getting rid of the stink

[Pickleodeon]

I made it. But, my gear reeks. Horribly. I've washed my down bag, at the laundromat of course, and it's better than it was.

My pack though, man, it's awful. I've had it sitting outside on the porch and in the sun for about a week and it still smells. Is there a way to get rid of the stink? You can't wash a pack very well. Any ideas, past thruhikers?

[boarstone]

Go to Sam's club or whatever you have....check in the cleaning section for gallon of stuff called Odor Ban. Use as directed. DON"T use more than the label states, more is NOT better w/this stuff. Repeated washes will work better than one dose of over indulgence. If all else fails, look for a odor killer for kennels in local hardware store or your local farm store.

[Just a Hiker]

I fill up my bathtub and add Nikwax Tech Wash (as directed), and then I just keep dunking the pack over and over into the water. I do this for about 20 minutes, then I rinse the pack in the shower and hang it to dry. I am always amazed at how black the water gets and how dirty the pack actually was. Good luck.

[Wags]

you can try adding a cup of white vinegar to your laundry. that really helps out w/ my stuff

[Wags]

WOW glad to see you made it pick!

[max patch]

Blast it at a car wash.

[Pickleodeon]

hm, some good ideas. Thank ya!

[Sleepy the Arab]

Accept it, and learn to enjoy it.

I'm serious. If you got the hiker blood in ya it would well be the best thing to realize, as the scent is never going away.

[Jack Tarlin]

Around nine years ago, some godforsaken wretch put a big ole maggoty groundhog in my pack at Trail Days.

Didn't find it til the weekend was over.

Got a roll of quarters and a humungous thing of Febreeze and took the pack to the do-it-yourself car wash.

Took awhile, but it worked.

[Lone Wolf]

big daddy was his name

[sbhikes]

If your pack is frameless you can put it in the wash. Then line dry.

[saimyoji]

big daddy was his name

the ground hog or the car wash?

[Jayboflavin04]

congrats...the sweet smell of victory!!!

[Trailweaver]

You could also try to put some cat litter into a large plastic garbage bag and put your bag in with it, seal it up for a week or so, and see what happens. When a freezer goes out and the food goes bad inside, putting cat litter into the freezer for a week is what is recommended to absorb rotten food odor. It needs to be a good quality clay litter.

[crazypete]

Get a large contractor trash bag big enough to hold the pack and empty an entire jug of fast orange in there and toss your pack in. Add enough water to give the pumice some mobility and let it soak. Then knead it around a bit, let it sit some more and viola! Your pack will be squeeky dry.

I used this method to banish all kinds of
1. skunk smell
2. oil
3. rotten smells.

It works like magic. You might need to nikwax the pack to restore the waterproofing.

[beakerman]

Get a large contractor trash bag big enough to hold the pack and empty an entire jug of fast orange in there and toss your pack in. Add enough water to give the pumice some mobility and let it soak. Then knead it around a bit, let it sit some more and viola! Your pack will be squeeky dry.

I used this method to banish all kinds of
1. skunk smell
2. oil
3. rotten smells.

It works like magic. You might need to nikwax the pack to restore the waterproofing.

It must be magic because you go from soaking a pack in a bag full of water to squeaky dry (what is squeaky dry? I've heard of squeaky clean but not dry) without ever taking it out, rinsing the detergent off or anything...or am I missing something?

[thecaptain]

try "dead down wind" it's what hunters use to wash their clothes in.....used it on my dog who got into something dead worked great

[crazypete]

It must be magic because you go from soaking a pack in a bag full of water to squeaky dry (what is squeaky dry? I've heard of squeaky clean but not dry) without ever taking it out, rinsing the detergent off or anything...or am I missing something?

Well, I figured the rinsing off (in the shower) and hanging it up to dry was obvious =)

I was just pointing out the grease/oil/grunge cutting power of fast orange

[cravj1988]

Unfortunatly, the smell is locked into the molecular structure of the fibers used to make your pack. However, it does not penitrate the whole fiber, just the outside. Like the outside of a radish that is red, but the inside is white. As aposed to a carrot. Oxidation works fairly well to remove odor, and the outer surface of the fiber. Good luck and Congradulations on your hike!

The viniger idea is probably one of the best in the thread, basically it is an acid rinse. You could use more than one cup though. To actually get the smell out of the pack the fibers need to be oxidized, which is degredation from the outside in. Basically stripping the outer surface of the fiber away. It slightly degrades the physical properties, but it is worth it. Oxiclean comes to mind, but is expensive. I used a rubbermaid bin with about 5 gallons of really hot water to soak my pack when I finished. Add at least 10 bottles of hydrogen per oxide, 1 cup of desolved table salt, and 1/4 cup of dish deturgent as a surfactant. Wash the pack and let it soak over night, then rinse and hang to dry.

When I thru-hiked I usually added 2 bottles of hydrogen per oxide in the wash to rinse my clothes when doing laundry. After one rinse cycle, I would drain the water and then throw in the detergent for a full wash cycle.

[beakerman]

Well, I figured the rinsing off (in the shower) and hanging it up to dry was obvious =)

I was just pointing out the grease/oil/grunge cutting power of fast orange

I was just giving you a hard time. I guess I thought the "" was obvious....