The Complete Guide to Washing Hunting Gear

Elk season opens in North Idaho in September. Deer season follows. If you’re heading into the Selkirks, the Cabinets, or anywhere in the Panhandle this fall, the condition of your gear matters — not just for warmth and durability, but for staying undetected.

Washing hunting gear isn’t just about cleanliness. Done right, it’s part of your scent control strategy. Done wrong, you can ruin expensive camo, destroy waterproofing, or leave behind detergent scent that’s detectable to deer at 200 yards.

The Scent Control Problem

Regular laundry detergent contains brighteners, fragrances, and chemicals that glow under UV light and leave human scent. Deer and elk can detect human odor at concentrations well below what we can perceive. The goal with hunting clothes is to wash out your scent without adding anything new.

Use a scent-free, UV-free detergent designed for hunting clothes — brands like Scent-A-Way, Dead Down Wind, and Wildlife Research make specific laundry products. These detergents don’t contain UV brighteners (which can make camo glow to animals that see in UV) and are formulated to reduce residual human odor.

Washing Camo: What to Know

Most modern camo is printed on polyester or nylon blends. These fabrics hold up well to regular washing, but a few things to keep in mind:

• Cold water only — hot water can fade printed patterns over time
• Gentle cycle to preserve any DWR coating
• No fabric softener — it degrades water repellency and leaves scent
• Turn inside-out to protect the print
• Air dry when possible, or tumble on low heat

Base Layers and Merino Wool

Merino wool base layers are popular with hunters because they naturally resist odor — you can wear them for multiple days before they become noticeable. When you do wash them:

• Cold water, gentle cycle
• Wool-safe detergent (scent-free varieties exist)
• Lay flat to dry or tumble on very low heat

Synthetic base layers (polyester, nylon) need to be washed after every use — they don’t have wool’s natural odor resistance and bacteria builds up fast.

Insulated and Waterproof Layers

Down-filled hunting jackets and vests need the same care as any down garment: large-capacity front-loader, down-specific detergent, low heat with dryer balls. Stuffing a down hunting coat into a small home washer with an agitator is a good way to destroy the baffles.

Waterproof/breathable hunting shells (Gore-Tex, Sitka StormDurance, etc.) should be washed with a technical fabric cleaner, not regular detergent. After washing, a 20-minute tumble on low heat reactivates the DWR coating. If the jacket still wets out, apply a wash-in DWR treatment.

Waders and Rubber/Neoprene Gear

Waders and rubber hunting pants get a different kind of dirty. Rinse them off thoroughly after each use — mud and debris degrades seam tape over time. For full washing:

• Turn inside-out and air dry after every use
• For a full wash, use a front-loader on gentle with cold water and a small amount of mild soap
• Never put neoprene in a hot dryer — it shrinks and cracks

After the Season: End-of-Year Storage Wash

When season ends, do a full gear wash before storage. Blood, dirt, and animal oils left in fabric over the winter set into stains that won’t come out, and they attract insects. Wash everything, dry completely, and store in sealed bags or bins away from household odors like laundry detergent and cooking smells.

If you’re dealing with a substantial pile — multiple sets of camo, base layers, wool mid-layers, pack covers — a laundromat with large-capacity machines is the practical choice. You can run four or five loads simultaneously and be done in a couple of hours.

We’re at 477181 US-95 in Ponderay — a short drive from Sandpoint and convenient before or after a trip up into the hills. Good luck out there this season.

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