View Full Version : being clean in the woods
drewdunnrespect
20-08-2011, 20:09
As we all know being klean in the woods is of vital importance. so with out a shower or using baby wipes and B.O bopper how do you get washed because while i was at the moot i just used b.o bopper and baby wipes because the solar showers there dont always garantee you a warm one,m and secondly at other camps i use there are no showers.
so what is your washing routine?
the reason i am asking is i am interested in long term outdoor living and this is one skill that is part of it
drew
Davey569
20-08-2011, 20:31
Heat up some water in the billy/kettle and use my collapsible water bowl to have a sponge bath with. :)
I carry several face flannels, and I use them both as flannels to wash (all of me) with, and as towels. I have a sort of rota system for them where they gradually get wetter as they are used first (when they are dry) for the final drying, then (when they are damp) for the preliminary drying, then (when they are wet) for the washing. Flannels are easy to wring out, and a lot easier than towels to wash and dry. I prefer them to the microfibre things but I have a few of those and usually take one just in case. Can't remember such a case ever happening.
To hold water for washing I use either a plastic bowl or a collapsible one, depending on how I travel. An ordinary domestic rectangular plastic bowl fits neatly into the top-box on the rack on my motorcycle, weight very little and takes up little volume if things are packed in and around it. If I'm not carrying so much gear then I just use a collapsible bowl. For hot water I usually use a Ghillie kettle which can make literally gallons of hot water quickly and for nothing. I carry liquid soap in an old contact lens solution bottle pilfered from the wife.
This is an issue after a few days. I have been known to strip boll**k naked and get into the river (no soap - can't let detergents get into the water) - it's a curiously liberating feeling. I have to admit to being less concerned with general personal hygiene that with keeping my hands clean for food prep. If you're on your own, there's no need to worry about what others think. Not much good if you're on the pull though...
Couple of flannels and a bar of soap was how most of the western world got by until the advent of indoor bathrooms.
One top, one tail.
Camping though, I take a collapsable bowl. One side marked so that I know it's *me* and the other side for the dishes.
A nice handy burn or loch works fine though, if rather bracing :yikes:
cheers,
Toddy
Scottishwanderer
20-08-2011, 21:04
Follow the lars monsen way. He went for months at a time without washing.
Solar shower, topped up with boiling water from the kettle :)
Just to give you a mental picture of me in the shower;
http://www.strangezoo.com/images/content/110516.jpg
Heat up some water in the billy/kettle and use my collapsible water bowl to have a sponge bath with. :)
What he said, I picked up a cheap Karrimor thing in Field & Trek for a couple of quid, it worked a treat last year when I was on courses for over a week.
Our lass buys little soap impregnated towel things in a box, just wet them and they lather up nicely, a couple of those and you're done.
A bottle of foot powder is a good addition too Drew
drewdunnrespect
20-08-2011, 21:45
What he said, I picked up a cheap Karrimor thing in Field & Trek for a couple of quid, it worked a treat last year when I was on courses for over a week.
Our lass buys little soap impregnated towel things in a box, just wet them and they lather up nicely, a couple of those and you're done.
A bottle of foot powder is a good addition too Drew
I assume foot powder is like talc and u put it on after washing your feet and
Were do u get it from
also thanks for the reply guys your help is much appreciated
drew
I assume foot powder is like talc and u put it on after washing your feet and
Were do u get it from
drew
Yeah pretty much, maybe without the perfume.
Have a look in boots next time you're passing as they have a good range. Not the althletes foot stuff but normal foot hygiene stuff.
drewdunnrespect
20-08-2011, 22:09
Yeah pretty much, maybe without the perfume.
Have a look in boots next time you're passing as they have a good range. Not the althletes foot stuff but normal foot hygiene stuff.
Cheers shewie and I will do
Soap and hot water
Any real reason for the hot water?
For long term camping take into account that most self induced contamination comes from hand to mouth contact, same as with many hospital transmitted infections. Keep your hands clean and you can go on as long as you can stand the smell. Soap and water is good (hot or cold) as it removes debris from the skin. Don't use alcohol gel/foam on dirty hands as it can help keep jimmy jerm in place, clean first, sterilise after; if you don't believe me contact your local Control Of Infection nurse.
