(HELP) Get B.O. out of hunting clothes!

[dietter700]

Do you guys normally soak the garments in the borax solution or just toss it in the washer with the clothes?

 

[Muddler]

I soak my gym clothes in a solution of borax, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and just a bit of laundry detergent. Normally 1/4-1/2 cup ea of borax and baking soda, ~16 oz of peroxide and maybe a 1/4 tsp of laundry detergent in a couple gallons of hot water... I don't really measure to be honest. Let em soak for a couple of hours and drain. Toss them into the washer with borax and baking soda again in the drum (about the same amount as before) and only use about 1/2 as much laundry detergent as I think I need. Wash on warm and then dry on very low.

I hit the sauna for 20-30 mins everyday after lifting and cardio every morning. I toss those clothes in a bin every night and wash the weeks worth of stinkin clothes on the weekend. The above recipe wipes the scent out. Never had any luck with the sport washes or straight detergent. Scented detergent made it worse.

You might not want to soak the merino in hot water. Get the borax/baking soda dissolved in a little bit of hot, then add some cold to bring the temp down.

 

[dietter700]

I like the way this sounds, thanks Muddler.

You may or may not know, but those three ingredients don't cancel each other out at all do they?

I know vinegar and baking soda will cancel each other out, many people use one or the other and some think combining both would be great but it just cancels itself out.

 

[Rrobason]

I wear minus 33 wool at work all winter and first lite wool hunting... I have had super good luck washing in sport wash... removes all sorts of odors...

 

[Muddler]

The baking soda/borax/peroxide combo doesn't neutralize one another like baking soda and vinegar (acid/base). I believe that the baking soda and peroxide may form percarbonate, that's the stuff in oxyclean. Full disclosure, I'm a chemist/chemical engineer. I just haven't put any thought into what's actually going on. I suspect there's some synergies between all three. I just know it works well and is cheap.

Also one other note, if you wash the clothes with cold water, the baking soda and borax might not fully dissolve and you could be left with white powder/crust on your clothes. That's why I use warm water for the gym clothes. Pretty sure merino should washed in cold water, so I'd dissolve the powders in some warm water, then dump that in the drum and wash on cold.

 

[5MilesBack]

Also one other note, if you wash the clothes with cold water, the baking soda and borax might not fully dissolve and you could be left with white powder/crust on your clothes. That's why I use warm water for the gym clothes. Pretty sure merino should washed in cold water, so I'd dissolve the powders in some warm water, then dump that in the drum and wash on cold.

When we had a real washing machine I never had any issues with the baking soda, but now we have one those electronic so-called high efficiency pieces of crap. It refuses to actually cover the clothes with water and there's very little agitation to mix everything up and actually agitate. I've threated to throw a raccoon in with the wash just for some agitation action. Piece of junk.

 

[-bowfreak-]

Probably gasoline and a match at this point.

 

[dietter700]

So go did what Muddler said today. Soaked with borax, washing soda, detergent (no hydrogen peroxide) then switched to my washer. Before I dumped the concoction back into the washer I thought maybe I ought to google this quick... this is what I found when I searched "is borax safe for marino wool" ...

Wish I did this before soaking it for 2 hours.

Washing the fabric with an alkaline material that has a pH much above 8 (a neutral pH is 7) can harm wool and silk because they are acidic materials. Avoid borax, washing soda, or ammonia; these are alkaline materials, as are some soaps.

No hard feelings to anyone of course, and muddler did say he did this on his gym clothes not his marino. Anyhow it's washing on a deep cycle now in cold water with marino safe detergent. Hopefully it didn't ruin anything.... (which was the main goal from the start)

 

[stonewall]

So go did what Muddler said today. Soaked with borax, washing soda, detergent (no hydrogen peroxide) then switched to my washer. Before I dumped the concoction back into the washer I thought maybe I ought to google this quick... this is what I found when I searched "is borax safe for marino wool" ...

Wish I did this before soaking it for 2 hours.

Washing the fabric with an alkaline material that has a pH much above 8 (a neutral pH is 7) can harm wool and silk because they are acidic materials. Avoid borax, washing soda, or ammonia; these are alkaline materials, as are some soaps.

No hard feelings to anyone of course, and muddler did say he did this on his gym clothes not his marino. Anyhow it's washing on a deep cycle now in cold water with marino safe detergent. Hopefully it didn't ruin anything.... (which was the main goal from the start)

so did you get the smell out?

 

[ManyBullets]

Hydroxycloroquine

 

[gbflyer]

We used to dump in a can of Coke when washing our smelly clothes from commercial fishing. It works.

 

[dietter700]

We used to dump in a can of Coke when washing our smelly clothes from commercial fishing. It works.

WHATTT? realy? !

 

[coloyooper]

I would think an antimicrobial would work. I have some Benefect from my office that I spray shoes/boots down with. It’s also all natural so you don’t need to worry about any sort of irritant.

 

[KSP277]

Throw em in a ziplock bag and freeze em. Works on shoes.

 

[alexanderg23]

Water is the universe solvent. Heat and duration increase its effectiveness.

 

[Jardo]

I Soak in hydrogen peroxide but only my gym shirts. Never tried it on wool. Wool normally doesn’t stink. You must av some serious bo if wool stinks


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[HankNM]

I have used merino for years.Never had the problem.
I use Woolite in washer, as suggested. On wool.

I wash all my clothes in washer with hyd. peroxide , washing soda & free liquid detergent. Small amount of each, in cold water. Work clothes come out clean & no perfumy scents.
Even game bags will come out clean after soaking in light bleach & peroxide over night in bucket ,with same solution in washer.
Done my own laundry my whole life........

 

[Milestone522]

I used to wear Minus 33 wool. Used woolite and cold water with the washer cycle and would hang to dry. Sunlight when available.

Now I use the PCU base layers (synthetic) from Beyond Clothing and also use Woolite and hang to dry. If in the field just rinse in cold water, wring it out, Swing it around a few times and hang up in the sunlight for a few minutes to dry. Lingering smells have never been an issue with either material but the Beyond stuff dries so quick it is like magic.

But woolite and sunshine should solve your problem.

 

[MuleDeerMike]

Atsko Sportwash works better than the hunting brands scent free detergents I've found. I washed in cold water on gentle for years, but recently started doing warm water on regular setting and it works way better. Hang dry.

 

[dietter700]

Throw em in a ziplock bag and freeze em. Works on shoes.

I have thought about that!