Personal hygiene

I'm still working on it, but…

Gallon size freezer bag for washing laundry.
Dr Bronners soap or something similar that doesn't need to be fully rinsed off.
Wet wipes for cleaning certain areas, and a bandana for cleaning the rest.
Bring safety pins to attach your clothes to your pack to dry, or bring some cord to put up a clothesline.
Use bathrooms and water sources as an opportunity to clean yourself.
If you can, use a stove to heat up the water for your "sponge" bath.

Don't worry about it

If you smell like the wilderness, bugs and animals will be less likely to find you

Try the soaps and washing techniques at home. The tendency is to use too much soap. With Dr. Bronners, a few drops go a long ways. Consider water hardness differences from your home water supply. If you want a universal sink, consider the bottom section of a milk jug. It can be used for washing you and your clothes. Weight is slight and you can use to store stuff in your pack, so it doesn't take much room. A 4"-5" section of 1/2 gallon jug is under an ounce.

Disposal of the waste water far away from water sources is important. People have used a flat rock for washing clothes for millennia— providing friction and forcing out the dirty water and again, away from water sources. I would go for "wring and rinse" with fabrics like windshirts.

I take my little sink of warm water to a good spot and do a "sponge bath" with a bandana or a micro-fiber camp towel. It feels great after a sweaty/dusty day. Consider the left over water for socks/briefs.

"If you smell like the wilderness, bugs and animals will be less likely to find you"

Oh Jerry. The bugs will find you through heat detection and CO2 emissions. Animals will be after the salt deposits in your gear and clothes.
Not hard to keep clean. A clean anus is a happy anus.

I've been using Wilderness Wash for many years. Only a few drops are needed to wash your hands and face and I use the same soap when I have to clean dishes or a pot or if it becomes necessary to wash an article of clothing. A one ounce bottle lasts through weeks of camping. Also, I try never to wash clothing while hiking unless I spill something sticky on it or get really muddy. I find Smartwool stuff can be good for three days without changing and one lightweight spare of underwear and socks are both light and take up little room. Then again, I am rarely out there for more than a five day trek.

I always take wipes and clean my face and feet everyday on any length trip. If I wanna wash my head on longer trip, I take a small bar of soap (and camp towel) and use my platypus hoser (hole punch the bottom of platypus and tie in some cord to hang on small limb). With the platypus simply above my head, there is enough spray pressure when handling the mouthpiece with one hand. Use the wipes to clean any other area too.

I do a water-only bandanna wash of face, pits, arms and legs every evening; wet wipes for the derrière. Rinse out the Ex Officio briefs and hang to dry overnight (sometimes a wee bit chilly in the morning!). If things go on long enough that my (daytime) merino tee gets funky, it gets rinsed and dried (mostly!) overnight as well. Separate togs (merino) for sleeping.

Brush teeth twice daily with brush only, no paste, etc.

No complaints from partners yet!

Thru hikers will often go a week or two (sometimes longer) w/o washing clothes or showering. Revel in your filth and wear it as a badge of honor.

If you get chafe in your shirt/shorts area a simple rinse (or swim) can relieve a lot of the irritation. And simply rinsing your socks at the end of the day can make all the difference.

> 5 night / 6 day trek this summer.
For that SHORT a walk I would not bother with washing clothes. Waste of time.
Take two sets of underpants and socks and swap over about 1/2 way through. Bag the used pairs – they won't be too bad anyhow and could be re-used in needed.

But – do take every opportunity to wash your hands and your backside. I am quite serious here. PERSONAL hygiene is what matters.

We carry a small washer, but you could use a little sponge. We use one of those miniature Motel soaps – very light. Bottles of 'camp wash' are heavier and just gimmicks. Needless to say, avoid getting soap in the water supply, but you do not need to go to any extremes – a couple of metres away is enough for the tiny amount you would discard.

Cheers

http://krudmeister.blogspot.com/2010/10/chafe.html

For just a week I wouldnt bother with a lot of clothing. Your night cloths/insulating layer/whatever you want to call them, will work at night. Your light shirt gets rinsed in water and wrung out almost dry. Same for under wear, pants and socks. This was presented already and works well for a couple weeks.
I will be a bit cool in the morning to put them on, so it is OK to skip a day or two if it is colder.

A quarter ounce mini dropper of Ivory soap flakes mixed with water will last for a couple weeks. But a small drop will wash out any of these…just don't put the contaminated water near your water source. I do a bit of actual cooking so this is often needed to cut oils off the pans, too.

A quick rinse with the bandana is nice if you can. Especially the chafed areas. Wash it the same as above when you are done. The whole process only takes about 10min. Wring it out as dry as possible.

