Getting rid of old wool smell

[WyoBadger]

OK, all you magnificent do-it-yourselfers, here's one for you.

I just received a nice big piece of wool tweed fabric, which I intent to make into a poncho for bowhunting in the rain. It will be very effective camouflage, it's very quiet, and should repel water quite nicely.

While hemming up the edges, though, I noticed that it has that strong, "old wool" smell.

Now, it wouldn't do at all to go sneaking around the mountains smelling like a combination of a dead animal and an old lady's closet. It's a little known fact that Rocky Mountain Elk are not particularly fond of dead animals or old ladies. When I'm hunting, I try very hard to smell like nothing.

So, short of washing it a couple dozen times then staking it out in the sun for a couple weeks, does anyone know a good way to get rid of this smell?

Tom

[djm]

Tie the tweed around an elk. Retrieve it after a couple of weeks. Now the elk will smell like old wool, too, and won't notice the difference. Or you could tie an old elk skin to a sheep for a couple of weeks before making the tweed. No, wait! I've got it! Staple the sheep to the elk, mail them to Scotland and demand your money back.

That's what I'd do. <nods sagely>

djm

[FJohnSharp]

Too bad they don't make a 'Nothing Scented" Febreeze.

[fel bautista]

I put my wife's Aran sweater out in the garage to air for a few weeks...month and it seemed to take the odor out.

[Innocent Bystander]

One piece of advice I heard was to sprinkle it liberally with unscented talcum powder (such as the stuff pipers use!). Leave it for a couple of days and beat it out/off.

However, if it's made of old wool, I'm not sure you can prevent it smelling like old wool. Old, Woolly, Smelly things do creep around mountainsides. If it disguises your smell, that is an advantage.

Edited to say: It's the lanolin that gives it the smell, and repels the water. You can wash the lanolin out, but then it will not be waterproof. The talcum-powder approach may remove some of the lanolin too.

[avanutria]

My Irish sweater from 2003 (given to me by my cousin in Dublin, I don't know how long she had it) has always and probably will always smell like sheep, but it's not an entirely unpleasant smell nor an overwhelming one.

PS the smell gets a lot more noticeable when it's wet. Something to consider if you're making a rain poncho out of yours!

[WyoBadger]

Hmmm. So far djm's idea seems the most helpful...

Woudn't the wool smell like elk, than? That would be good. Of course, if I could catch the elk to wrap the wool around it, I could just shoot the elk and get it over with...maybe if I staple the old lady to the dead animal...no, wait...

Maybe I'll just hope for dry weather.

Seriously, I do have some wool items that loose that smell after a time. I'm hoping there's a way to expedite that. As for loosing the lanolin, don't they take it out in the process anyway? Even processed wool seems to repel water. I'm not worried about total waterproofness. I just want to stay warm.

T

[Innocent Bystander]

That's the difference between Aran sweaters and the rest of them. Aran sweaters (Aran wool) still have (has) the lanolin. My mother knitted me one (which I still have) and was at pains to warn me to add lanolin to it after it was washed.

The general industrial process of spinning wool removes the lanolin. But you can add your own.
My own "Waterproof" is a Tunisian riding-cape - in brown wool. It operates on the Filabeg principle. It may not be waterproof, but still keeps you warm when it is wet through.

[djm]

"Filabeg" - I don't know why the distinction, but it's always spelt "Philabeg" - a long, woolen, plaid blanket wrapped around the body, precursor to the tailored kilt.

I'm alergic to wool, so the topic is somewhat of a non sequitor for me.

djm

[Nanohedron]

"Filabeg" - I don't know why the distinction, but it's always spelt "Philabeg" - a long, woolen, plaid blanket wrapped around the body, precursor to the tailored kilt.

I'm alergic to wool, so the topic is somewhat of a non sequitor for me.

djm

The spellings are variable, but you'll always get more search results with "filibeg". Anyway, it's properly the other way around, kilties. The filibeg is nowadays usually the tailored kilt (from the Gàidhlig fèileadh beag, beag = small, and fèileadh = kilt, actually "pleat") although the original filibeg (filabeg, phillabeg, philabeg, philibeg, fillibeg, phyllo-beg, what have you), though still the small version, was untailored; and the mongo untailored wrap-around pleated so-called "great kilt" would be the filimore (fèileadh mòr, Gaeilge filleadh mór).

Filimore: Filibeg: Whatzit:

[MagicSailor]

Hi

Is anything worn under the kilt?

No madam, everything is in perfect working order.

Regards,

Owen Morgan

Yacht Magic
Anchored in the lagoon, St Maarten

My new blog.
Click here for my latest reported position. (Use the satellite view.)

[djm]

The filibeg is nowadays usually the tailored kilt

Wiki disagrees with you.

djm

[Nanohedron]

The filibeg is nowadays usually the tailored kilt

Wiki disagrees with you.

djm

'Nuff said.

[Charlene]

Hi

Is anything worn under the kilt?

No madam, everything is in perfect working order.

Regards,

Owen Morgan

Yacht Magic
Anchored in the lagoon, St Maarten

My new blog.
Click here for my latest reported position. (Use the satellite view.)

I've always liked that joke!

Would getting the wool dry cleaned help? Or does that remove the lanolin also?

[Innocent Bystander]

Most cleaning methods attempt to remove grease, and lanolin is a kind of grease (as far as cleaning agents are concerned). Yes, dry-cleaning would remove the lanolin.