Silly question but.... when you guys wash your hunting clothes in your home washer do you run a wash cycle of baking soda in the washer first to kill any laundry soap scents?
I run a wash without clothes with that scent free hunting detergent prior to putting my hunting clothes in it. With all the perfume and dyes from ohter detergents it seems prudent to me though it may be overkill. Low money in any case so why not?
I don't but it probably would be a good idea.
I actually wash mine in a Sports wash and dry them in the dryer with some dirt smelling dryer sheets. I just don't have a place or the ambition to line dry.
What saves me is I have so many different sets of camo that after washing, they go into the bottom of a sealed tub. In the tub I have a mixture of pine boughs,cedar scraps and even some dog fennel which grows everywhere I hunt.
Those freshly washed clothes will not see light of day for probably two months until I get down to them. I do store and keep all my camo clothes seperate and sealed in plastic tubs. I don't seem to get busted at all especially if I consider the wind whether in a stand or on the ground so I am pretty confident in my washing routine.
Good luck!
Guess I wasn't being paranoid after all. Thanks guys!
My routine is basically the same as Frank's.
The last few years Ive been buying run o the mill scent and dye free detergent from supermarket and with one wash Ive had pretty good success on yotes and deer.If you can beat a coyotes nose you can beat any.I do store em in bins with pine and cedar twigs.
I'm guilty of never washing my clothing....just my thermals, socks, underwear and camo t shirts.
I bowhunt with fleece and have them impregnated with my masking scents. We are talking years of spraying the camo to keep the scent there year round. Thats me.....
If you wash your clothing, and don't want any masking scents on them, then after drying spray them down with a good Scent eliminator and store them in a large plastic container.
You should use a good cleaner other than baking soda...baking soda absorbs odors...if it didn't, people wouldn't put BS in their fridge!?!?!
I wash mine in a non- UV detergent made specifically for my camo and carbon clothes. Shawn
I use Tide Free. No scent and no UV brighteners. Then after the dryer they go into a plastic tub that has oak leaves wrapped in cheese cloth inside. They leave smelling like the forest floor.
Before each Hunting Season.....
I wash mine with regular detergent,then I run them through a complete cycle of just water to get them rinsed completely.
Then I spray them down with "tick-spray" and hang them to dry and air out for a day or two.
Then I spray them down with Cover-Up "Fresh Earth" scent that I get from Joe Skipp.
Once I start hunting,I just keep re-spraying them with Cover-Up spray. :thumbsup:
Ok I just ran a wash cycle with Sportwash. Now to toss in my clothes with another batch of Srortwash then in the tote with them. Seems everyone has a similar theory so we can't all be wrong. LOL!! Everybody have a safe and successful season!
I wash them like regular clothes, make sure I spill a little coffee on 'em, go have breakfast in them, walk through some corn or beans, maybe even spill a little diesel on them....You know, so I smell like a farmer. ;)
I wash like the rest seem to-blank wash cycle then with clothes. Hang dry and put in plastice tub outside. I dress in the parking lot where I hunt-camo is only for the woods. Gets a little cold come December but works for me.
Good luck with the bears, LeRoy!
I wash mine in Arm and Hammer detergent. I used to have a metal locker I hung them in on the back porch or carport, I got rid of it and need to get another one. I'd throw in that metal locker, a handfull of pine needles or cedar branches, even some dried leaves. I think it was more of a mental thing, cause I don't know if it helped or not. If your down wind, will they really smell your cover scent ?
I still like to wash my hunting clothes in Arm and Hammer though.
Jerald
Leroy... i do everything i can to keep my gear clean...but there is no better scent control than wind direction...my 2 cents.
You are right on that note Steve. But evey little bit helps. I keep my stuif in plastic tubs all year and when I open them they smell like dirt. I just want them extra scent free for Canada so I have no odors the bears aren't used to.
I wash all my hunting clothing in green apple shampoo. I have had deer come in down wind from me and made some easy close shots. Been doing this for years and it works great.