BobvanVelzen
20-08-2011, 23:50
If possible: go swimming, scrub with cloth, moss or sand. I believe a short swim will cleam us pretty good.
If its to cold for swimming, warm up some water, and use a warm wet cloth to scrub down.
I prefer a hot shower though.
udamiano
21-08-2011, 01:34
I use just a bar of pine tar soap, and a couple of flannels. If im really lucky some hot water to help! if not its cold :yikes:
Drew, I carry my footpowder, double bagged, in large zip lock bags. At the end of the day, after washing or before putting on clean socks, just stick your foot in the bag and wriggle your toes...bliss.
As for the keeping clean, I have a 10L folding bowl for washing. On long term camps I make a small tripod and leave in the bottom, with soap nearby. I haven't used a solar shower, but usually heat up water in a billy / kettle.
For all over washes I use a flannel.
Simon
Quick word on talc/foot powder. If you use it make sure you wash it off each day and replace since sweaty soggy powder on feet is an absolute perfect place for fungal infections to start.
Also as rik_uk3 says about the alcohol hand gel. It is a secondary sterilizer. In clinical areas you have to wash and scrub your hands with soap then once dry apply the alcohol gel (which stinks and also burns if you have broken skin)
If you think about it historically, we did just fine with a wash once a week. The Western world uses far too much soap and shampoo. The soap companies would not be happy if we stopped using their products every day.
We live off grid and jump in the creek every few days or heat up a bowl of water when its cold outside.
Kerne is correct.....it is completely liberating!
tomongoose
21-08-2011, 10:34
I just get pickled in wood smoke and jump in a stream once a week or so depending on the temperature. I saw a documentary a few years ago and someone didn't wash for 6 weeks and she had tests before and after and there wash no harmful build up of bacteria
found a link
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-477378/Six-weeks-wash-The-soapless-experiment.html
Just need a little bit of water hot or cold in a pan/messtin. One flannel or baby sponge, liquid soap and there you go. Shaving either battery shaver of use shave oil and a bic razor. Talc is a must for clean feet.
lannyman8
21-08-2011, 12:00
well Drew, i like to think of it as one of those jobs you may not like but just have to get on with it, so i just get myself down to boxers (dont want to scare any other campers), and get in the stream, have a good old wash with camping biodigradable soap (most camping shops sell it). its cold yes, but you do feel the benafit when your clothes are back on. just use a micro fibre towel to dry of, use foot powder (anti fungal stuff is best) and clean socks and underwear.
the alternative is a bowl of warm water, hands face and "bits", its obviously not as good as an all over wash, and when its cold weather you get just as cold stripping off anyway.
i have even used snow to wash with, now that was chilly...
try out differant ways and see what suits you Drew, as with knives bow drill woods etc etc, differant methods suit differant people...
regards.
chris.
lannyman8
21-08-2011, 12:02
oh by the way if you are washing in the stream make sure its down stream from the water point....;)
We use flannels, a bowl, soap and hot water, works fine. We've had limited success with solar showers, worked fine in Africa, and to an extent in Scotland on multi day canoe trips where the solar showers are filled and layed out on top of kit throughout the day and have plenty of time to warm. To be honest though, for the effort it takes to heat sufficient water in a billy solar showers are a bit of a gimmick.
I plan at some stage to try using a Native American steam bath, basically a sauna. A tarp over some bent willow sticks, heat some rocks, splash water over hot rocks, go outside and rinse off with cold water.
Al
Matthew.Passmore
30-08-2011, 18:33
I just get pickled in wood smoke and jump in a stream once a week or so depending on the temperature. I saw a documentary a few years ago and someone didn't wash for 6 weeks and she had tests before and after and there wash no harmful build up of bacteria
found a link
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-477378/Six-weeks-wash-The-soapless-experiment.html
Thats cool.
To me, it's not just for hygene reasons we wash, there is a psycological side too it, you always feel better after a wash, especially a warm one and that little pick up can do a world of good, especially if the day has been difficult.
But usually I just use a few wet wipes, or a flannel and soap if im feeling extravagant ;-) .
