Having good hygiene while camping and staying clean can be difficult. Personal hygiene when camping can reduce the chance of rashes, bacterial growth and other things that can cause a less pleasant camping trip. With these camping hygiene tips we will help you learn how to stay clean when camping and the importance of camping cleanliness.
Camping Hygiene Essentials
Bring
- Hand sanitizer
- Biodegradable soap (all in one)
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
- Wash cloth
- Baby wipes or Body Wipes
- Toilet paper
Do Not Bring
- Deodorant (smells attract creatures)
- Mirrors
- Non biodegradable products (can harm environment)
How To Shower When Camping
While bathing as you camp is nothing like a shower at your house it can be a luxury for camping, if done right.
Sponge Bath
You will need anywhere from 1 to 3 liters of water,a body sponge, and biodegradable soap. Find yourself a private spot and take off your clothes. Begin to scrub yourself off with a wet soapy sponge or camping cloth. From there, rinse off all the soap using just water on your sponge or splashing yourself with the water. Now it’s time to dry off using a non moist towel.
Hot camping shower
One of the best ways to take a warm shower when camping is to use a solar shower. Fill it with water and place it out in the sun about two to three houses before you plan on using it. When ready to take a shower hang it above your head on a tree or anything taller than you.Now you are ready to shower with warm water and biodegradable soap.
Nature shower
This is a very refreshing and cool way to shower in the wilderness. You can use a lake,river, or flowing spring/water fall. If you choose this option make sure to use biodegradable soap so you aren’t harming the environment.
I recommend a river or water fall as they are flowing water making the water cleaner and easier to rinse off your soap.
Baby wipes
This may not be people’s favorite but it is quick and efficient and works well if it is one of your only options. All you need is bay wiped or body wipes. You can clean your entire body with wipes but I recommend to focus the use of your wipes on what you want the cleanest or the dirtiest parts of your body.
How Wash Dishes When Camping
With no running water dishes can sometimes be a challenge but with this system it can make doing your dishes easier and more efficient.
You will need three “sinks” whether these are portable camping sinks or any types of plastic tubs that will fit your camping dishware. Along with a sponge or brush that will scrub off food, biodegradable soap, bleach, a strainer to remove food chunks, and a drying cloth/towel
To prep you clean, set up start to boil enough water to fill each bucket with enough to cover your largest dish. Once the water is boiling put an equal amount of hot/boiling water in each tub. The fist tub/wash tub consists of hot water and a squirt of biodegradable soap. Second tub/rinse tub is strictly hot water. Your last tub/sanitizing tub is a small splash(about 2 teaspoons per 1 gallon) of bleach or your dish sanitizer.
You will begin with scraping as much off your plates and utensils into the trash. Place dishes in your wash tube and let them soak for a few minutes and scrub off one at a time until the dish is clean. Place into a rinse tub and swish them around the hot water to get rid of the soap. Then shortly soak in the sanitizer tub to make sure dishes are completely clean and disinfected. Lastly dry off with a viable dish rag which should be very absorbent.
Once dishes are complete you will need to dispose of everything to keep the environment clean. You will need to strain each cleaning tub to get rid of all food scraps and other waste that should go into the trash. Then you will dispose of the gray water from each of the tubs. If possible, dispose of all gray water into a drain; Otherwise make sure you are a few hundred feet away from any water source and dump your water over a large area.
Takeaways
There are many different ways of taking a shower while camping and all depends on your preferences and what resources you have accessible to you. Taking a hot shower while camping can be a huge moral boost during your trip and prevent other things from becoming dirty like your tent or sleeping bag.
Washing your dishes by hand is never fun but very essential while camping since you have to continue to reuse the same dishware throughout a camping trip. With the proper system and some help full hands you can get through it very easily with clean disinfected dishes.
Having good hygiene when camping can be difficult at times but once you have a quality system it makes it a lot easier. One of the biggest things you can do to limit your harmful effect on the environment is using biodegradable soap and products in everything you do outdoors.