I leave my camo hanging out side. I don't wash it. I let it get rained on etc. I dry it in the dryer if it is wet. That's it.
I use Arm & Hammer detergent also, then they go in a bag with local vegetation. I only wash them once a year or so unless they get really muddy or something.
Sport wash for my "outer" camo. They go directly into the sealed tub hot out of the dryer. I only get dressed to hunt after I park at my hunting area.
JDS III
I won't use my washer machine,,I wash them in a tub of water with a box of baking soda,,wash let sit in for 5,min or so then hang in blue spruce pines in my back yard for a week or so,,
Then I have several coolers that are washed out with baking soda too,,I fold and stuff warmer weather in one cooler and colder weather in another,the coolers seal and the tubs (unless they come with a built in seal),, don't,,
I beleive there is still some garbage left over even after you wash without anything in your washer machine,,I've servised several of my own with pump changes,motor changes and belt service too,,I always see left over residue in some of pump parts and the center for the softener usually will always carry some too. Plus I found the colors last longer like this too,,Jason B.
I do a couple rinse cycles then wash then in H.S. earth scent detergent. Hang dry outside and out then out them into my H.S. scent free bag with a couple earth scent waffers or pine. Love that earthy/piney smell!!!
LOL Green Apple shampoo! I'll have to try that. :D
Couple of cycles to clean the machine, then All or Tide scent free with a little baking soda tossed in for added measure. Hang dry outside. Packed in plastic tub with some baking soda. Get dressed when I get there, change back afterwards. Hunting cloths are for hunting.
This a timely post. This just came out on offical E-mail to all Air Force personnel. Our new uniform is NOT to be washed in any detergent with optical birghteners. They posted a list of what you CAN and CANNOT use.
Laundry detergents with optical brighteners
•20 Mule Team Detergent (all versions)
•Ajax (all versions)
•All Liquid (all versions)
•All Free and Clear
•All Baby
•All with stain lifters
•Arm & Hammer FabriCare Powder (all versions)
•Arm & Hammer Fresh 'n Soft Fabric Softener (all versions)
•Arm & Hammer Liquid (all versions)
•Arm & Hammer Perfume Free and Dye Free Liquid Detergent
•Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
•Ariel Powder (P&G Europe) - All versions
•Ariel Liquid (P&G Europe) - All versions
•Ariel LiquiTabs (P&G Europe) - All versions
•Ariel Tablets (P&G Europe) - All versions
•Asta
•Bold 3-in-1 (UK/Ireland) - (All versions)
•Daz
•DeliCare Fine Fabric Wash (all versions)
•Dreft Liquid
•Dreft Powder
•Dynamo (all versions)
•Era Liquid (all versions)
•Fab (all versions)
•Gain Liquids (all versions)
•Gain Powders (all versions)
•Ivory Snow Liquid
•Ivory Snow Powder
•Persil (Henkel)
•Persil Powder (Unilever - UK/Ireland/France) - All versions
•Persil Liquid (Unilever - UK/Ireland/France) - All versions
•Persil GelTabs (Unilever - UK/Ireland/France) - All versions
•Purex Powder (all versions)
•Purex Liquid (all versions)
•Purex Fabric Softener (all versions)
•Purex Baby (all versions)
•Rain Drops Water Softener and Detergent Booster
•SA8 Plus Concentrated Detergent
•SA8 with Bioquest Concentrated Detergent
•SA8 with Gelzyme Liquid Detergent
•SA8 Sensitive Laundry Detergent
•SA8 Tablets Laundry Detergent
•SA8 Concentrated Liquid Detergent with Fabric Softener
•SA8 Solutions Tri-Zyme Stain Pre-Soak and Detergent Booster
•SA8 Solutions Dry Chlorine Bleach
•Surf Liquid (all versions)
•Surf Powder (UK/Ireland)
•Suavitel Fabric Softener (all versions)
•Tide Liquids (all versions)
•Tide Powders (all versions)
•Tide Tablets (all versions)
•Wisk (all versions)
•XTRA Laundry Detergent
•Yes (all versions)
•Zout (all versions)
•All laundry products made by Colgate-Palmolive
Laundry detergents without optical brighteners
•All Powder (all versions)
