While washing a ghillie suit is not something you’d normally want to do, sometimes there’s just no way around the fact that your ghillie suit needs a good cleaning.

As a general rule, wash your ghillie suit only as often as you need to. A dirty suit with an earthy smell will work to your advantage on the hunt or on the playing field. Also, keep in mind that the more often you wash your ghillie suit, the faster the material will break down and the less authentic it will look.

If your ghillie suit needs washing, you have three basic options:

1. Hand wash the suit.
2. Hose it down with a low pressure hose.
3. Send it to the dry cleaners.

How To Wash A Ghillie Suit

Hand washing is the easiest way to spot clean a ghillie suit. If you just need to get out a stain, only wash the area with the stain. Spot cleaning is gentler on the material than washing the entire suit. If you only wash the area where the stain is, the fibers in the suit will not wear out as quickly.

Use cold water to wash the suit. We recommend using only water, but if the stain is too stubborn to wash out with water, then you can use a mixture of cold water and mild, unscented soap. Detergent and scented soaps are not recommended, as the scent they leave behind can give you away.

Allow the suit to air dry. Never dry a ghillie suit in a dryer. The heat will degrade the suit material.

If the entire suit needs to be washed, you can gently hose it down with a low pressure hose. Then allow the suit to air dry completely before reapplying fire retardant mix.

Dry cleaning is also an option for cleaning your ghillie suit. It’s the gentlest way to clean your suit and doesn’t require reapplication of fire retardant mix.

Any time you wash your ghillie suit with water, you will need to reapply fire retardant mix. Natural jute is a flammable material. Your safety requires a fresh application of fire retardant to the ghillie suit after it is completely dry. Synthetic materials also require reapplication of fire retardant.

How NOT To Wash A Ghillie Suit

NEVER wash a ghillie suit in the washing machine. The jute or mesh material will not hold up to the vigorous movement, and the strands can easily get snagged around the agitator. Machine washing causes the jute or synthetic strands to degrade prematurely. These materials may rip, shred, or take on a fluffy or fuzzy appearance.

NEVER dry a ghillie suit in the dryer. The heat from the dryer will damage the natural jute or delicate synthetic material and cause it to degrade much faster than normal. Allow the suit to air dry instead.

How To Season A Ghillie Suit

The last step after washing your ghillie suit is to roll around in dirt and leaves and get it back to a natural-looking and natural-smelling state. Rolling around in the dirt also helps to remove any trace of man-made scent that could give away your presence.

Exceptions To The Rule

These ghillie suit washing instructions apply to suits made of natural materials, such as jute and burlap, or delicate synthetic materials. If you have a suit with detachable mesh netting, on the other hand, the suit itself (often called a BDU suit) may be machine washable.

The sniper ghillie suit from KillZone Hunting includes a BDU suit with detachable netting. The BDU suit is machine washable with the jute netting removed. Please read the clothing tag or check with the manufacturer to see if your BDU suit is machine washable.