quest. on scent free detergent

[woodshed]

My wife says that she can buy scent free detergent at the store for much less than the stuff in the sporting stores. I remember reading that the brightners can make the camo glow to the deer.

How do we know this?

What is the agent that does it?

Why can they see it and we can't if so?

Is it possible to find one that doesn't have that agent?

Is this a gimic to get us to overpay a ridiculous amount per ounce compared to regular detergent?

There has to be a better/cheaper alternative to what is in the sporting section. It is way too expensive per ounce.

thanks

[BearClaw]

I know you can buy unscented detergents but I don't know about those UV things. For all the things we hunters spend money on, and a lot more money than what something like Hunter's Specialties Laundry Soap costs, I would buy if if nothing else for the confidence that I have in it. It may not be cost effective per ounce compared to shelf stuff but to me it's worth it becuase I know I'm scent free. You can get carried away sometimes but I've used the HS Specialties products for years and am convinced of their effectiveness in getting close to deer. It's worth the small investment.

[wtnhunt]

Dont think it is a gimmick at all. But unless the laundering detergent has uv brighteners I dont think you really have to worry too much. I have a book from Dr Leonard Lee Rue where he explains how deer see the color spectrum and the range of frequencies. Pretty interesting reading.

Most of the clothes washes like sportswash and others similar are relatively cheap.

[LifeNRA]

Its not like your washing your entire house of clothing in this stuff! I use it for the scent factor only. For years my wife used to wash my camo with whatever she had in the laundry room. I went to a show in Harrisburg and walked into the booth which had the blacklight on. My camo never glowed like the ones they had on the wall. I am still not too sure about the UV brighteners as some claim. But hey! If it make you feel more secure while your hunting, then its worth it! Like I said, I use to control scent, no more. Even though some laundry detergents say scent free, some still have some kind of scent in there. Why take the chance! Its only a few months out of the year too! JMO!

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

OK, so you'll spend at most an extra 25 cents per wash load if you use the scent free products instead of regular laundry soap. Just exactly how many wash loads of camo ARE you expecting to do during the season? Let's see, 2 loads per week equal 50 cents and an 8 week season means you've spent an extra 4 bucks on laundry. Stretch that out to a 3 month season and it goes up to a whopping 6 dollars! If that's going to break you, then buddy, you shouldn't be spending ANY money on hunting.

[Brad6639]

I know its sometime tough to pay the fee's that they are asking for this, but I know ever since I started using the H.S. products, Ive been seeing far more deer. I found a recipe to make the scent away stuff, and it does seem to work, but I just dont feel as comfortable when Im wearing it. I shot a buck last year with a bow that was on the same trail I was 2 hours earlier while I walked in and hung up scent, and he didnt smell my homemade scent eliminater. I ussually just buy it and dont worry about the cost, its not cheap, but hunting is not a cheap sport and if your gonna do it, might as well have the odds as much in your faver as possible. If you want the recipe pm me, it does appear to work, but I persoanlly feel better when Im wearing the real thing. As for the detergent that you mentioned, I dont skimp on that or the body wash.

[woodshed]

I guess your right. It's definately not going to break me. I was just wondering what the deal is.

I do hunt frequently, so I wash a lot of camo. I can go through more detergent than most I suppose. If I can save a little, hey, why not. But if doesn't work, it doesn't work. I have no problem buying the good stuff if it makes a differance.

[BearClaw]

The deal is that as my wife says, "They see us coming!" Not the deer but the hunting accessory manufacturers. You have to be careful of all the stuff that is out there. Everything promises to get us close, etc. and if we think it will give us an edge, we'll buy it! In the camo wash stuff, I know it works and it does give me that edge that I need. I also need the confidence to know that I have to concentrate on the shot, not worrying that they are going to wind me. If I had a deer get close and then take off, the last thing I would think happened was my scent. I'm not arrogant about it but I take a lot of precautions about it, including the camo wash and spray, and I'd be surprised if it was my scent. Not saying it's not possible! Have a great hunting year!!

[BKE]

I went with scent free commercial product (not hunting) off the shelf and also went with the home made version of a scent eliminator spray, saves quite a bit of $$. As for the UV issue, I think it is a fact but it can be tackled with a product made by Atsko (UV eliminator). In reading the hunting product labels (like DDW and others) I didn't see that the detergent mentioned eliminating the UV,did I miss something? Bottom line is I can spend an exaggurated amount on 1 product rather than on 3 or 4. Just a personal choice is all. Good luck everyone, no matter what you're wearing.

[Guest Guideman]

I myself am a Hunters specialties user, however, if I run out and don't have the time to go to the store and re-stock........

My back up weapon is arm and hammer baking powder. YUP! Ya use it in your freezers and fridge to kill oders.

