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How to clean dirty wool hunting pants

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How to clean dirty wool hunting pants

Old 09-29-2014, 12:32 PM
  #1  
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Default How to clean dirty wool hunting pants

Normally I take my wool clothes to the dry cleaners. I have some M-51 Army Surplus wool trousers that got really filthy with blood and guts when I gutted an elk in 2011 (the elk was laying on the side of a hill, guts came out of the elk down the hill, and I had to kneel there to work inside the chest cavity cutting stuff loose). I took them to the dry cleaners, but they didn't get them very clean. There is crap -- blood and probably gut material -- still caked on the pants.

Any suggestions about an alternative way to clean these pants? I've got a couple of other pairs of the same pants that are clean. These are cheap. If I can't clean the dirty ones, I'll just throw them away, but I hate to do that. I don't need pretty clothes to hunt in . . . I just don't want them to look absolutely like I've been wallowing in manure.
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Old 09-29-2014, 01:24 PM
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As the blood, etc. is dried by now, have you tried to slap the trousers to get the dried goo out? I too wear wool surplus trousers but only get a little whitetail blood on them, which has come off once dried. I have rubbed snow on the blooded areas at times to remove blood or lessen the amount of blood. If you now have a stain rather than dried material, I am not sure what might work. But, don't throw those surplus wool trousers away!
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Old 09-30-2014, 04:34 AM
  #3  
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Default washing wool

I wash my wool cloths in cold water in the machine. When done, do not, do not put them in the dryer. Hang them in a shaded area or from the shower curtain rack. I have done this for 50 years of hunting.I was into Civil war reanacting when i was young. The uniforms were all wool.This is how we and the original soldiers washed there uniforms, They did by hand in streams or tubs in a main camp. they didn't wash much tough. Just keep away from heat. That's why i like wool, it gets wet, but still keeps you warm. Oh yeah, use a wool safe soap, and don't wash to often. I also get my wool coats dry cleaned, to big to wash. The wool in shirts and pants are a weave and is stronger than a nitted sweather , they shrink.

Last edited by troutbum; 09-30-2014 at 04:43 AM.
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Old 09-30-2014, 06:10 AM
  #4  
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Thanks for the advice. This is a lot more than a stain. There is material caked on. I may try beating the cloth or even just working the cloth with my hands to break the material up better. I also like the idea of washing in water -- wool safe soap -- and slow drying (not in clothes dryer).

I also love wool for hunting. It is silent. It is warm when wet. Additionally -- and this is something I haven't heard from others, maybe I am deluding myself -- it seems to me it has a broad temperature comfort range. I've worn these M-51 trousers over wicking long underwear in 20 degree weather hunting elk at 11,000' and I've worn the same trousers over long underwear at 70 degrees hunting deer at 500'.
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Old 10-19-2014, 12:33 PM
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I hunted elk again in 2014, killed a cow elk, and filthed another pair of these M-51 wool trousers. I ran water over the dirty spots on the trousers (the seat as well as the knees and the cuffs) while I rubbed the cloth against itself to free the dried blood and probably gutting material. I squeezed the water out of the material, watching the water run rusty red. I kept doing this until the water ran clear. Then I washed the trousers in the clothes washer using COLD water on a DELICATE cycle using WOOLITE soap. The pants came out acceptably clean. Plenty clean enough for elk hunting.

I then did the same processing on the pair of M-51 wool pants that had not come clean back in 2011. It looks like I will have similar results with them. I'm very pleased with the results. These are great hunting pants.
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Old 10-19-2014, 02:36 PM
  #6  
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that's about all ya can do i used to take a little scrub brush like the ones for fingernails and wash mine in sports wash that used to work pretty well.
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Old 10-19-2014, 03:46 PM
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I wash all my wool clothing- hunting or not- in cold water, then line dry. I pull on the pant legs and sleeves before hanging. Take them to a laundramat and use a front loader.
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Old 10-21-2014, 06:40 AM
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Originally Posted by crokit
I wash all my wool clothing- hunting or not- in cold water, then line dry. I pull on the pant legs and sleeves before hanging. Take them to a laundramat and use a front loader.
What does pulling on the pant legs and sleeves before hanging accomplish? What is the object of that?
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Old 10-24-2014, 09:44 AM
  #9  
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Only you old guys will remember this trick .... pants stretchers !!!

I love using wool. Quiet and warm. After having a cleaner refuse to take a seriously bloodied pant, I tried this. I soaked them pants in cold water for a while then rinsed a couple of times. I then hand washed them with one of the "scent removal" products. Not that I think that it matters. After a couple of rinses the pants came clean. Then I hung them outside to dry .... using 1950's vintage "pants stretchers" that I had I found in my mom's stuff when we broke down mom and pop's household a few year's back. Kept the pants' shape pretty darn well.

Last edited by Mojotex; 10-25-2014 at 09:52 AM.
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Old 10-24-2014, 10:42 AM
  #10  
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Yep, I remember the pants and sock stretchers. Wool rules!
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