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.

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!

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.

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'.

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.

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.

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.:rock:

What does pulling on the pant legs and sleeves before hanging accomplish? What is the object of that?

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.

Yep, I remember the pants and sock stretchers. Wool rules!

Try Hydrogen Peroxide.
Put them in the sink with the stopper in, and pour Hydrogen Peroxide all over the blood.
It should foam up, and break down the blood.

I hope this helps.

Even in cold water, wool tends to shrink a bit. Pulling on the legs and sleeves stretches the material abit before the drying occurs.

I don't ever clean my good wool.