Scent removal question

B

bernie

New member
I am not a scent "nazi" but am concerned about non-natural odors when deer hunting. The problem comes in that all of my hunting stuff is stored in a shop behind my house. Stands, clothing, blinds, etc. Also, my lawnmower is stored in there. I keep it off site during the winter months so it is going to my storage shed this weekend. The problem is, all of the sudden, my shop reeks of gasoline. All summer, no problem, and now that it is hunting season, this happens. First, any idea why all of the sudden this became a problem. My wife thinks the cooler weather does not allow the fumes to dissipate as well.
By washing and drying, will that be good enough to remove the odor from the clothes? How do I get the scent out of the building besides "airing it out?" I live in town, and leaving it it wide open while not home is inviting theft. Also, will and scent killer spray work on the cloth seats of my deer stand?
The odor is so bad, I went to the shop tonight for about 30 minutes and when I came in my wife told me that I reeked!
Sorry for the long rambling post, but I have never had to battle anything like this before. I really do not want to go to the deer woods smelling like a gas station.
 
Find an unscented laundry soap and wash clothing as usual. Any washable gear, use the soap on it. Store your stuff in the house until the sweet aroma of juicemoline is gone from your shop.

You're just gonna have to open windows/doors as best you can, when you're home. Set a fan to blow air from outside.

I've used some oil-absorbing almost-powder wood stuff. It works better than OilDry. Sucks oil from the pores of concrete; might help with the residue of the gasoline.

Art
 
Use the laundry soap without brighteners. They claim deer and elk can see the UV glow produced by brighteners.

I have noticed a difference since I started using the scent free stuff without brighteners.
 
I don't buy all the newer scent eliminator clothes, preferring to wash in non-brightener camo soap. But I go absolutely crazy about gasoline and campfire scents getting into my clothes, body or gear. I try to avoid buying or filling gasoline when I am going on a hunt, and I "case" the gasoline station for petroleum products on the ground if I am wearing my hunting boots, and maybe even change shoes. (If I have a non-hunter or less picky person with me, I try to get them to fill up if they don't mind.) I would store my stuff outside a place that smells like gasoline. For all the time we spend dreaming about hunting, and the little amount of time most people usually get to do it, why take a chance.
 
I also keep my hunting clothes AND boots sealed in a plastic bag until I'm ready to put them on. That keeps them from picking up any unwanted odors.
 
I kept all my clothes in "sealed" plastic tubs. Trouble is, the smell still got in. I guess I will go to plastic bags too. Thanks
 
I wash my clothes in non UV soap and then I store them in the camphouse until next use. For masking scent I break a bough of cedar on the walk out and rub it every where I can. I do use a scentless deoderant so my wife doesn't get upset about my 'pits after I hunt.

To rid yourself of gasoline, I would wash and soak your clothes and then I would dry them with heat. After the dryer quits crack the door and smell. The hot air should tell you quickly if you were successful.

I always hunt facing the wind though so I don't do a whole lot of worrying. I step in so much Scent masking patties as I walk through the pastures to my stand that I cannot imagine they'd smell anything but cedary smelling cow dung.
 
Wash the clothes with some apple cider vinegar. You can also spray it on spills to knock down the smell. The owner of a fuel distributorship let me in on this little trick. Citco told him to try it to neutralize the smell from a fuel oil leak. He washes his clothes with it on a regular bases.

Afterwards, put the clothes in a garbage bag with some pine boughs. The clothes will absorb the pine scent and help mask anything else.
 
Thanks Dogjaw, that is one of the most useful ideas so far. Apples are great at removing nasty aromas in a closed space, had not though about the apple cider vinegar, but I bet it would work the same.
 
I agree with DOGJAW,Donot use your washer&dryer your washer has enough soap buildup in it and the dryer has scent in it too.Also try pine oil cleaner.
 
I have seen guys with a beer in one hand, a ciggarette in the other and the rifle over their knees 25 years ago killing deer.

That said, I would get some of the scent free shampoo from Wally Mart and wash the clothes. Then hang them to air dry. Next, go get some dirt and pine tree limbs or cedar limbs from where hunt and put them in the bottom of a large trash bag.

Then when the clothes are dry, let them hang in that bag outside.

That's just what I do.
 
the following is my opinion from 40 years of hunting.and experimenting.....you can buy every scent masker known to the free world, and wash your clothes in the latest detergent concockted from NASA until your eyes are crossed. if the wind is not in your favor, all of these tricks wont matter.
 
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