washing clothes on the trail

[squeezebox]

How have you washed clothes while on the trail? I've heard of using a zipplock with soap and water, squishing it around a while, empty, rinse. I plan on bringing the bottom 1/2 of a 1/2 gal milk jug to use for bathing and a bit of laundry.

[MuddyWaters]

I have never washed clothing on a trail with soap.
I rinse socks out as needed, other stuff too if get food on it or excessive mud.
Soap is for towns, imo. I carry enough soap for washing my hands, not much else.

[Walkintom]

Laundromats in town are where my washing gets done almost always.

Wear wool. It naturally decreases odor.

I have used Dr. Bronners soap to wash clothes on extended outings where no town runs are possible. Haul water away from the source - I go 200 feet. Wash and rinse such that you disperse the soap a bit instead of pouring it all out in one spot. A few drops will do the job.

I have an inline filter on my water bladder so it's perfectly fine to haul 'dirty' water in. Sounds like your milk jug solution will be a lot more work.

[12trysomething]

I embrace the funk! I have rinsed socks a time or two. I use wet wipes to "clean" myself.

[BirdBrain]

I clean mine often in my Sea 2 Summit 10L bucket using unscented Dr Bronner's. My wife says it does not help though and that I still stink.

[2015 Lady Thru-Hiker]

“Profanity is the effort of a feeble brain to express itself forcibly.” - Spencer W. Kimball.

Off topic but you used a version of one of my favorite quotes I used on my kids when they were growing up The version i read was "Profanity is the feeble-minded person's way of trying to sound important"

We now return you to this evening's program

[2015 Lady Thru-Hiker]

How have you washed clothes while on the trail? I've heard of using a zipplock with soap and water, squishing it around a while, empty, rinse. I plan on bringing the bottom 1/2 of a 1/2 gal milk jug to use for bathing and a bit of laundry.

I plan to use the ziplock bag method to keep fresh underthings available (heard about it at the Kick Off) and use a smart water bottle with sport top for washing up/rinsing off in the evenings. At least that's the plan right now

[BirdBrain]

Off topic but you used a version of one of my favorite quotes I used on my kids when they were growing up The version i read was "Profanity is the feeble-minded person's way of trying to sound important"

We now return you to this evening's program

My mother used soap on my mouth at an early age. I am not sure what kind she used. I doubt it was of very high quality. We were very poor. I believe the key is to cleanse it at an early age and it will stay clean for life. Now if we can only solve the issue of the OP, we would really have something.

[Maui Rhino]

Like BirdBrain, I carry a S2S 10L bucket. I use it to haul water to camp for filtering, as well as washing myself and my clothes using Dr Bronners.

[squeezebox]

Birdbrain: I'm also going to start with a bucket. I'm concerned about soap contaminating the water I want to filter. so therefore the 0.5 oz milk jug. If I have to do a large volume of soapy water I'll turn the bucket inside out.

[squeezebox]

So does the Sea to Summit free stand fairly well? Durability? only weighs 1 oz!!! I bought the 2.5 oz version.

[Siestita]

" A few drops will do the job." I agree. A tiny amount of either Dr. Bonner's or some other biodegradable soap, used away from the water source, is enough to clean either oneself or a few small clothes items. I carry with me a five liter Platapus plastic bladder or two (old school type, not for drinking from a pack), to conveniently carry water from its source to wherever I choose camp. If I wash clothing items on the trail , its just small items, socks or underwear. My one liter cook pot is just the right size for handling that cleaning job. Needless to say, I rinse the pot out very well afterwards.

[BirdBrain]

The sea to summit bucket does free stand. I also am concerned with soap in water. Does not matter if it is justified. Better safe and all that. Slowly pour dirty water on rocks at least 200' away from nearest water source. I have a cut down water bottle I use for a scoop. It is used to gather water for filtering. That scoop can be used to get enough water to rinse the bucket. Again, done well away from water source.

[fastfoxengineering]

On the AT no real reason to clean clothes on the trail. However, I've rinsed really wet and muddy socks out. Still wet in the morning but "clean" ... My long underwear rarely gets hiked in so its clean and dry for camp. I have however just jumped in a river/swimming hole with all my hiking clothes on. Clean enough. Not gonna lie. If my shirts dirty but dry, I'd rather keep it that way than have it wet in the morning. Furthermore, you don't get that dirty unless you have a few muddy days in a row. And if you want to wash clothes for sanitation concerns... I think its not worth your time. Washing clothes and not your body is pointless. I carry a very small dropper bottle with dr.b's... For all purposes. Can't say I've never done laundry on the trail but its not a regular thing. I do like to take a bandana and some steaming hot water and give myself a good scrub down after wet/muddy/buggy days though...god bless my wood stove. If I wanna heat up water for a good banadana sponge bath, awwww yeahh

[nuknees]

I embrace the funk! I have rinsed socks a time or two. I use wet wipes to "clean" myself.

Wet wipes? Heavy, heavy, heavy!
I ziplock bag rinse socks and underwear, generally in warm water, to get grit and sweat out. The salt in sweat will crystalize in fibers of clothes and will cause chaffing as well as get stiff after a while. Then I'll warm up some water for a bandana wipe down of myself to remove salt and grit from my skin...lets my body breathe easier and I stay more comfortable at night.

[Lyle]

On the AT, with the frequent availability of laundry facilities, the most I occasionally do is rinse out socks or maybe a t-shirt. Other trails, where laundry facilities are few and far between, or entirely non-existent, the ziplock bag method works quite well for socks, shorts, base layers.

[Deadeye]

I use the half milk jug for lots of things, including rinsing socks & underwear between laundry opportunites.

[Nooga]

On hot weather hikes, I will rinse out my shirt (no soap) if a suitable lake or stream is available and wipe myself down with a bandana.

[Slo-go'en]

During the summer it can be nice to rinse the salt and sweat out of your t-shirt and underwear every couple of days. Although not too durable, if your careful plastic grocery bags work well, don't weigh much, don't take up any space and are free with purchase.

[12trysomething]

Wet wipes? Heavy, heavy, heavy!

The day 2 wet wipes a day become too heavy I will hang up my pack.

I like to keep areas fresh and clean . . . . Every morning and night.