MSR has had a shower spigot and hose for their dromedary bags for years. I cut the hose down to about three inches and never even use the stock cap. Hang it on a branch, or hold it over your head, get wet, shut it off and soap up, then rinse. It really feels good to be clean, after sweating all day and if I have access to water, I'll do it every day. I don't know why anyone would consider having stink butt, as a badge of honor and if I smell it, I have no problem telling them to go wash themselves. I can see why some restaurants along the AT frown when stinky hikers come in, because it's terribly unappetizing to try and eat, when you can smell someones stinky butt and pitts, from across the restaurant.

T M I

–B.G.–

T M I

–B.G.–

Yeah, you're right Bob, I was probably a little too descriptive, but it's nothing like the real thing. :)

I look at it this way. Everyone out in the backcountry has a funk smell of one kind or another….trust me it's not like you are hanging out on the trail trying to pick up on hot mountain mommas. I carry two sets of clothing. One to hike in and one to sleep in. I will take a little swim to get the dirt off of me, but other than that…nothing else. I do wash my hands quite often though.

"I will take a little swim to get the dirt off of me, but other than that…nothing else."

It is more like rinsing off than washing.

–B.G.–

>> A clean anus is a happy anus.

How is this not already a bumper sticker?

I carry a small bottle of Sea to Summit Wilderness Wash. I use it for dishes, laundry, and personal hygene.

I am a tub, and after a long trail day, the south side gets swampy. Swamp-a** turns to monkey-butt (or worse) when not properly dealt with. If out for more than 1 night, I bathe every evening. If available, I'd take a no-soap dip in a lake/creek, starting fully clothed (minus shoes), and doing my laundry as I stripped down. If that wasn't an option, I would do my laundry (with a couple drops of wilderness wash) in the same 1-gallon ziploc they're packed in. I'd pull a sock out "mid-wash" and use it to give myself a sponge bath, then put it back in the laundry.

Thanks to these forums, I'm starting to get away from carrying spare pants/shirts, but I'm still set on spare socks & underwear. I will probably still pack them in a 1-gallon ziploc until I figure out a better way to do the laundry.

Ken

I would go swimming at any opportunity, but 33F mountain tarns fed by snow or glacial run-off are 30 second rinse cycles :) I remember jumping in a mountain lake one early June morning after waking to find a thin skin of ice on top. That was 40 years ago and I haven't forgotten! It *will* get you fully awake.

"How is this not already a bumper sticker?"

It is.

In prison…..

I know most will frown at this but the 4 oz sea to summit pocket shower is what I use if I am with some one I want to be clean for. If the gals I have gone with had any idea how bad I smell when I go by myself they would never go backpacking with me. The shower also works as my waterproof stuff sack for my sleeping bag and non worn clothes and other items that I like to keep dry. I do not use a packliner. It also can hold water around the camp site and I have also used it as a pillow sack so I do get alot of use out of the 4 oz and it does feel good to get clean. I mix my soapy water in my cookpot and use my bandana as a wash cloth then air dry or use my base layer which dry back out fast. Out west most of the times the air is dry and you dry out very fast. In national park designated camp areas and car camping in primitive sites we have strung up ponchos for privacy and they also help cut wind if done right and a closed cell pad works great to stand on when showering drying and getting redressed. And backpacking is one reason that close to bald is a blessing, I can get very clean with a gallon of water. I use Dr Bronners or camp suds Im kinda interested in Rogers using regular motel bar soap as I always heard not to do this but as he says it maybe just as biodegradable as what I use as I have no knowledge on this subject

+1 on the MSR shower head. Amazingly good spray pattern for something so small. Back-country shower=bliss.

I thought about adding a shower head to my Platy hoser. Is there a place to get just a shower head adapter?

At home I Mrs. Clean – love my shower, my shampoo, etc.
When backpacking I wear my hair tightly pulled back. I don't wear sunscreen, deodorant, bug dope, etc. The only thing I carry is my dental kit I don't worry about much else.

In summer I try to never miss a chance to jump in rivers, lakes, creeks. Fully clothed. Then after cooling off I walk in damp clothing till it dries.Refreshing and you just feel better. I wouldn't do this though if I had my skin covered in the above items though.

As for nether regions…if you all carried TP you wouldn't have said issues (monkey butt?) ;-)

Hi Dale

> 33F mountain tarns fed by snow or glacial run-off are 30 second rinse cycles :)
30 seconds? You are a braver man than me!
But even 5 seconds does make you feel wonderful – later, when you have warmed up!

Cheers