Washing Clothes?

[Johnny]

Some people will carry spare clothing on longer camping trips and some will rely on washing the ones they have. How do you wash you clothes out there?

[Barney]

The only piece of clothing I ever had to wash were socks and I did that in the creek with biodegradable soap. I always bring extra base layer items, including t-shirts, underwear and socks, which get dirty quickly because of the sweat.

[Grandpa]

I take a pair of socks and underwear for each night out plus an extra pair. I love and need my fresh dry socks. The rest of my clothes can go three nights without changing or a cold water only wash if they can't.

[wvbreamfisherman]

I use biodegradable soap when I do wash, mostly socks. For pretty much everything else, I just soak and wring out several times, and let it dry, or wear it dry if its a hot day.

[Lorax]

Biodegradable soap or baking soda in a creek or lake. Synthetics dry quickly, so I'll strap whatever I wash on the back of a pack or the top of my portage pack for the day to dry.

[Pathfinder1]

Hi...


When spending a couple of weeks on the far shore of Lake Iliamna, we borrowed a metal trash can from one of the three familys who lived in the area, so we could wash our clothes.

Hope I never have to do that again...!!

[ppine]

For car camping on longer trips a 5 gallon bucket is good if you have room. The other alternative is using a washing machine at an RV park or laundramat. I would remind people that biodegradable soap is a good product, but it should not be used in lakes and streams. Use a container like a bucket and dump the wash water on shore away from the water. A collapsable bucket can be used in the backcountry.

[Ventura]

I have never been camping myself but always just thought that if we did plan a trip, we would just take enough items for each day and just wash them by hand as needed.

[bsmit212]

Never worried about washing clothes, but longest I have been was a week and I did smell nasty at the end and was ready for a wash. I do carry a few pairs of socks and just change every few days or as needed. One thing I see often on the AT with people who are doing longer hikes or thur hikers, is they will have their trail set and a wash day set. The trail set is the one the wear on the trial, duh, and then their wash day stuff they will put in a send ahead package, along with some other stuff like shampoo soap and other things that would not be used in the backcountry. They will mail it ahead to the next mail drop, when they reach they will shower, wash trail clothes while wearing the others, and then when ready to head out will pack it all up and send it on to the next spot and do it all over again.

[carmen]

We do similar to what Barney does and the socks are the biggest issue. I swear we have had about three trips that we always forgot to pack socks except the ones on our feet! This is now the first thing that gets packed and goes in the car, in its only "sock case".