Clean your hunting pack, and you’ll ensure it stays in good condition for every trip you take. Here’s how to clean your pack properly.
Why You Need to Clean Your Backpack
Your hunting pack is your right-hand man throughout your hunting trips, carrying all your stuff through long treks in the backcountry. Keeping it in good condition is vital if you want it to continue doing its job.
Leaving the grit, body oils, dirt, grease, and blood on your backpack can degrade the fabric and cause zippers to stop working. Your pack can be a major investment, so cleaning it properly will ensure your pack and you share many more hunts.
Pack Washing Guidelines
Whether you’re going to be doing a deep cleaning at the end of the season or a spot cleaning in between hunts, there are guidelines you want to follow. In general:
- Never wash a hunting pack in a washing machine or dry it in a dryer.
- Never use hot water when washing.
- Hang the pack to dry in the shade or indoors – not in direct sunlight.
- Zippers need love, too. Just be careful not to scrub too hard, as many zippers have water-resistant coatings.
Remember these basics, and whether you follow the rest of what we say in this guide or not, your pack will remain in good shape.
Deep Cleaning
Deep cleaning your pack will get it looking like new. A good cleaning like this will be used at the end of the season. And we can’t stress this enough – don’t put your pack in the washing machine. Don’t do it. It can ruin your backpack.
What You’ll Need:
- Bathtub, large sink, plastic tub, or other large water receptacle
- Detergent made for hunting gear or mild soap (scent-free, preferably). Dish soap and Castile soap work great
- Grout, shower brush, or cloth
Cleaning Process
The first step to deep cleaning – empty out your pack. This seems obvious, but you’ll be surprised by the number of wrappers and dirt that’s hiding in there. If you can take your hunting pack apart, do it. Remove the belt, straps, and other components so you can thoroughly clean each.
Next, fill up your tub with water. If your pack has blood on it, you want your water cold. Warm water will make the blood stains bind to the fabric and difficult, if not impossible, to remove. If your pack is blood-free, lukewarm water will do fine. Regardless – place your backpack and its parts in the tub of water, get it wet, and leave it to soak.
After soaking for about 30 minutes, add in your soap. Don’t use too much – using a ton will get you a lot of bubbles, but you’ll just be wasting product. A healthy squeeze or a tablespoon will work just fine. Unzip all the pockets and open any flaps to allow the sudsy water to reach all the crevices. Give everything a good spin, back and forth, to get everything soaked and soapy.
Got big stains? Use a brush or cloth to scrub them out. Give a scrub to the bottom of the pack, the harness straps, lumbar area, and any other surface that comes in contact with sweat, blood, and grime.
Post Wash
So, you’ve given your hunting pack the deep clean. Now, there are two things you can do from here: let your pack soak more or pull it out and let it dry.
Soaking can give you a deeper clean, and if you’ve got the time, it’s usually worth it to do. If you can soak for 24 hours – great. If you can’t, even an hour is better than not doing it at all.
Whether you soak or want to take it out and dry it, rinse your pack off with a hose or shower head to get all the soap out. Hang your bag top-down somewhere with adequate ventilation. It can take a day or two for it to fully dry. It may dry faster if you dry outside, but patience will be a virtue during drying time regardless.
When it’s dry, if you want to take it a step further, use a silicone lubricant to keep your zippers functioning smoothly. Be sure to wipe away any excess lubricant so it doesn’t get gunky.
All that’s left to do is reassemble, and you’ll be good to go.
Now that your hunting pack is as good as new, it’s time to start thinking about your next hunting trip.
Now You’re Ready for Your Next Hunting Trip
Now that your hunting pack is as good as new, it’s time to start thinking about your next hunting trip. Ready to try something new? Let us take you on a guided hunt in Southwest Colorado. At Soap Mesa Outfitters, we offer quality guided hunts on our 3500-acre private ranch that overlooks Blue Mesa Reservoir. Not to mention, we also have a National Forest Permit, which provides an additional 8000+ acres with utter seclusion due to its limited access. Let us show you what you’ve been missing.
