Thread: Cleaning Hunting Clothing

Last week when back at the hut and hanging up a pig with two mates, the conversation progressed to how to remove blood and clean hunting gear.
Both my mates use cold water to remove blood. One washes only in water, and the other leaves his gear beside the washing machine and the washing fairy cleans it.
Sportwash, cheese grater and sunlight soap, organic plant based cleaners etc - been there tried all those

In my experience / experiments I now recommend the following for anyone interested:

Firstly, blood should be removed with warm 'blood temp' water. Dried blood may need a couple of water changes to get all of it out, but always warm. If cold water is used often a ring stain is left on the clothing where each patch of blood was.

To clean mud, sweat and tears off your now bloodless gear, common old Baking Soda is the go to. Tried this after listening to Shannon Lush on Saturday morning radio live years ago on her weekly show. Cheap as old chips, cleans, sanitises, De-odourises and no UV brighteners !! Also good on wool, socks and undies if you wear them

So put the hunting gear in the machine add about twice as much baking soda as you would use laundry powder hit start and come back to clean gear.
Do not use normal washing powders or liquids if you don't want to be seen. These contain UV brighteners that make the clothes reflect UV and to us look clean and bright. Even the ones that don't list them.
Animals and insects can see UV like a colour, we cannot. Wash your gear with it and you are now a big Florescent man thing creeping round the forest.
Florescent vests and the like are very visible to us because the phosphorus in them converts some of the 'non visible light spectrum' into visible light, so that these florescent items actually emit more visible light than the objects around them. Use ordinary washing powder and you are wearing an animal visible floro vest. Remember to tell your mum "Don't wash my beany with washing powder or laundry liquid".

Good stuff, ta for the heads up.

You clean hunting clothes?

You wear clothes while hunting?

Originally Posted by OPS-4

You wear clothes while hunting?

Uuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhh. I was starting to like you up till now.......

Originally Posted by OPS-4

You wear clothes while hunting?

Not when hunting Bear

Originally Posted by Gibo

You clean hunting clothes?

Ah proof, you are one of the 'Great Unwashed'

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Ah proof, you are one of the 'Great Unwashed'

Not me, my hunting clothes

Mate of mine shot a spiker in a creek bed wearing only jocks mid swim. Dopey thing wandered almost into us.

Thank God there were no photos that day. Let's just say he is no Calvin Klein model.

On another note Baking soda is a very good idea

I’m still struggling with the image of a spiker in jocks swimming towards me

Haha nah we were washing off sweat/cooling down and it just wombled out at 50 odd metres and stood long enough for old mate to get to his rifle a few metres away.

I'm picking it had never seen humans and was upwind. Had a really odd coloured coat for a red too. Will have to see if I can find a pic of the skin.

Moa Hunter, good post. I'll give that ago with the baking soda, sounds very cheap, which I like.

Usually wash my hunting clothes if really bloody/muddy or when I can no longer stand the stink. Some times I just rinse blood and mud off in a bucket of cold water (three or four water changes). When they do go in the washing machine I use "sportwash" which has no UV, scent etc. I wash my meat bag (old pillow cases) first,usually just a cold water wash with nothing added, as this cleans the bags and gets any remnant normal washing powder residue out of machine. Then follow up with my clothes and the sportwash.

I'm out of sportwash now, and its bloody expensive so I'll try out the baking soda.

I use pure borax which is cheap on TradeMe. Same principle as the baking soda I'm guessing. Nothing fancy like scent or brighteners have been added. I tried washing in water only for a long time. But I just got stinkier and stinkier, and not like a forest at all. I also stored all the gear in a bag with pine needles for that forest scent. Did nothing. I want spray on broadleaf cologne now.

Originally Posted by Gibo

Not me, my hunting clothes

Dear Laertes ( Gibo) 'For the apparel oft proclaims the man'

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

Geez, you fall for that uv brightner bullshit?
I'd like to know how many gazillion dollars have been sucked out of idiots on that one.
If gear cant handle a washing machine, how's it going to handle a rough and tumble day in the bush?

7mmwsm I have been trying to work out how a person could take the complete opposite meaning out of what myself and the other blokes have written - are you a woman ??