View Full Version : what do most hikers do for washing/rinsing clothing while on trail?
I wasn't planning on bringing anything to rinse my clothes in while on the trail. In the past I just washed a sweaty synthetic shirt in a stream. Is that what most folks do? In some ways...its just trail dirt and grime back to from whence it came.
But I am thinking..given the amount of folks on the AT in Georgia in spring time.. one shouldn't rinse anything in streams. So maybe some sort of open container that one could rinse a shirt in may not be a bad idea. Anyone use their cook pot for this?
Seems even if one's gear is light weight, if ya pack enough of it it is no longer so light!
David
If you're lucky, you'll get a nice warm rain in the summer. That does onders for your clothes and skin. Rinsing clothing in water sources is a pretty bad idea. On more than one occasion I've been known to dump water on my head, but I try and get away from the water sources. Town is where you clean your clothes.
SGTdirtman
03-12-2006, 20:48
sometimes in the morning when I wake up I take my pants and shirt and shake the bugs, sticks, and clumps of mud off them.... Thats about the closest I ever came to washing anything while hiking
i agree with "don't rinse your clothes in a water source'', but if it's a stream, and you just have to, do it well downstream.
i made a basin of sorts from an old 6 qt water bladder... it's "Reliance" brand, sold by Campmor and walmart. just a big square cube, about a foot in all dimensions... i cut off the top and about half of the front and back, leaving the sides sticking up. i then cut handles in those sides. works pretty well, weighs about 3 oz, and can be folded up and jammed down into your pack somewhere... i only carry it in the middle of summer here in LA, when you just HAVE to rinse off every day or you'll get some really weird stuff growing on your skin...
Rendezvous01
03-12-2006, 21:05
Most hikers don't rinse out their clothes, although some will hang them from the trees or rafters or over the top of their tent or tarp overnight to ventilate them. Or maybe it is just to keep the bears away at night.
And there are some hikers who never ever remove their clothes except in laundromats.
As far as using water sources, if you can bathe in it, you can rinse clothes in it. But on both counts, do it downstream from wherever your fellow hikers might be getting their drinking water.
For my hike, I can only recollect rinsing my clothing a couple of times, although I carried one more change of clothing than do most hikers. Putting on clean, dry clothes three or four days out of town was satisfying enough for me to carry that extra weight.
Whistler
03-12-2006, 21:22
I think just about the only thing worth rinsing on-trail is the socks. The sweats and salts and swampjuice and grit and dirt and sludgewater will make your feet unhappy. So, clean and wet beats dirty and wet for me. Do this as LNT as you can. Away, away, away from where any other person might want to enjoy the water. Consider using your cookpot or milkjug washbowl or watersack or whatever you carry.
The shirts and shorts will just soak up a new load of odors soon after you put them on. I save those and everything else for town.
-Mark
I use a cut off bleach jug, I keep my 'anti-gravity' stove, pot, cozy and wind screen all inside the cut off jug, All of this is in a one gallon zip lock bag, with a small pot scrubie, lighter, and bandana. I have washed socks, shirt and me in this jug, Have also gathered water before filtering it. It works for me.
Sandy
I always did my laundry in towns. The only thing I washed on the trail was my sock liners, not the socks themselves, but the liners. That's because the liners were so light that they were easy to wash and dry. Also because they were next to my feet it gave them priority over the outer socks. I washed them in my cooking pot, yea gross, I know but that's what I did. And I washed them with shampoo, not laundry soap. Laundry soap is no good because it requires a large volume of water to rines. Shampoo will rinse out with a small amount of water. Did not throw the rinse water anywhere near streams. Then I rinsed out the cooking pot real good.
Panzer
workboot
03-12-2006, 21:43
Ivory dish detergent does field laundry pretty well....meaning it rinses out pretty easliy.....ziplock or garbage bag=portable washing machine for socks and such.... be sure and rinse well YMMV
:D this here is how i do my laundry and shower:cool: neo
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=8040&c=665&userid=3462
Ivory dish detergent does field laundry pretty well....meaning it rinses out pretty easliy.....ziplock or garbage bag=portable washing machine for socks and such.... be sure and rinse well YMMV
what does Ymmv mean?
Kerosene
03-12-2006, 22:46
YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary. Basically, it means that you may not see the same results as I do given other variables.
Rifleman
03-12-2006, 22:54
:D this here is how i do my laundry and shower:cool: neo
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=8040&c=665&userid=3462
Neo you look like a drowned cat!:rolleyes:
Did you get the hash marks out also?:D
R.
