View Full Version : Fabric softener sheets
Old Wolf
04-13-2008, 01:45
Can anyone tell me if there is any truth to bears and other animals not liking the smell of fabric softener sheets to the point where it will keep them away from your gear? I read this somewhere.
Whitey9457
04-13-2008, 02:06
I've heard the same thing (putting them all over the place when you close your vacation cabins to keep mice out, etc.)
Tennessee Viking
04-13-2008, 02:51
Its probably the next Mythbuster episode.
I've heard about tying dryer sheets to pack straps to keep mosquitos away from your face. I doubt it works well. I would imagine that the sheets, being "smellable", might actually attract bears and other critters.
Fiddleback
04-13-2008, 09:48
Check out HoaxBusters other urban legends sites for the dryer sheets vs mosquitos issue... Otherwise, don't plan on an odoriferous bear repellant. While we may think we know what might attract a bear, we cannot know what might pique it's curiosity.
On the other hand, there are few talismans that are lighter...:D
FB
I haven't found any scientific proof to substantiate it.
mkmangold
04-13-2008, 18:22
That's "talismen."
Here's an experiment: go to known bear country and ring your campsite with dryer sheets. Put some food inside the ring then go to bed. If you sleep through the night, you know they work. If you are awakened by a snacking bear...
le loupe
04-13-2008, 18:46
no. its still "talisman"
Morpheus
04-13-2008, 19:22
Maybe skunk-scent available at most hunting suppliers would work.
Probably have the whole trail & shelters to yourself as well. :-)
That's "talismen."
Here's an experiment: go to known bear country and ring your campsite with dryer sheets. Put some food inside the ring then go to bed. If you sleep through the night, you know they work. If you are awakened by a snacking bear...
LOL, Just don’t do that next to me.:cool:
trailangelmary
04-13-2008, 23:53
http://www.unsolvedmysteries.com/usm250949.html
Don't know about the bears and other animals. I just always read that dryer sheets repel mosquitos. Now come to think of it I think it is used dryer sheets.
Bare Bear
04-14-2008, 14:11
Ask Dick Tracy to tell you the story of the hiker who didn't think it was necessary to hang food in the Smokies. I think his mind was changed after the bear dragged him out of the shelter in his bag and had him thirty yards down the brush before deciding all those shouting people were not worth the meal..........AND NO it was not Dick Tracy that did not hang the food; he told me about it and I laughed until I cried at his description of the event.
Dryer sheets repel me! I can't stand the way they smell, not even on the people who walk by me in WalMart. I suck it up and and spray bug spray al lover me. I contracted Lymes once and have no intention of attracting MORE of the pesky critters. (Says she who pulled a tick off her neck yesterday).
Frau
Oh my. And here I just finished telling someone that hardly any hikers get eaten by bears. 'Course, he didn't actually get consumed, right?
kolokolo
04-14-2008, 16:08
I have heard that dryer sheets (along with other 'smellables' like toothpaste and scented deoderant, may attract bears. It may depend on whether they have learned to associate food with the smells in the past.
X-LinkedHiker
04-14-2008, 16:15
That's "talismen."
Here's an experiment: go to known bear country and ring your campsite with dryer sheets. Put some food inside the ring then go to bed. If you sleep through the night, you know they work. If you are awakened by a snacking bear...
This definitely doesn't seem seem like a good idea. Besides there is no way to consider that a real statistic. You would have to factor in hunger amongst other things like food is more important than a smelly piece of fabric, so it may have no impact on them. Besides, I am sure whatever food is available would have a much more prevailing smell to a bear.
budforester
04-14-2008, 16:22
Dryer sheets did not repell mosquitoes for me.
leeki pole
04-14-2008, 16:33
They work for bugs (gnats and skeeters). I cut lots of grass, about 5 acres and put one in the strap of my cap or hat when I'm out mowing and never get bitten. I've rolled them up in my socks over my boots (think roll the socks down over them) and haven't had a tick in about two years get on me. My buddies who check cotton for boll weevils who are out in the field all day in the summer and foresters swear by them. I think they're better for you than DEET. As for bears, well, can't help you there. Don't forget the garlic supplements, as effective as anything for natural insect repellent. Won't help you with the ladies, though.;)
mkmangold
04-14-2008, 17:34
This definitely doesn't seem seem like a good idea. Besides there is no way to consider that a real statistic. You would have to factor in hunger amongst other things like food is more important than a smelly piece of fabric, so it may have no impact on them. Besides, I am sure whatever food is available would have a much more prevailing smell to a bear.
To Xlinked and anyone else who took my tongue-in-cheek advice seriously: please don't do that experiment. Do not run with scissors. Do not operate heavy machinery while taking this medication...
tina.anderson
04-15-2008, 12:59
I've never heard of this before but I am sure going to try it out on the next hike. I hope it works for bugs too.
GoldenBear
04-15-2008, 14:40
Snopes.com busted this (or, rather, they report the New England Journal of Medicine busting it) years ago
www.snopes.com/oldwives/skeeters.asp
GoldenBear
04-15-2008, 14:49
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/347/1/13
"Currently available non-DEET repellents do not provide protection for durations similar to those of DEET-based repellents and cannot be relied on to provide prolonged protection"
No Belay
04-15-2008, 23:03
We just had an RV from AZ busted on RT 44 outside of Springfield. It was muleing 42 kilos of Mexico's most imported agricultural product. There was a half dozen open boxes of fabric sofner strewn about the RV in an effort to thwart detection by drug dogs. The cop that stopped the RV said he decided to request a search of the RV because of the over powering smell of "April Rain" eminating from the drivers window.
I don't know about you but to me that's pretty scientific proof that dryer sheets won't keep the Bears out of your goodies.
Savor Happy!