Clean clothes and water

imported
#1

How important is cleaning your clothes every few days?

What is the easiest/most efficient way to get this done.

Also, how do you get enough access to clean water? Or do you have to boil or purify every time.

Sebastian

#2

Let me begin by saying the longest I have ever been out is 2 weeks and below is what I did.

When it is warm, I try to sponge off every day. Once I get to my campsite, set up and eat, I fill up my water bag and go into the woods and sponge off with a washcloth sized piece of pack towel. I change into my sleeping shorts & shirt then as well. I feel better and it keeps the sweat and oils out of my sleeping bag. I also carry a 1 Gallon Ziplok Freezer bag and a small bottle of campsuds to wash my underwear and socks each day.

When it is cold, I will wash my underwear and socks every 2 days as it takes longer to dry. I usually only take a bath or shower when I resupply.

BCM

#3

What do you mean by “sponge off”

I think I might go a week or two at a time with dirty clothes. **** it, if the homeless do it, so can I.

Sebastian

#4

You might start noticing skin problems like chaffing and boils if you go that long without washing. A nuisance for a sedentary person could end your hike. Clean socks are especially important.

I keep as clean as I can given the conditions and water availability. If I’m hiking alone in pristine wilderness with streams every mile, I’ll strip and bathe and do laundry wherever I want, at least daily. On the AT, you need to respect other users and the water sources, so carry the gallon ziplock to wash clothes and take a sponge bath away from the source, etc. On arid Western trails, if you hardly have enough water to brush your teeth you’re obviously not going to take a bath very often and you have to deal with the dirt and stink.

For drinking water, purity is often in the mind of the beholder. Some folks will pay $3 for a liter of Smoky Mt spring water in Gatlinburg because they’re afraid of the town water. But when faced with the actual spring in the mountains, they throw chemicals in it or run it through a filter because they’re afraid of the spring water. Go figure. On the AT, I carried Aquamira chemical treatment and ended up using it a few times in pasture land and roadside streams, maybe 10 gallons worth on the whole trail. I hiked in a wet year and the springs were excellent, probably the best water on Earth.

Garlic

#5

How do you clean your clothes in a stream? It would takes over a day to dry.

Sebastian

#6

Sebastian,
There are lots of opinions on these two issues. I will give you mine, you have to decide for yourself though.
Water; I drink ground water without treating. In other words, if the water is a spring and it is flowing directly out of the ground (from a pipe or not) with no indication that is flowed down the hill higher up, drink it. All surface water is filtered. Surface water is water that is standing or flowing without any indication what it’s source is. In 1200 miles on the AT, I have never gotten sick following these standards.
Clothes: I wear nylon underwear that can be washed in very little water (no soap) and dries quickly. I do carry two extra pairs. I carry one spare wicking T-shirt but in practice I use it as town clothes. I carry no spare shorts. I carry three pairs of socks; always hang your current use socks to dry at night, rewear them if possible. Rinse them in flowing water if too dirty, then hang them on the outside of your pack to dry during the day. Wash your clothes in a laundromat in trail towns but stop worrying about washing on the Trail. You will stink but so does everyone else, no one notices or cares…

TicTac

#7

It takes a day or more to dry laundry in high humidity or rain (all summer on the AT?), so don’t wash clothes then. Underwear and socks you just put on wet and wear them dry with body heat, but sometimes you just sweat through them before they dry. At least you’re a little ahead of the game. Out West your clothes will dry in minutes and so will your sweat.

Garlic

#8

I never wash clothes while actually hiking, on AT, I never went more than ten days without going to or near a town. Majority of AT towns have laundromat. Sock I dry out on my pack. Remember if you bathe in a water source please do it down stream.

Chef

#9

on a somewhat same (but somewhat different note), i recently discovered an eco-friendly laundry detergent that works like a champ on my gear. the brand is “grab green”
(www.grabgreenhome.com)
the detergent comes in small “pods” (one or two will easily fit into your palm). they offer an unscented variety (3-in-1) which is the ONLY eco-friendly cleaner to date that i’ve found throrughly cleans my gear. previous to this, i tried ECOS (second best), sun + earth (avergae) and 7th generation (poor). i train year-round outside in gear that has aged like a fine wine-- a near decade (of incessant use). the funk – while normal to us trail folk–can become quite overbearing if not properly addressed. grab green is my new best friend! based on my previous encounters in towns, the typical laundromat detergents (very eco-aggressive) irritated my skin quite badly – constant itching/ irritation after washing-- not to mention the artifical scent would linger on my clothes for a good day or town (before my body odor began to overtake). in any event, i feel it a good policy to use un-scented of anything in the woods, as widely accepted, animals are attracted to odors/perfumes. simply something to consider. it’s a superb! product and the pods could easily be mailed (or a couple carried in pack for that matter provided they didn’t get wet), should you wish to do an impromptu wash -in -the- sink -while- in -town- for a-few -hours -type deal. above all, non-eco friendly detergents are extremely harmful to our water sources–municipal or otherwise. factoring in the “added” expense (trivial if existent at all in the long run), it seems only reasonable, entirely logical in fact that grabbing green would uhum…permit us all to, for lack of a better phrase, “walk our talk.” peace.

leslie

#10

if you’re super concerned ‘bout keepin’ the stench to a minimum, good ‘ole baking soda works well-- a lil’ goes a long way and can easily tote in pack for other uses as well-- makeshift toothpaste, foot powder to name a few. of course, using it in a stream would be strongly discouraged, but again, if/ when you find yourself at a sink-- sometimes abbreviated town visits or even an impromptu stop to a gas station just a tenth or two from a road crossing (if there’s a bathroom, there’s typically a sink!) would be an invitation to wash clothes with something other than with strictly H20.

leslie

#11

Sebastian, sponging off means to take the small piece of packtowel, soak it in your water, wipe yourself off. It takes off the perspiration deposits of salt and oils, as well as the dirt and grit. Garlic mentioned chaffing. The dirt and salt will cause chaffing and the deposits are also invitations to various skin irritations, like the ones commonly known as jock itch, ringworm, and diaper rash.

bcm

#12

I found it impossible to wear underwear on trail due to chafing & sawing action… you might have to do alot of shopping to find the right ultralite trail shorts or bathing suit (might have to cut the nylon mesh net as it usually chafes like undies). I carried more than 1 becuz you never know when 1 might split; although, you can try to find a UL pair of long pants, some can weight just a few ounces, for going to town purposes… some folks use their rain suit pants as going out gear. I was hiking with the gourmet gals once so we washed up daily, but watch out how you dry your gear on the back of your pack as it can disappear without a trace!!!

gingerbreadman

#13

I found it impossible to wear underwear on trail due to chafing & sawing action… you might have to do alot of shopping to find the right ultralite trail shorts or bathing suit (might have to cut the nylon mesh net as it usually chafes like undies). I carried more than 1 becuz you never know when 1 might split; although, you can try to find a UL pair of long pants, some can weight just a few ounces, for going to town purposes… some folks use their rain suit pants as going out gear. I was hiking with the gourmet gals once so we washed up daily, but watch out how you dry your gear on the back of your pack as it can disappear without a trace!!! Also, we would often break out our tent flys at lunch & spread out in the sun to dry… ditto sleeping bag if necessary!

gingerbreadman