Hello! I always find it more agreeable if you can make sure your route goes past such a hot spring (not my photo but you get the idea):
http://gb.fotolibra.com/images/larger-thumbnails/537575-krafla.jpeg
If not, and if it's winter, there is always the possibility of following the advice given here (although I've not been brave enough to try the next-to-last paragraph yet): http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A855308
Regards
Beardy
I've found this thread really helpful, thanks for all the posts.
Is Pine tar soap safe to use in natural waterways?
Hello! I always find it more agreeable if you can make sure your route goes past such a hot spring ...
Heck, why didn't I think of that?! :)
... Is Pine tar soap safe to use in natural waterways?
In general it's best to avoid putting anything into a waterway, and in many places it's illegal. One person taking a bath in a river won't make any real impact but when it's thousands it starts to have noticeable impact, and now we're in the millions whole ecosystems are being damaged because everybody thinks "this little bit won't make any difference". I'd take water from the waterway, perhaps in a collapsible bowl, and carry it some distance from the water course before using it to wash. Then I'd throw it away on the ground, spreading it fairly wide (like rain) and avoiding anything that looks like e.g. an insect nest. A little soapy water used for washing presents no great problem for the soil but a lot of it will kill insects underground in nests etc. so I'd avoid just pouring the water in a big puddle.
Thanks mate. +1 informed. :)
On a (semi-)serious note though, has anyone actually tried rolling in the snow a la http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A855308 as a way of getting clean outdoors?
I have tried it to cool down quickly from the hot pot, 30 seconds was more than enough to convince me to get back in!
To do it without the ability to instantly jump into a hot spring or sauna would seem to be quite the man test...
bushcraftbob
31-08-2011, 19:16
Good read that, Tomongoose.
I dont usually wash when on a multiday trek i quite enjoy going back to my caveman roots!
Sea-to-Summit Pocket Shower is actually just a roll-top drybag with a shower head. Here's how it works: you half fill it with cold water, add hot water from your billy, roll-up the top and secure, attatch to cord/rope hoist it up on a handy branch and secure, open the valve & shower. You might want to screen the area so as not to frighten the horses! Put some greenery on the ground to keep your feet out of the mud / leaf litter (or use your foam sit-mat). They are light and pack small. Good bit of kit.
Paganwolf
07-09-2011, 16:46
ritual like this, hang my MSR bladder in a tree stagger out of my pit in my keks 1st clean teeth, move leaf litter and gob then cover in leaf litter (toothpaste takes ages to biodegrade in the bush), then life venture biodegradable soap squidge some in hand rub in hair under arms on face and round the old jacobs ect then turn on MSR with shower nozzle and rince it all off (cleaning keks as i go :) ) then towel drop keks and hang to dry, i then use unsented roll on or a peice of allum crystal as a deoderant TADAAAA! all ready to get dirty and smokey again! lol, takes 5 mins to do that.
Just because your out bush dont mean you have to be a grub ;) Cleanliness is next to godliness, the native americans used to pride their self on cleanliness and physical fitness good enough for them good enough for me.
A good personal admin routeen is key outdoors it keeps you feeling good and your spirits high, I cant understand these soap dodgers that leave it till they get home? its not healthy so dont do it!!!!
Then if im on expo its rivers ponds sea or lakes you cant beat a scrub down with silver birch leaves in a crystal clear swedish lake!!
I also wash every day using:
- a plastic bag to hold water
- a small brush
- pine tar soap
The brush is really useful: very good at cleaning hands, can brush hair, spot clean clothes ...
I use cold water (I rarely make fires) and don't really mind it - it is just splashing. I don't use a towel, just shake, get clothes back on and walk. Paramo jacket worn directly on the skin is great to get dry.
I brush teeth (with a regular toothbrush but without toothpaste).
geordienemisis
07-09-2011, 18:05
If for tactical reasons you are unable to wash/shower at least once a week used a damp cloth to wipe your hairy bits to remove any fungal build up. This will go some way to avoid crotch rot and I have had this and its not nice the skin comes away from small areas and becomes raw. I now try to keep as clean as possible by using wet wipes and a antibacterial towel often.