The ultimate rain jacket guide

When it rains about 170 days a year, it pays to buy a rain jacket. Often, you need just a rain jacket, as it is the upper body that is most exposed during a shower. Or maybe your height and body shape require a rain jacket in one size and rain trousers in another?

You can choose from more than 400 rain jackets here at Cheap-workwear.com, and we realise that it’s difficult to choose from so many alternatives! However, we maintain this large selection to cater to all our customers’ different needs and use situations. For example, we offer rain jackets for work, for walking and for outdoor use. That's why we've created this rain jacket guide to help you narrow down your search. Using the guide will help you choose a selection of rain jackets that are relevant to you.

Would you instead like to see all rain jackets for men, then take a look here.

See rain jackets for men

How do I choose the right rain jacket?

It is important that you choose your jacket based on your needs. So: what are your needs?

It may be that you rarely wear a rain jacket, and if you do, it's for a city trip or a short walk. Therefore, you have no interest in familiarising yourself with technical specifications such as water-column pressure and breathability.

If, on the other hand, you need a rain jacket that you will use often for work or outdoor pursuits, then it is definitely worth determining whether a jacket’s water-column pressure and breathability are suitable for your activity.

Would you prefer to skip cumbersome choices when buying a rain jacket? Then follow the guide below, and your alternatives among our 400 rain jackets will be narrowed down to a few. Suddenly, it's a lot easier to choose.

When you find your ideal choices, click on the selection displayed below the guide.

See the rain jackets that meet your needs

What cut should the rain jacket have?

Many rain jackets are in unisex fit. This means that they fit both ladies and gentlemen, because they are not narrower at the waist – or shaped.With this cut, there is plenty of room for a thick cardigan underneath. If you need to move a lot, it's nice to have air between the rain jacket and the clothes you are wearing underneath, for the sake of breathability. However, that does not mean that you cannot find tailored rain jackets for ladies on this page. Just take a look here:

Womens' rain jackets for sports and leisure and Womens' rain jackets for work use.

When is a rain jacket sufficiently waterproof?

Good question! It may be interesting to know that the term “rain jacket” does not necessarily mean that the garment is waterproof. To ensure that a rain jacket is waterproof enough for your needs, it’s good to know a little about water-column pressure. This is because the water-column pressure rating indicates the degree of waterproofness in rainwear. Here, we give you guidance for determining an appropriate water-column pressure rating for your next rain jacket.

A rain jacket with a water-column pressure of at least 5,000 to 10,000 mm is for daily use, and fine for a walk with the dog, or a shopping trip where you won’t be in the rain very long. You can also get work rain jackets with a pressure rating of under 10,000 mm, and these are good when they’re needed only for short periods.
Jackets with a water-column pressure rating of 8,000 to 20,000 mm are for work or outdoor use, where you typically stay outdoors for a long time.

If you want to learn even more about waterproofness, we can refer you to the guide about water column-pressure and breathability in rainwear.

Does a rain jacket feel like a plastic bag?

If this is your experience with a rain jacket, then we understand why you don’t want to wear one! But it’s important to know that a breathable rain jacket transports perspiration and moisture away from your body when you’re wearing the jacket during activity.

Here, you can see the breathability rating that we advise you to use for your activity.

A rain jacket with a rating of 3,000 to 5,000 MVP is only for walks with mild exertion, e.g. a walk with the dog or in town.
5,000 to 8000 MVP is for work use, a walk, or a short bike ride with medium exertion.
8,000 - 10,000 MVP is for work use and longer bike rides where you’re actively breaking a sweat.
10,000 MVP and above is for hard work and high activity for long periods.

Here is the blog for rainwear geeks, or anyone who wants to know more about breathability in rainwear.

Should a rain jacket have a loose or snug fit?

Do you need to wear the rain jacket with a cardigan underneath? Then you need to choose a loose-fitting model so that there is plenty of room for the cardigan and you can still move freely.If it is a rain jacket for outdoor life or for work, you can choose one that fits snugly with several layers of clothing underneath. When we talk about dressing in layers, we explain this concept as follows. The inner layer must be moisture-transporting, the middle layer must act as an insulating layer, and the outer layer must act as the protective layer. In this case, the outer layer is the rain jacket.You can read more in the guide here about the genius of dressing in layers, and how this method keeps the body comfortably temperate in all weather conditions.

Whether you want a short, mid-length or long rain jacket is a matter of taste. Some people like the feeling of being able to move freely in a short rain jacket, perhaps because a short jacket works well with a pair of rain trousers. Others see an advantage in the fact that a mid-length or long rain jacket shields more of the body from the rain, thus eliminating the need for rain trousers.

How to wash your rain jacket

A good-quality rain jacket can be a bit of an investment, but you can make it last a long time if you wash and care for it properly. In this way, the price per use will be low compared to a cheap rain jacket, which does not last very long. First of all, read the washing instructions in the rain jacket and follow them. Remember that the jacket must be washed with liquid detergent and without fabric softener; otherwise the waterproofness can be damaged.

By washing the rain jacket, you care for it so that it retains its waterproof and breathable properties. After washing, the rain jacket can be treated with an impregnating agent to make it more water resistant. However, for an impregnation agent to work properly, the rain jacket must be completely clean before the agent is applied.

Here you will find detergents and impregnation agents for rainwear.