I take 1 box and run a full cyle thru the wash. Then, after I neutralize the washer, I then wash my clothes in a load with a box of arm and hammer. Then I hang my clothes in the woods behind the house to dry, then bag them in my scent control bags.

[bwlacy]

I went to a seminar put on by Jon Eberhardt (sp?). He kills alot of huge deer in Michigan on state land and private land. He is also sponsored by Scent Lok. He came right out and said that all those detergents sold in the sporting goods section are a waste of money. He told me to buy Arm & Hammer hypo allergenic scent free and dye free laundry detergent. Contains no scent or uv brighteners and costs a lot less than the other stuff. This guy is a scent concious freak also. He shaves his body during hunting season to remove more of his scent, wears baseslayers, scent lock outer layer, changes his clothes in the tree if needed. So if it's good enough for him then I think it's good enough for me. I have used it for two seasons and haven't noticed any difference from when I used the other name brands, and a big jug of it will last a couple seasons.

He has a couple of books out and some DVD's. The books are a pretty good read.

Matt

Ps I do think that Silver XP is the best spray on the market though.

[dfol20]

All I have to say is that you still have to watch the wind, and pray to God that the Mack Daddy buck isn't carrying around a black-light on his head.

[Rhino]

A don't have a clue what the UV brightening agents are in detergent you buy at the store. I do know from looking at those detergents every one I've ever checked states it contains UV brighteners.

From research it's been proven that a deer's visible light spectrum is a lot different from ours. On the lower end they can't make out the colors orange or red so that's why orange became the hunting safety vest color of choice. The the upper end of a deer's visible light includes their ability to see ultraviolet light. We can't. One of the closest things we can use and see toward the ultraviolet light spectrum is a black light. If your cloths glow under a black light you can be fairly certain a deer will see ultraviolet light reflected off your cloths.

If you want to find out more details about what's been discovered about deer through deer research check into some of the books and deer hunting material written by James C. Kroll (also known as Dr. Deer).

[Brad6639]

I went to a seminar put on by Jon Eberhardt (sp?). He kills alot of huge deer in Michigan on state land and private land. He is also sponsored by Scent Lok. He came right out and said that all those detergents sold in the sporting goods section are a waste of money. He told me to buy Arm & Hammer hypo allergenic scent free and dye free laundry detergent. Contains no scent or uv brighteners and costs a lot less than the other stuff. This guy is a scent concious freak also. He shaves his body during hunting season to remove more of his scent, wears baseslayers, scent lock outer layer, changes his clothes in the tree if needed. So if it's good enough for him then I think it's good enough for me. I have used it for two seasons and haven't noticed any difference from when I used the other name brands, and a big jug of it will last a couple seasons.

He has a couple of books out and some DVD's. The books are a pretty good read.

Matt

Ps I do think that Silver XP is the best spray on the market though.

I tend to disagree, I personally would take the scent free stuff over the scent lock suits. Ive been using just about everything hunter specialties has to offer in the form of scent elimination for the past 6 or 7 years, and Ive shot a ton of deer in that timeframe. I would like a scent lock suit, but the way I see it is thats a lot of money I can buy scent eliminating products with and camo does wear out after awhile. I think a lot of people think once you buy a scent controlling suit that you can just do as you please and the deer just wont care anymore. I think if you use them as a combo you have a huge advantage, but Id far rather be in the woods without the suit instead of without the scent eliminating products. Im not endorsing H.S products, there just the best Ive found and they do just what they say they will. As a side note, it took me 4 or 5 years to shoot my first bow deer, and the year I started using scent controlling products was the year I got my first bow-deer, and ever since then I just expect to see deer close and have shot opportunities. Before I started watching my scent, I was happy with my season if I even saw 1 deer while hunting.

[Rhino]

I would like a scent lock suit, but the way I see it is thats a lot of money I can buy scent eliminating products with and camo does wear out after awhile.

Actually if you take care of your suits they will not fade and last a lot longer than regular camo. I virtually wore out 1 of my first 2 suits over about 8 years of use and never had a camo fading problem with them. Barbed wire fence yes but no fading problem. The other one is still good to go. Why? Unless you get foreign odors on the outside of the suit you only need to put them in the dryer for reactivation. The simple reason they don't fade like regular camo is you don't wash and dry them unless you need to after getting foreign odors (or deer blood) on the outside of the suit. I deer hunt somewhere between 55 and 65 days a year on average and probably only have to wash my suits about 3 or 4 times per season. I do reactivate them at least for every 2 days of wear though (every day if I sweat in them).

I think a lot of people think once you buy a scent controlling suit that you can just do as you please and the deer just wont care anymore. I think if you use them as a combo you have a huge advantage, but Id far rather be in the woods without the suit instead of without the scent eliminating products.

Regarding the statemant about poor scent control preparation by hunters using scent control clothing, is that a personal observation or an assumption?

