I just read an article that said the best practice in personal hygiene for women is to cut a quarter of a bandanna to use as a "pee rag" that can be sun dried and UV sanitized on the back of your pack. This eliminates the need for toilet paper unless you need to dig a cathole and do #2. Supposedly sun drying will remove any odor.
For years, my solution has been to wear a panty liner and change it daily. They are compact, lightweight and easy to pack out with my other trash. They've worked well except on a few occasions, when it rained so hard that water ran down my neck and into my rain pants, turning the panty liner into a cold, soaking wet sponge. I've learned to avoid wearing panty liners in those conditions. I haven't had a single UTI since I started using them on my hikes.
The pee rag idea would eliminate the need to buy and carry panty liners, but I'm finding it hard to accept the idea that the thing will actually dry out on the back of my pack, given the amount of rain I usually encounter during a week on the AT. I smell bad enough at the end of a trip already, without a pee-soaked bandanna hanging on my pack. Or I could give myself another camp chore and wash it at night, thus ensuring myself a chilly, wet wipe when I "go" during the night.
Has anyone here actually tried using a pee rag?