TwoForty
03-13-2006, 00:33
Mix some Dr B's, water, and clothes in a 2 gallon ziplock. Shake them up and then let them dry overnight.
River Runner
03-13-2006, 01:43
I carry a large Gladware bowl with lid - very multi-purpose, and it works as a small sink to rinse out a shirt or undies.
SGTdirtman
03-13-2006, 05:50
How the heak do you carry a tupperware on the trail?
I have a water bag that will stand on its own, works very well as a bathtub, washer and funny hat if the need arises!
NICKTHEGREEK
03-14-2006, 07:20
I use a nalgene canteen for a portable washing/rinse system. I carry both the large 96 oz size and the smaller 32's. The 96 is my "dirty water" bag that I filter from, and it doubles as my washer. The wide mouth will accept skivvies, socks, t-shirts. Stuff em in, add water (hot is better) and some campsuds, and shake/knead. Repeat as necessary, wringing the dirty water out and adding clean. Naturally don't pour the dirty water back into the stream or nearby. After you are done refill with water and a couple drops of bleach and a short soak will kill the bugs before you filter from it.
dje97001
03-14-2006, 08:56
Two thoughts.
First, regardless of how far "downstream" you are from your fellow hikers, you are undoubtedly "upstream" from other hikers.
Second, I'd have to agree with Rendezvous01, if you can bathe/swim in it, why can't you jump in with your clothing on? and so why can't you just put your clothes in it? Why would biodegradable, non-toxic Dr. Bronner's be harmful to use in a stream? I wouldn't advocate washing your socks two feet above some poor hiker trying to fill their nalgene, but... you know... animals have no problem bathing, drinking, or relieving themselves in these very same streams. People using streams for water sources KNOW that there is always a risk for some sort of disease--which is why so many treat and/or filter their water.
Maybe I'm out of the loop:confused:, but this just seems silly.
I wasn't planning on bringing anything to rinse my clothes in while on the trail. In the past I just washed a sweaty synthetic shirt in a stream. Is that what most folks do? In some ways...its just trail dirt and grime back to from whence it came.
But I am thinking..given the amount of folks on the AT in Georgia in spring time.. one shouldn't rinse anything in streams. So maybe some sort of open container that one could rinse a shirt in may not be a bad idea. Anyone use their cook pot for this?
Seems even if one's gear is light weight, if ya pack enough of it it is no longer so light! David
I regularly washed my socks on the trail and sometimes a tee shirt and hankerchief. I tried to pick a sunny day and hung the wet things on my backpack using large "horse blanket" safety pins.
For soap I used the sliver of Ivory cut from a big cake in my bounce box, otherwise used for body parts and dishes. My "washing machine" was my three liter aluminum pot, otherwise used for cooking and sterilizing suspicious water.
For aesthetic reasons I washed and rinsed 50 feet or more away from water sources.
All ordinary soaps and detergents are biodegradeable these days -- and most always have been. There are a lot of myths floating around about the nature of pollution and the superiority of Dr. Bronners, a perfectly good soap and probably as biodegradeable as Ivory, and vice versa.
Weary
dje97001
03-14-2006, 09:49
FYI, I just found this thread: http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=692
digger51
03-14-2006, 12:43
In winter cleaning is for towns. In spring and summer, love the rain.
Streamweaver
03-14-2006, 13:32
A trash bag or even a plastic grocery bag makes a great little washing machine. You can even use the one you line your pack with if you dont want to carry an extra.
Streamweaver
03-14-2006, 13:33
I regularly washed my socks on the trail and sometimes a tee shirt and hankerchief. I tried to pick a sunny day and hung the wet things on my backpack using large "horse blanket" safety pins.
For soap I used the sliver of Ivory cut from a big cake in my bounce box, otherwise used for body parts and dishes. My "washing machine" was my three liter aluminum pot, otherwise used for cooking and sterilizing suspicious water.
For aesthetic reasons I washed and rinsed 50 feet or more away from water sources.
All ordinary soaps and detergents are biodegradeable these days -- and most always have been. There are a lot of myths floating around about the nature of pollution and the superiority of Dr. Bronners, a perfectly good soap and probably as biodegradeable as Ivory, and vice versa.
Weary
FYI-Ivory soap even makes a good catfish bait!
icemanat95
03-14-2006, 13:56
I agree that prohibitions against rinsing out stuff in streams is mostly aesthetic. But do so well down stream or draw water and wash away from the streams.
I have bathed myself in plenty of streams along the AT, no problem at all. Just get down from the water points. By the time the stuff that washes off of you gets down to the next waterpoint, it'll be so dilute as to be negligible. That's probably true even if the next water point is just 100 yards downstream.