I'm still at least as careful about reducing my scent profile (showering with scent eliminating soups..etc.) before I ever put on my suit. I even wash the towels I dry off with after a shower in scent free soup. No sense drying off after a shower with a towel that has been washed in a household detergent that has those perfume scents in them. Everyone I know that uses them still goes through the same scent control measure they used prior to using scent control clothing. Some are even more particular than they used to be. From personal use comparing scent elimination sprays to scent elimination clothing without question I'd rather be in the woods with scent elimination clothing.

One thing you can never do with scent elimination sprays is cover the scent of your breath. You can definately filter it with the proper use of a scent elimination headnet or mask. I'm really surprised someone has not come out with a scent elimination tooth paste or mouth wash yet. Maybe they have and I just missed it. I've seen the advertisements for the gum though just like most of us have. Now I've read how some hunters blow off breath scent as a non factor but I know it can be a factor. I've gone into detail about 2 particular experiences in past forum threads. Just consider how many cubic yards of air you exhale per minute. Knowing that at times we can detect other peoples bad breath and how poor our sense of smell is compared to a deer's nose. Just how much foreign scent do you think you're pumping out every hour you're on stand breathing? IMHO a scent control headnet that covers your hair and allows you to filter your breath is the most important piece of scent control clothing.

I've used scent elimination sprays before I started using scent control clothing and without a doubt the clothing is much better at reducing my scent profile. Also, because I felt the need to wash my old camo clothing after each time I used it, with the amount of time I spend in the woods regular camo clothing would fade a lot before a single season was over. I've never had a problem with scent control clothing fading. If I actually put a pencil to it the cost per hunt I get from my scent control suits is cheaper than I used to get out of my regular camo that faded during a single season. Once my regular camo faded too bad it became scouting and preseason work clothing because it didn't allow me to blend in anymore. My old faded camo shirts & T shirts are still good for layering under my scent control suits though.

BTW, I still use scent elimination sprays on my pack, rubber boots, and gear that I carry to the stand with me. However, with the limited amount of use I have for sprays a bottle of spray now last a long time.

[Brad6639]

I am basing it off what Ive read and heard at proshops. Im not bashing suits by any stretch, Im just saying that given one or the other, Id opt for the scent elimination products. They eradicate scent at the molecular level, the suits just try and stop anything that might have slipped by. As a combinatinon they are great, but you cant just toss them in a dryer and expect to be as scent free as someone who takes the showers, uses the deoderants, dresses in the feild, plays the wind, and sprays down with the sprays. The ads for these even say"forget the wind, just hunt", which I think is a huge understatement. H.S, did come out with scent eliminating mouthcare products, not sure what all they include but I saw them at Walmart.

[Brad6639]

Alright, i just returned from Walmart, H.s has the scent free mouthwash and toothpaste for 10 bucks as a kit. I thought thats what it was but wanted to make sure thats what it all came with before i said one way or the other. I might pick some up later this week and give them a try. Normaly I just take a seperate toothbrush and dip it in baking soda and then brush.

[buckee]

I wash all my cloths in Baking soda.

No UV brighteners, and it neutralizes all scent

it fits my budget.

I do use Yukon Eradicator (scent neutralizer) on my face, hair, hat and hands.

I am a successful hunter and have had deer as close as 2 or 3 yards without detecting me

[bwlacy]

I tend to disagree, I personally would take the scent free stuff over the scent lock suits. Ive been using just about everything hunter specialties has to offer in the form of scent elimination for the past 6 or 7 years, and Ive shot a ton of deer in that timeframe. I would like a scent lock suit, but the way I see it is thats a lot of money I can buy scent eliminating products with and camo does wear out after awhile. I think a lot of people think once you buy a scent controlling suit that you can just do as you please and the deer just wont care anymore. I think if you use them as a combo you have a huge advantage, but Id far rather be in the woods without the suit instead of without the scent eliminating products. Im not endorsing H.S products, there just the best Ive found and they do just what they say they will. As a side note, it took me 4 or 5 years to shoot my first bow deer, and the year I started using scent controlling products was the year I got my first bow-deer, and ever since then I just expect to see deer close and have shot opportunities. Before I started watching my scent, I was happy with my season if I even saw 1 deer while hunting.

Brad I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say. I'm saying that you can use Arm & Hammer unscented detergent instead of the stuff they sell in the sporting goods section and get the same results. I still do everything I can to be scent concious on top of wearing Scent Lok.

I don't know if I see anymore deer, though I do see more older bucks. I killed my first deer with a bow in 1983 when all this stuff wasn't even thought of yet.

Matt

[Stinger-Hunter]

You can always use baking soda. I use it for sure and it does take out the scent. I usually wash my hunting clothes 3 times before the beginning of the season - 2 times with baking soda, then 1 time with just hot water.

After that it is usually baking soda every few times that I hunt.