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Fading Camo

The Silence

The Silence

PMA Member
I was out scouting the other day and noticed that my camo pants were already really fading bad. I don't hunt huge amounts of times over the season so normally they wouldn't get washed too often over the course of the year. I wash in cold water (using hunting type laundry detergent) and dry on a low temp setting. I have wondered about several things that may have contributed to this problem. 1)Cheaper camo pants dye may just fade quicker 2)Do certain types of fabric hold their color longer? 3) Is it better to just let things dry by hanging somewhere w/o the use of a dryer? I'd love to get your opinions about what you've found out about maintaining your camo clothes -- especially about brands of clothes that you've found hold their colors.
 
I have washed every piece of camo I own what seems like hundreds of times in warm water and they all still look like new. I bought my son a camo sweatshirt at Walmart and it looks like shite after 2 washings. My theory is the cheap stuff is just that...cheap. Just don't wash the stuff, the deer will get used to it
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I always hang my camos somewhere to dry, and haven't had a problem with fading. I've also had good luck with Mossy Oak brand clothes keeping their color. I did have a pair of Cabela's brand pants in Mossy Oak that faded, but every shirt or pants with a Mossy Oak tag inside has kept the color really well. I've got some that are at least 7-8 years old.
 
If your camo clothing loses’s its color after a few washings you can protect the color of the camo by following a few simple steps:

Before washing your camo, turn the garments inside out. You can then choose to wash them by hand or washing machine. Hand washing will give you the longest color life and can be achieved by taking a five-gallon pail of cold water and some baking soda and sloshing the camo up and down in the mixture a few times before letting them stand overnight.

In the morning, wring out your garments, shake them out and then hang them to drip dry.

If you must use a washing machine, wash in cold water on the delicate cycle with baking soda and hang the camo up to drip dry. If in a rush, use a clothes dryer, but turn the garments inside out and run on the short cycle just long enough to dry them.

Does anyone else have any secrets they wish to share?
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I I bought my son a camo sweatshirt at Walmart and it looks like shite after 2 washings.

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i agree with the walmart brands. i have bought some stuff from there like: long sleeve camo, short sleeve camo, and pants and they have all seemed to fade pretty fast. good thing i am in a blind this year with all of the "ninja gear"
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Good tip not putting stuff in the dryer, I've found the same.

Most of the high end hunting clothing is made from some sort of poly synthetic material. The material is much more color fast than cottons.

Cabelas microtex clothing are a reasonably priced polyester, pretty close to what the better cotton stuff goes for. It will dry much faster also.
 
I'm of the same opinion as the others above. Cheap stuff doesn't last very long, fades fast and IMO rips easy. I've had a lot of brands from lots of differant stores, as a rule I think you get what you pay for. However, I've had more then my share of Army camo, pheasant and deer die just fine when I'm wearing them.
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First tip. Don't shop at Wal-Mart they force decent companies to make cheaper product and running the businesses name down. Second tip, you get what you pay for. If I remember right I saw something on OLN or the Outdoor Channel a long time ago about some product that you just dip your clothes into and *presto* the color is back.
 
Cotton. That is the key word when it comes to fading. Doesn't matter if it is from WalMart, Cabela's or any other supplier, cheap or expensive, if it is cotton, it WILL fade, just like your 100% cotton blue jeans.
 
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