Hunting CLothes Laundry Advice Needed

[buckfever1974]

Hey guys.

I'm trying to think ahead as I'm now dealing with clothing for three hunters (two kids) instead of just myself and I find myself with less and less time to run to my parents house who have their own washing machine. I live in an apartment complex with a few communial washers and dryers, I'm surrounded by laundramats and have a bathroom with...well when you have three women in the house at the same time, there is enough bottles of scented crap laying around, even navigating that after taking a scent free shower is like walking through a mine field. I don't know if any of you have been in this situation but do you have any advice in washing your clothes in these types of situations. Like I said, time is limited during the week because of coaching and what not so I like to try and do a bunch of it all at once and even more so now that there are three of us. For what t's worth, I'm not allowed to hang my clothes out in back of the apartments. I'd like to be as scent free as possible but it seems to become harder and harder.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Rusty]

I know the market is flooded with scent-free products these days but I don't know that it's really all that necessary.  Much of your scent comes from your mouth so clothing is probably much less important than the manufacturers of these products want you to believe.

 

I shower with scent free Ivory soap.  I run my clothes through a wash cycle with baking soda and let them air dry.  Then I keep everything in a big plastic bin.

 

I've never spent a penny on scent-free products.  Wind direction is much more important.  

Edited August 9, 2016 by Rusty

[buckfever1974]

I know the market is flooded with scent-free products these days but I don't know that it's really all that necessary.  Much of your scent comes from your mouth so clothing is probably much less important than the manufacturers of these products want you to believe.

 

I shower with scent free Ivory soap.  I run my clothes through a wash cycle with baking soda and let them air dry.  Then I keep everything in a big plastic bin.

 

I've never spent a penny on scent-free products.  Wind direction is much more important.  

Thanks for the input man.  BTW.  On that mouth scent issue, do you not drink, eat or something before going in the woods or do you gargle...such?  My problem is I can't typically let  things air dry outside and I don't have a basement to hang things.

Edited August 9, 2016 by buckfever1974

[Rusty]

Drying in a regular dryer is fine.  And no, I don't eat or not eat anything particular in regards to scent.

 

Our prevailing winds are from the northwest and southwest, so I set up to the east of where I expect to see deer.  

[Rusty]

If you are going to use bait, mix a small amount of sweet feed in with your bait.  Keep your clothes in a plastic bin and scatter a small amount of sweet feed in with your clothes.

 

Just don't put sweet feed in a feeder, it will clog it. 

Edited August 9, 2016 by Rusty

[buckfever1974]

If you are going to use bait, mix a small amount of sweet feed in with your bait.  Keep your clothes in a plastic bin and scatter a small amount of sweet feed in with your clothes.

 

Just don't put sweet feed in a feeder, it will clog it. 

Thats a hell of an idea.  To that end, I think I will be eating a granola bar before every hunt...lol.

[Haskell_Hunter]

You're hunting NJ deer, they are inundated with human scent.  Most of our deer feed next to laundry dryer vents as they munch through the landscaping.

 

IMHO, I don't use any kind of scent cover/cleaner, drink a solid cup of coffee before hunting (and have a thermos of it too), and have never spooked a deer because I stunk.  Almost always they get spooked because of movement or sound.

 

I used to spend money on scent shampoo and the like, and now won't spend a dime on it because I don't think it matters to the domesticated NJ deer herd.

[Axiom]

You're hunting NJ deer, they are inundated with human scent.  Most of our deer feed next to laundry dryer vents as they munch through the landscaping.

 

IMHO, I don't use any kind of scent cover/cleaner, drink a solid cup of coffee before hunting (and have a thermos of it too), and have never spooked a deer because I stunk.  Almost always they get spooked because of movement or sound

 

 

I'm With Haskell...  Deer smell all kinds of human stuff all day every day.. What they are really sensitive to is movement.. And keep your face covered.. They do know what humans look like ...

[Bucksnbows]

Wind direction, wind direction and wind direction are your top 3 most important factors when it comes to scent.  

 

That said, I do the old baking soda to clean my laundry and I use a scent free dryer sheet, then place my clothes in a plastic garbage bag I tie tightly.  I put my outer layers on outside my vehicle while standing in the woods.  I do use a scent free soap to shower and that is probably not necessary, but the "man soap" my wife buys me has a scent to it, so I won't use that prior to a hunt.   

[bwd172]

I agree that deer are used to human scent, but I hunt the Water Gap. Not much human scent where I go. Anyway, I use scent and dye free Arm & Hammer detergent, dry it without a dryer sheet, then put it in a garbage bag. Spray it with scent killer before I go in to the woods. That works for me.

[LPJR]

No beans.

[CJ3a]

Stop talking about payng attention to wind direction. You are going to put alot of prostaffers and snake oil salesmen out of work.

[johnnyo8148]

I wash all of clothes in scent free detergent and put them all in a plastic bin until the season starts. on 10 September @ 4:00am, I'll put the clothes on, get in the car and when I get to the hunting area, I'll spray down with some scent free spray and hunt. As long as the wind is in my face, I don't get overly concerned about too much scent control. Remember, play the wind, kill a deer.

[Joeybeets]

Careful Buckfever1974 Bears love granola bars!!!!

Edited August 10, 2016 by Joeybeets

[Ms Grit]

I throw my hunting clothing in a Scent Crusher Gear Bag and run it for 30 minutes.  I never believed in the "Ozone Technology" for scent control until I borrowed one of the Gear Bags last year and subsequently shot a 10 pt in VA.  Fast forward to this year (about 6 weeks ago) when I lost a huge amount of wild game in a freezer and didn't know it for a week.  Imagine how rank the smell was.  Anyway, I rigged the tubing from the Scent Crusher to run inside of the freezer and although it took 2 full cycles, it eliminated 99% of the horrific smell. It's a bit on the pricey side, but I now swear by it.