Cleaning ACU's

[Chris36]

The knees on my pants are getting really dirty and the laudry soap on its own doesn't seem to be cutting it.

I have the list of 'approved' laudry detergents for my ACU's but it doesn't say anything about 'stain sticks' or pre-treaters.

I believe it DOES say, NO to Spray-N-Wash, but does not list any others.

Any suggestions?

I not only want to keep my ACU's in compliance, but also want to portray the appropriate image in the public eye and not look dirty and unkempt.

[SteveLord]

I honestly threw their detergent list out the window and have not known any personally...that lives by it. The "approved" brands also happen to be the harder ones to find/less popular (cept for maybe Cheer.) Nor have I personally known anyone that lit up during any night training. I only came upon the list by accident myself. Between my last 2 units, there was never any training, notification, powerpoint or speech by some desk jockey about it. Must have not been that important. Again, this was from my own experience and opinion.

I always throw in a scoop of Oxi Clean for any laundry that I feel needs some extra cleaning power. As for ACUs...it's common practice to keep "garrison" and "training" sets, to include boots. I recommend you do the same if it is that important to you.

Being infantry and all men of course, we would wear our dirt like a badge of honor. If you weren't dirty...you're either new or you're the commander.

[MommaGrizzly]

My son keeps a "nice" set clean and another set for FTXs and field activity... this latter set has seen so much mud, dirt, grass stains, blood, etc... when he brings them home, I just throw them in the toughest, longest, most thorough wash in the machine with lots of arm & hammer + oxi clean and an extra rinse... that's all I can do so far, no issues.

Being infantry and all men of course, we would wear our dirt like a badge of honor. If you weren't dirty...you're either new or you're the commander.

I have no ACU's of my own yet... I'm sure at some point when I do, my clean ones will dissapear and I'll be wearing my son's "badge of honor" ones... ugh... that's what moms do I guess...

MG

[Chris36]

As for ACUs...it's common practice to keep "garrison" and "training" sets, to include boots. I recommend you do the same if it is that important to you.

Unfortunately, as I am only at RSP, I have only been given one set (which I will have to return when I head off to BCT), but I will take note of my 'sizes' and definitely make sure that, for the future, I have additional sets depending on the activities for the day...

I have NO aversion to getting dirty, (although I am a woman so obviously not infantry); I just want to look appropriate when I need to. As for boots? I have LOTS of pairs of those.....they are 'shoes' you know (girl joke)

[MPThink]

Personally I didn't worry about it during RSP or IET. You're supposed to be training hard, so it's generally acceptable if you're a little scuffed up (your stuff will be gross after BCT). I keep a set or two nice for security details, etc. too, so I haven't really tried out stain removers. Maybe try a stain pen on a small area first?

[Mr_Loki]

I dirty my ACUs the first chance I get. I hate crisp ACUs...it doesn't feel right.

[Chris36]

The odd thing is that I found a website (I won't post the link to avoid lengthy mod approval) but it claims that ALL of the 'approved' detergents also have optical brighteners and showed them glowing in a black light, so I was really confused as to WHAT I should use to wash them...LOL

Mostly it is stains on my blouse from crawling across the rope bridge, not just dirt in general and for some reason those 'rope dye' lines won't come out!

[Phantom]

Use a stain stick, it works, some ink wont come out, but the blood will go away after a few times. Dont worry about glowing in the dark, it doesnt stick out under IR, and dont wear them to a club with black lights if that is true. Just wash them and you will be good, treat them like normal, the velcro will wear out. Dont sweat the small things..

[Chris36]

Use a stain stick, it works, some ink wont come out, but the blood will go away after a few times. Dont worry about glowing in the dark, it doesnt stick out under IR, and dont wear them to a club with black lights if that is true. Just wash them and you will be good, treat them like normal, the velcro will wear out. Dont sweat the small things..

Why would I wear them to a club?? lmao I can hear the techno music now....

For blood, use hydrogen peroxide; it bubbles up and rinses right out, no soap needed.

Thanks!

[SteveLord]

Phantom is right on the velcro and there's no way around it. The velcro is probably the worst "feature" of the ACUs (and this was brought up way back when the Army was promoting them.) Especially the velco on your pants, which you'll obviously use most often.

[EOrsini]

Guys, here's a tip... If you can find a pair, and your commander lets you get away with it... Find flight medic pants. They have no velcro, it's all zippers. I have a couple pairs for the field since we have fuelers and all that **** gets in the velcro, it was the best investment of my ACU career. Then I just wear the regular ones to non-field drills or garrison meetings

[dva5222]

Dunno how to clean my ACUs, my Mother cleans them.

[MPThink]

Adorable.

Also, must be nice.

[Mr_Loki]

Dunno how to clean my ACUs, my Mother cleans them.

LMAO, perfect. That's going on my list.

[EOrsini]

I do some serious special cleaning, let me tell you... I turn them inside out and stick them in the washer with all my other clothes that need to be cleaned. LOL. These aren't the old school BDU's we pressed, so I don't treat em like it. Wash em and stick em on a hanger. They are going to get dirty and fade and need to be replaced no matter what.

[jc091393]

Is there any way to get ink off? I was kind of an idiot and forgot to take my pen out of the pen pocket when I washed my ACU's a few weeks ago.Now I have an ink stain on my trousers near where I blouse my boots.

It's not too big but it annoys me...and if I can't find out a way to get it off I'm just gonna end up buying a new pair even though I'd really rather not.

[Chris36]

Is there any way to get ink off? I was kind of an idiot and forgot to take my pen out of the pen pocket when I washed my ACU's a few weeks ago.Now I have an ink stain on my trousers near where I blouse my boots.

It's not too big but it annoys me...and if I can't find out a way to get it off I'm just gonna end up buying a new pair even though I'd really rather not.

I've never tried it on ACU material, but for dress shirt and the like hairspray has traditionally gotten ink out. Hair spray tends to work better if the fabric in question is made of polyester or a polyester blend.

Ink stains are tricky, but they sometimes respond to alcohol; unfortunately there is considerably less alcohol in hairspray than years ago. The hairspray should not have conditioners or oils, as this may stain one’s clothing with oil. Instead, choose simple hairspray with a high alcohol content. If one is choosing an aerosol spray to remove ink, use Aquanet or its generic equivalent. (The cheaper the better for more alcohol content)

Spray a bit of hairspray on the stain and gently scrub to remove ink. Clothing treated with hair spray should be rinsed thoroughly whether the ink came out or not.

Oxyclean or Gain also claim to get out ink.

Good Luck

[LRSU_Dog]

As with all fabrics, once you have dried the article of clothing in a dryer using any amount of heat, the stain will be set. If you air dry there is still a chance to remove the stain (ink, grass, whatever). You can try stain treatments (follow the directions, and make sure you work the treatment into the stain manually (do not just spray it and do nothing else)) in conjunction with a long soak with a good detergent followed by a heavy duty wash.

of course a good review of what may be in any pocket on the ACUs before washing them (which can normally become a good habit if you make a point to turn the uniform inside out to wash (securing the zipper on the shirt as well). Also, the more detergent you use, the more residue that will build up on a uniform - so you may have to put the garment through another cycle without soap (machines in laundromats normally have a lot of soap still in them as well).

It is recommended (by me) that you wash all of your military clothing in a sport detergent like Penguin Sport wash, pre-treat any stains first (pre-soak if necessary) and either air dry, or dry on a low heat setting.