Hunting clothes

[Zephyrus]

Any of you do anything special with your hunting clothes?

Concerned about brighteners, smelling like a lilac, etc?

I've heard of washing with baking soda, and I see a lot of blaze orange hanging outside all fall -

Curious if any of this matters so much when you are conscientious about the wind?

I guess my biggest concern would be the brightening agents, supposedly it makes you "glow" in deer eyes...

Makes you almost want to hunt nekkid, painted head to toe in different colored clay...

[Wolfshead]

I use the scent free hunting detergents that they sell at the outdoors stores and use scent free dryer sheets.
I know you can get scent free detergent at the grocery store but I worry about the brightening agents the most.
I used to wash and hang my stuff outside but we have a coffee plant about a mile away and I walked outside once, the wind was just right, and could smell the coffee roasting while my clothes were hanging....

So basically I worry most about the brightening agents.

[Thesouthpaw]

I wash them in scent free detergents and hang them outside for a few days. I don't know why, because I always play the wind. It just gives me a little more confidence I guess.

[Mike32]

I wash mine in scent free detergent or baking soda and hand outside until dry.

[Tennhunter3]

I usually use Atsko Sport wash unscented.
Sometimes a different brand.
Spray them down with a light coat of water and baking soda.
Put outside to dry.

If im in a hurry or rain outside unscented drier sheets in dryer. Often is the case its so wet here in winter. I buy often whats on clerence rack in Febuary for the next year.

Washing once in Uv killer after you buy can't hurt. Though in my experience only the walmart clothes and a few from bps glow blue.
Most of your quality clothing has no blue fibers they use orange instead. Taking a black light to your clothes you can see which color threads were used in the garment.

Blue glow definitely is real ive had clothes that glowed bright blue when hit with a black light. Most were given to the goodwill.

You can kill bucks with blue fiber walmart clothes I just look at it as why risk busting a hunt when it can be possibly prevented. If im spending all the gas and time going to the tree I don’t want to risk a hunt by being too cheap to buy a bottle of Uv killer once every few years. I spend more on my lunch.

I do play the wind.

[mbone1327]

Stuff them in a bag with pine needles

[HeadHunting]

I use the odorless laundry detergent from Hunters Specialties. I have tried a few different ones and this one seemed to work the best in my opinion in terms of being truly odorless as well as laundering the clothes to take out the human odors.

https://www.amazon.com/Hunters-Specialt ... ZKQR03P35C

The above link is an amazon link for purchase but as Tennhunter3 mentioned, I generally look for it towards the end of hunting season as you can usually find a lot of the scent control products on sale or clearance. I don't do the scent "elimination" sprays but I do believe in not adding unnecessary scents to my hunt from laundry detergents, dryer sheets, body soaps, shampoo & conditioner, etc...

I will save the long rant for another discussion specifically on the topic of scent control but will make the overall point. Understanding the really poor and inaccurate target marketing of scent "elimination or killer" products, the idea is control. No you will not be able to go into the woods, not paying attention to the wind and hunt carefree and expect to kill deer downwind of you consistently, that's not the idea, again it's about controlling as much as you can. We can never eliminate all noise that we make when accessing the woods, the only way to do that is not go there at all. That's not going to happen, so we do everything we can to control the amount of noise we make. We buy the most expensive stands or setups that we can to try and reduce a squeak or creak that might scare the deer, but scoff at the idea of spending $6.00 on an odorless bodywash and showering every time before we hunt because it wont "eliminate" all of our scent and you cant fool a deer's nose.

We can never eliminate all scent, sound or sight exposure to deer when we enter their home, it's just not going to happen. In understanding that though, as conscientious and smart hunters, we can do everything that we can that is feasible by all measures, especially financial, to control our exposures.

[Ack]

Only wash mine when they are actually dirty, and even then they don’t always get washed. Sometimes just hang them outside for a few days. When I do wash them I use 7th generation detergent from the store...no dyes, brighteners or all that stuff. I refuse to buy the high price hunting detergent any more.

[dan]

i wash my hunting pants when they get filthy or start to stank. coats, jackets, heavy flannels rarely get washed. I dont worry about odor as long as it doesnt smell to me, but i do worry about brighteners.

[muddy]

I only wash my clothes when they get bloody or extra dirty, and I just use whatever detergent we happen to have at the time.

[alleyyooper]

Get the cheap laundry soap no brightners of scents. Wash all the hunting clothes in this stuff hang out on the screen porch till dry. stuff in a garabge bag then add fresh fallen leaves to the bag. Do not remove till opening day.

Al

[Wolfie417]

i wash my hunting pants when they get filthy or start to stank. coats, jackets, heavy flannels rarely get washed. I dont worry about odor as long as it doesnt smell to me, but i do worry about brighteners.

I'm curious what your strategy on avoiding brighteners is? I've been overlooking brighteners and think it might be getting me picked off sometimes.

[Moose]

I use All laundry detergent odor and dye free. If im using the dryer then use scent free dryer sheets. I normally dont buy hunting brands just because of the price and how much you get. I think any scent free and dye free will work, especially if you play the wind.

[cw2gsp]

I use the odorless laundry detergent from Hunters Specialties. I have tried a few different ones and this one seemed to work the best in my opinion in terms of being truly odorless as well as laundering the clothes to take out the human odors.

https://www.amazon.com/Hunters-Specialt ... ZKQR03P35C

The above link is an amazon link for purchase but as Tennhunter3 mentioned, I generally look for it towards the end of hunting season as you can usually find a lot of the scent control products on sale or clearance. I don't do the scent "elimination" sprays but I do believe in not adding unnecessary scents to my hunt from laundry detergents, dryer sheets, body soaps, shampoo & conditioner, etc...

I will save the long rant for another discussion specifically on the topic of scent control but will make the overall point. Understanding the really poor and inaccurate target marketing of scent "elimination or killer" products, the idea is control. No you will not be able to go into the woods, not paying attention to the wind and hunt carefree and expect to kill deer downwind of you consistently, that's not the idea, again it's about controlling as much as you can. We can never eliminate all noise that we make when accessing the woods, the only way to do that is not go there at all. That's not going to happen, so we do everything we can to control the amount of noise we make. We buy the most expensive stands or setups that we can to try and reduce a squeak or creak that might scare the deer, but scoff at the idea of spending $6.00 on an odorless bodywash and showering every time before we hunt because it wont "eliminate" all of our scent and you cant fool a deer's nose.

We can never eliminate all scent, sound or sight exposure to deer when we enter their home, it's just not going to happen. In understanding that though, as conscientious and smart hunters, we can do everything that we can that is feasible by all measures, especially financial, to control our exposures.

^^ Great post, well said. I'm no scent control freak but I don't go out of my way to make myself or clothes stink either. I use scent free detergent and let them hang outside to dry. I also have a tote I keep them in, more to stay organized than anything.

[HuntingParadise]

I wash my clothes with no detergent. Hang them up outside and will let them sit with no rain and then use a bin to keep them in outside if it does rain. I try to play the wind but I also rarely get scented when doing this as a precaution.