•Allens Naturally Liquid Laundry Detergent
•Allens Naturally Powdered Laundry Detergent
•Bold Powder
•Cheer Free
•Cheer Liquid (all versions)
•Cheer Powder (all versions)
•Country Save Powdered Laundry Detergent
•Ecover Ecological Liquid Detergent
•Oxy-Prime Powdered Laundry Detergent
•Planet Ultra laundry detergents[1]
•SA8 Delicate Gentle Liquid Detergent
•SA8 Solutions Prewash Spray Spot Treatment
•SA8 Solutions Prewash With Enzymes Liquid Spot Treatment
•SA8 Solutions Smashing White Water Softener And Detergent Booster Powder
•SA8 Solutions Smashing White Water Softener And Detergent Booster Liquid
•SA8 Solutions All Fabric Bleach
•Seventh Generation Natural Laundry Detergent Liquid, Free & Clear
•Woolite (all versions)
Hunt Naked :bigsmyl:
Thanks, looks like I'm going shoppin.
Just got done washing all of the clothes (in unscented detergent) that I am taking on a hunting trip this weekend. They are hanging outside draped with pine needle bunches, of course with our MT fires they will probebly smell like smoke anyway! Then they go into a plastic bag along with some small pieces of Doug Fir and Lodgepole, all of this then goes into a duffle bag.
How much difference this makes I don't know, but the sense of smell that deer and elk have always amazes me.
42WLA,,Looks like basically anything with sodium carbonate,,Just taking a stab in the dark with that,,Regular plain baking soda has sodium bicarbonate in it,,sodium cabonate is like a soapy kinda softener of sorts and is wonderfull for skull mounts if you don't use da beetles,,J
I'm not sure but it appear to be an additional ingredient. This is from another source, "Optical brighteners are usually derivatives of coumarin or stilbene, and may have patents and trade secrets."
I'm washing a load of hunting clothes in Sportwash as I type this. Better safe than sorry. I might not be able to control my scent hunting in 90 degree weather in Eastern NC in a couple weeks but at least I won't glow.
LOL,,
i just wash em then what ever hunting area im in if its got tee tree i just rub teetree over myself if its pine same thing. well it works for me. thats what i will be doing when i come over there. :thumbsup: wolfman
I sure dind't think this up but read it more'n likely on the Sportwash bottle...
I was my longhandles each year or other "wear to huntin street clothes" in sportwash before...before I wash my camo. It helps clean out the inside of the machine and remove any other junk. Gotta wash that stuff anywho, so I use that load to clean the machine good.
Course, living on my own, years ago I started using Cheer Free (no scents or brighteners) ALL the time...so I try to keep the machine clean.
Air dry on a line or fence if line isn't available. Never use a dryer unless I'm away...then I take some of my scent kill spray and wet a paper towel, and wipe the inside of a commercial dryer really well...then wash and dry some "non camo" clothes first, dry them, and then wash and or dry my camo.
Also dress skin out at the hunt site.
I haven't bothered with scent control for years now. Back when I did it started 1 month before season with soap that kills all the critters on your body that generate the funcky smells. The washer was cleaned with bleach, then baking soda. The clothes wash in a whole box and then hung to dry after being springkle with baking soda while wet. After they dried they were stored with a masking scent colected from the area I hunted.
Don't forget about your breath. The hot moist air you exhale is a big part of the problem.
I got into studing wind with smoke to see how the air flowed in area I hunted. After a while I just quit playing with scent control and used the wind and my setups to prevent issues. It sure is nice to not have to mess with all that stuff now.
Ditto that D.G.
IF I could get all the foreign odors off my clothes and IF I could get all the man smell out of my various pits, cracks and crotches, I'd literally blow it with my first exhaled breath.
