DIY Carbon Spray|DIY Equipment|Forum|Bow Hunters of Alabama

I’m downright religious when it comes to scent control and for those who think the scentblocker products are just a gimick, then give this a try and see for yourself.

Those who use Scentlok or Scentblocker products and know how well they work, but the downfall is that over time and washes, the carbon in them dissipates. I’ve used the Carbon spray and it does work but it’s over priced (in my opinion). If you want to make your own, get 1-gallon distilled water and activated carbon from the pet store (what’s used in the water filters). Use a blender and add the water and the carbon (doesn’t take much carbon). Blend the two for as long as it takes. I’ll do mine in steps. Put in the carbon and approx. 6-8 ounces of water then blend. Pour off the water with the carbon fines into a gallon jug, then repeat. Over time you’ll notice the carbon pile eventually gets ground down into a suspention. I went to the local hardware store and bought some spray bottles and I’ll turn my garments (even the non-scentlok garments, i.e. pants, base layers, etc.) inside out and spray them down with the carbon spray and let dry.

Alternate method: You can go online (Ebay) and search TruCarbon or CarbonSynergy. They make preground carbon that you can mix with water as per above. I’ve been using TruCarbon the last couple years since I was able to find it on Ebay for $3.99 a bottle instead of $14 via their website.

Carbonizing your hunting clothes:

For those that don’t want to spend big bucks on Scentlok/Scent Blocker, you can create your own for pennies. Take your hunting clothes and do this:

1. Wash clothes in unscented detergent and hang out to dry.
2. Take a container and fill with approx. 3-5 gallons water (dependant on how many clothes you have).
3. Add capful of unscented detergent (detergent is your binding agent)
4. Add TRUCARBON powder until water turns pretty dark (be careful on how much you add, I put too much in the first batch and had saturated my clothes to the point that the powder came off on me after taking my clothes off).
5. Take your dried and washed clothes and dip into solution. Wring out the excess water and rehang to dry.
6. Keep the remaining carbon water to spray on later if needed.

By being dry, the clothes will pull the carbon into the fibers just like if you fell in a dirty mudhole. The only downside is if you have to wash your clothes after hunting, then you have to start this process over.

I only wash my clothes if they are bloody/muddy. After I’ve worn my clothes a few times, I spray them liberally with scentkiller (I use the homemade stuff) then throw them into the dryer for about 30 minutes. I don’t think the dryer reactivates the carbon, but the scent killer will neutralize the odors.

I got tired of the carbon spray stopping up a regular spray bottle so I went to Lowe’s and got a couple of hand pumps for $10 each. One I keep Carbon spray in and the other scentkiller. It’s great not having your hands cramp up spraying everything down.

If you can’t get TRUCARBON, then go to Wal-Mart or and pet shop and get the activated carbon for fish tanks. You’ll have to crush it into a fine powder but a little bit of powder goes a long way. If you don’t believe in using carbon as a scent suppressant, then I’m sorry. I used to be skeptacle until I started using it 9-years ago. I won’t go into the woods without it. You must remember the most important thing, EVERYTHING that you take in the woods must be scent free or covered in scent killer. Just having your jacket carbonized doesn’t cover up the Big Mac on your shirt and pants.

Then I’ll usually spray the outside with the Homemade scent killer made from baking soda on the outside before going to the stand. It’s been working for me over the last few years and thought I’d share.

The homemade scent killer is: 32 ounces of Hydrogen Peroxide, 32 ounces of distilled water, approx. 1/2-3/4 cup baking soda and a capful of unscented detergent. Mix together in gallon jug, then leave with the cap fitted loosely to allow gases to escape for 3 days. If you don’t let the cap stay loose the jug will pop and make a pretty good mess. I know this works because last year I thought I would “scent” my scent killer with cedar. I boiled up some cedar leaves (fronds) and then poured the concentrate into my scent killer and guess what, it killed the cedar smell completely. Lesson learned, but the house sure smelled pretty good for a while with the cedar.

It’s the utmost important that you cover everything from your head to your backpack, bow, etc. with some sort of cover scent or scent killer. Just having it on your clothes doesn’t kill all the other odors on your accessories. Most of those reading this already know this, but for the novice it may be new.

Peace!!!