Cleanliness

Cleanliness and personal hygiene are not big issues on a short backpacking trip. Other than a change of socks, why bring any extra clothing for an overnighter? Why even think about washing your hair if you will be camping for a weekend?

On longer trips, however, you will need to wash yourself at some point. On any trip, you'll probably want to brush your teeth. Here are some general tips for cleanliness and personal hygiene while on the trail.

Cut your toothbrush handle short. This isn't even as much about weight as it is about fitting it more conveniently in your bathroom kit. For a short trip, you can brush without toothpaste. For longer trips, it may be better to bring a little baking soda in a plastic bag, and brush with that. If you forget your toothbrush, some tree twigs, like dogwood, can be chewed at the end, and the resulting "brush" used for your teeth.

If you bring soap, make it biodegradable and use very little. Wash away from water sources. Rub water on yourself, lather up, and slowly rinse off by pouring water over yourself. Dome right, you can get a good shower from a liter of water. Washing without soap works well enough on short trips.

There are many who think we should essentially have no contact with nature except to walk through it. I don't buy that idea. Wash up in that lake or stream - just don't use shampoo or soap.

Towels? I never bring them. Shake off the water and stand in the sun for a moment. When the weather is fine you'll dry quickly from hiking in any case. I often use any clothing I have as a towel, and let it hang from the pack to dry.

A handkerchief can be used for simple "sponge baths." Get it wet and wipe yourself down, or at least wash out your underarms. The handkerchief should be rinsed out away from stream and lakes.

For a trip of a few days or less, wash your hair well before you leave, and leave it at that. People used to do just fine washing their hair once per week. On longer trips, rinse it out in a stream or lake once in a while. If you do use shampoo, use it away from water sources.

Swimming in a lake with your shirt on will wash it out well enough, and it will dry quicker if you just leave it on while you hike (weather permitting). To wash socks, carry some water away from a stream or lake and wash the socks out by soaking, scrubbing, then rinsing them as you slowly pour water over them. Wring them out and hang them from your pack to dry while you hike.

The "leave no trace" fanatics actually recommend straining out food particles from your dishes and packing them out. The wild carrots all over the wilderness are the same species as the ones I bring with me, so how can a few pieces hurt? They can't.

Go ahead and wash out your pan using water from a lake or stream. Just dump the wash water away from the stream at the base of a bush, or in a small hole scraped in the sand. The odd noodle or two may be ugly, and certainly can attract animals (keep that in mind), but otherwise there is no study showing that our dishwater is destroying the wilderness.

I don't use soap. The pan will be sanitized by cooking, and bowls and spoons, if scrubbed with sand and dried thoroughly, will be safe enough.

In many crowded parks, you are asked to or required to carry your fecal waste back out with you. This may be a good idea in those areas. In most areas, it is enough to scoop a hole in the earth and bury it - at least 100 yards from water sources. At high (above tree line) altitude there are not the necessary microorganisms to break it down. The newest technique, therefore, is to smear it on a rock (out of sight please), where the sun can disinfect and dry it to break it down.

Use as little toilet paper as you can. In some areas it is appropriate to bury it along with your poop, while in others it may make more sense to pack it out, or at least burn it before you bury it. Not all environments are equally fragile, and you'll have to think for yourself on some of these issues.

Urine usually isn't a problem, being generally inert. In some crowded areas, like the Grand Canyon, they advise peeing straight into the river. The volume of water there makes this appropriate. Otherwise, the few good places to camp start to smell of urine from the thousands of visitors.

- Anti-bacterial hand sanitizer, in one-ounce plastic bottles, is a convenient way to clean your hands on the trail. Regular rubbing alcohol does the same thing and costs less.

- Crushed spruce needles can be rubbed under your arms to mask odors.

- Washing socks with crushed pine or spruce needles can help make them smell better.

- Water bottles are more sanitary than bladders, because there are no outside exposed mouthpieces that can get dirty.

- Add three times as many iodine tablets as normal to water, and you have a decent disinfecting wash for cuts or skin problems, or to wash foods that may have bacteria on the surface.

- Hanging clothes in the sunshine and air will partly disinfect them and make them smell fresher.

Key Points

1. Cleanliness and personal hygiene are more important on longer trips.

2. There are simple ways to stay clean on the trail.

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The Ultralight Backpacking Site | Cleanliness