Cheesesteak w' fried onions breath might be a bit more aromatic than washer residue on your clothes from previous wash cycles. I ain't giving up cheesesteaks so I'll take a shower once a day, keep my clothes reasonably clean and hunt the wind
Dark, You figured out a way to make the wind blow the same way all the time and make the deer come in upwind everytime? Let us in on the secret :readit: :help:
We all try to hunt with the wind in our favor, it's the deer that don't cooperate that we all need to worry about scent control for......
A lot of good advice here....
Lots of good responses to this question. Thanks to all. so many opinions and good ideas. Have a great hunting season everybody!!
QuoteOriginally posted by Guru:
We all try to hunt with the wind in our favor, it's the deer that don't cooperate that we all need to worry about scent control for......
A lot of good advice here....
If those uncooperative deer hit your scent stream they are going to smell you. You can wash your clothes in anything you want. You are still going to smell like a man.
If a deer comes in "downwind" at bow ranges and doesn't react it's because he didn't enter your scent stream or (extremely rare) chose to ignore your smell. It ain't because you didn't stink.
I think there is some credibility to diluting your scent to the point the deer thinks you're farther away. But at bow ranges I don't know if it's relevant for the simple reason we all have to breathe.
My wife started washing with dye and perfume free detergent all the time so wouldn't get any hunting clothes mixed up. Nice not having to do anything different. The store bought or homemade scent blocker. Stored in the RubberMaid tubs.
Leroy..... ive done the same thing with plastic tubs...sounds to me as long as you keep that mojo going..youll be in good shape..good luck bud!!!!
QuoteOriginally posted by Guru:
Dark, You figured out a way to make the wind blow the same way all the time and make the deer come in upwind everytime? Let us in on the secret :readit: :help:
We all try to hunt with the wind in our favor, it's the deer that don't cooperate that we all need to worry about scent control for......
A lot of good advice here....
I spend a bunch of time looking for the perfect setup. Most of my shots are under 5 feet away on the ground. Setting up in a tree would make the job much harder and that is one of the many reason i don't.
Even on days when the wind isn't constantly blowing one direction you can setup beside landscape that directs it one way. I could take you to one place I where the wind always blows north regardless of what it is doing everywhere else.
Mostly I hunt places where I know deer always travel the same path and either can't or won't come from any other direction. There have been many days I've had to put down lunch, my coffee or other hot drink, and yes even smokes to shoot a deer. My biggest deer to date was shot 3 feet away while I was smoking. people I hunt with get mad when they see where I was setting and how far away the deer are. The first few times they just thought it was luck.
I think you'd also be surprised at what you scent does in the wind. If you have a 5 to 10 mile per hour constant wind your scent trail is only about 7 to 8 feet across. Some times I hunt up wind and just know I have to shoot before the deer reachs that spot. Take some some bombs or anything else you can use that smoke out in the woods and study it. it is amazing what you can learn.
When you're up in a tree your scent can drop, rise, be deflected by trees, betray you 100 yards away or other crazy stuff. Control the wind with the landscape and you don't have to worry about it. if that isn't an option setup in front of stuff so thick the deer can't get in it. heck that's where deer like to hangout anyhow.
BTW, that one spot where the wind only blows north also has a trail that runs cross wind. In 15 years of hunting that spot I've only had deer come thru there off of the trail twice. Double bonus! I hunt that spot a lot and it produces several every year.
"But at bow ranges I don't know if it's relevant for the simple reason we all have to breathe. "
True but it doesn't have to smell like something that will offend the deer. kill the germs, brush with baking soda, eat apples, nuts, chew pine scented crap, or whatever is natural to where you hunt. You also can filter the moisture out with a pull over mask.
...but it's easier just to keep the deer in front of you. :)
BTW, it works for on girls too. ;)
QuoteOriginally posted by DarkeGreen:
True but it doesn't have to smell like something that will offend the deer. kill the germs, brush with baking soda, eat apples, nuts, chew pine scented crap, or whatever is natural to where you hunt. You also can filter the moisture out with a pull over mask.
