas as-is until it’s necessary to remove the urethane.

“Can I get a Bag Without The Urethane Coating?”

At the time of this post, that isn’t an option we can offer. We use the highest quality fabrics, finished to the highest standards in the industry, and we just aren’t large enough for mills to offer us fabric without it. Some rip-stop fabrics are available out there untreated, but usually not in a denier high enough for our purposes. 

Regarding Overall Waterproof-ness 

There are two lines of defense: the urethane coating on the inside surface, and more importantly, a Durable Water Repellent (DWR) finish on the outside. That DWR does most of the work, and is also not permanent. It is invisible, and often needs to be re-treated at about every 2-5 years or so. 

There are several makers of DWR treatment, and they're easy to find at most sporting goods stores. We recommend Nikwax Tent & Gear SolarProof . Nikwax is environmentally and ethically responsible being both PFAS free and aerosol spray, on top of being one of the most popular DWR treatments out there. These treatments encourage water to bead up and roll off the bag, to keep moisture outside of the interior. Their Tent & Gear SolarProof option also offers UV defense, since exposure to ultraviolet light leads to a reduction in fabric tear strength over time.

Delamination is a normal part of a bag that’s been used and loved over time. While the coating may change, the fabric itself remains strong and ready for years more of use. With a little care and maintenance, your TOM BIHN bag can keep going long after the coating has reached the end of its lifecycle.

As always, if you have questions, our Customer Service team is always happy to help.