...but it's easier just to keep the deer in front of you. :)
BTW, it works for on girls too. ;)
I don't think you can mask it. To loosely quote Gene Wensel from "Bowhunting Rutting Whitetails", "If someone uses the bathroom and sprays pine scented deodorizer it just smells like someone took a dump under a pine tree."
If one were to commit to a bland vegetarian diet you might be able to eliminate breath odor that alarms deer, but if you eat meat and or spicy foods... no way.
It doesn't work on girls either. I can brush and gargle but she can still tell when I have a cheesesteak/wit for lunch.
Then you're not doing it right. The first thing I noticed was that I no longer got bit by misquitos. That was huge for me because I get bit when no one else is. When the bugs can find you, the deer won't either.
That stuff you're eating isn't going to your lungs so if the smell is there you didn't remove the source. At that point you would be correct you're putting pine scent on a pile of crap.
You have to be clean first, kill the bacteria second, cover up, and then capture. It works, no doubt about it.
Like I said you have to start a month before you need to be scent free.
Interesting thread to say the least. I think it comes down to doing the best we can in the circumstances we are dealing with. I personally think a deer's nose is so genetically superior to ours that I'm not sure the stuff we used to kill our scent is doing what we think. I have a hard time believing that those scent kill sprays that have no perceptable smell to us have the same effect on the deer. They lack odor to our relatively unsensative noses, but I would think deer can perceive them as chemical odors that are foreign. Especially the ones that are supposed to smell like apple or acorns. I would think deer would perceive those much like a sweet smelling cologne. It might smells sweet but is sure isn't natural and they have never smelled it previously. So it would be a strange scent.
I agree with most of what I have read here about controlling scent by washing in scent free detergents and using natural flora to a scent on our clothing.
My only addition is using rubbing alcohol for a washing detergent. Alcohol kills bacteria about a good as anything and is a wonderful scent neutralizer. It's our own natural bacteria that produces body odor and gets into our cloths. Alcohol also evaporates so most of its residue is gone after the cloths dry. I pour a bottle of rubbing alcohol in the washing machine with some towels first. Then another bottle with a load with my hunting cloths. Then I hang them outside to dry. After each hunt I spray the cloths down with an spay bottle that has alcohol in it this will kill the bacteria on the cloths about as good as possible. Then back in the plastic bags with walnuts or pine needles.
Lets keep discussing this topic.
Chris
I've lived with vegetarians, ok we were in love! Anyway they said you could easily smell a meat eater. There were no smokers in our home, so I tried a pure veggie diet, sauteed,steamed and baked food but no fries or preservatives, alcohol, coffee or strong spices for three months. I was pretty fit by then and healthy too. Bonus! Guess what? They were so right, you can smell a smoker 'a mile off' and meat eaters if they are in the same room.Have you ever had a small child tell you the milk is sour a day before you can taste it? We mess up our sense of taste and smell by eating too much spiced and fried foods, too little raw stuff, and of course smoking and drinking alcohol and coffee. Drive around the town and you will smell a fast food outlet blocks away with your polluted nostrils, imagine what you smell like to a wild animal?
There are many 'primitive' peoples that have bans and taboos around the pre hunt days, including sex. Hormones and pheremones are powerful and a dead giveaway. We are only doing a half job if we wash our gear but fail to manage our own body odours. We have a wild plant here in SA that is known as 'duiweltjie, duiweldooring' or'seep plant', the plant is a magical soap and is odourless, great for washing you, your clothes and everything else -including pots and pans!
chrisg
I guess I'm not willing to give up meat or spicy foods so what about the chlorophyll pills or alfalfa supplements that are sold? I guess the premise is to make to make yourself smell like herbivore. I've tried them because I was curious about what affect they might have. I know one thing if you take a bunch your scat starts turning green.
Not to take this thread another direction but for those guys who used cover up scents how many times do you get busted by deer down wind and how many times are deer down wind and you get a shot opportunity? Of those encounters were they young deer or mature deer?
One more thought. The reason I don't use many of the scent killing options on the market is their price. Before I buy one I always think to myself. Did this company really research the issue or are they just trying to make money off a gimic.
Maybe the enzyme scent eliminators could actually have an effect but I'm just too cheap to pay for them because I feel like anytime a deer is truely downwind (currents actually coming from me down to the deers level) I'm going to be busted.
Chris
Yes I understand about the foods but it was an interesting experience and I was not an animal hunter then - I did it to 'prove,' (disprove?) the statement that 'you can smell a meateater'. You can, but if you do eat meat then be super aware of the wind and move slowly. I eat very little meat before a hunt and hold the coffee and alcohol. The fancy supplements we don't have but on another thread someone spoke of eating asparagus, artichokes or broccolli to 'load your scent' and then peeing close to your stand. If you can't beat em join em!
Another thing that interests me is how often do we give ourselves away with an unconscious movement and then assume it was a bust from scent? It's a nice puzzle to explore and the best part is you have to be out in the bush to do it :goldtooth:
chrisg
If the mosquitos aren't finding you, you've quit breathing. They find you by smelling true, but also by the CO2 you exhale is what the scientist say. Diet may help...but dying is the only way...except for your Thermacell.
Yep I know that's what they say but try it for yourself and you'll be convenced too.
The soap and mouthwash I used isn't available i sports stores any more, at least not around here. You can use the antibacterial soap used by doctors before operating. Just remember, like taking antibotics it takes about 10 days. They recommend you only use these products to bath with and start 1 month before season. Normally I get eating so bad I have to use some kind of repelant and they still get in my eyes, nose, mouth, and tear up my back and legg. After using this stuff I got bit twice without using anything to keep the bugs away.
Along with killing the bacteria that creates smells you still have to do all the other stuff. Baking soda wash and dried clothes, no smoking, etc. I would keep my hunting clothes in a bag full of oak leaves and dirt from the area I hunted, and always wore a sock hat that pulled over my mouth and nose impreagnated with baking soda. As you walk in look for mud to walk thru and othewise cake on your boots and fill you pockets with leaves and acorns. You can mash the acorns up and mix with distilled water to use as a cover spray if you'll be hunted in areas with them naturally.
When you have 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 year old buck walk past you under 5 feet away without so much as a glance it make you a blevier. One time I had a young buck pass under 3 feet away.
It's a lot of work and became more like a job than having fun. Over the years I quit a little at a time and now I don't do any of it. Hunting is much more enjoyable for me today too. heck I take a shower in the morning with regular soap, brush my teeth with real tooh paste. Then I go to the closet and grab my hunting clothes and go hunting. Most years I shoot 4 or 5 deer and I'm happy. Sometimes they are big and some times they are little. Early in the year I shoot whatever walks by, late in the year i get a little more picky because I know the freeze is full.
I still shoot 95% of my deer less than 10 feet away and everyone of them I've shot in the last 20 years has been eye to eye on the ground.
QuoteOriginally posted by DarkeGreen:
That stuff you're eating isn't going to your lungs so if the smell is there you didn't remove the source. At that point you would be correct you're putting pine scent on a pile of crap.
You have to be clean first, kill the bacteria second, cover up, and then capture. It works, no doubt about it.
Like I said you have to start a month before you need to be scent free.
Been aa while sense I checked this thread.
Come on DG! Sure the smell of foods goes to your lungs. The chemicals which cause the smell enter into your system including your bloodstream. As you respire your exhalations carry the smell. You eat garlic your breath will smell like garlic no matter what you do. The smell doesn't come from the inside of your mouth. It comes out of your respiratory system.
It might be possible to "purge" your body of offensive odors but I believe that would involve eliminating a lot of foods I won't eliminate, red meat for one.