Laundry In The Backcountry Or Abroad
Keeping Clothes Clean Away From Home
After a long, hot day of sweating after 20 miles are down, how can you possibly keep your clothes clean? You’ve worked up a serious funk and at some point brushed up against a very dirty canyon wall or boulder. Now your only refuge seems to be the backup clothes you brought but this is day one of four. Not to worry, there is a method to backcountry laundry. It is relatively easy and has a low environmental impact when using the right tools.
Extra Gear
Now, you may have to carry with you an extra piece of gear to achieve cleaning your clothes. By that I mean a large container to keep hot water, soap and your clothes in while washing. There are many great solutions for this such as collapsible silicon buckets, titanium (ouch, that’s expensive!) bowls or even a durable plastic bag may do the trick. You will also need extra soap. If you use concentrated Castile soap, a small bottle should more than suffice your needs on a three to four day jaunt.
The Backcountry Laundry Process
To achieve clean clothes you should already have the container, soap and hot water. Boil some water and let cool or heat up until warm. Next place your garment in the cleaning container and add a little bit of soap. Add the water to the container, work the soap in and then let sit for a few minutes. After repeating this process until you are satisfied or the clothes are clean, remove the clothing from the soapy water. At this point you want to wring out any water, rinse with clean warm water to remove soap and wring again. Now you may hang the clothing on a line or near a fire to start drying. When they are dry, pack up or suit up. That is it.
Simple, Yet Effective
This is a very rudimentary form of doing laundry but it will improve your feeling of cleanliness and those around you will be happy. Also, it promotes clean and healthy habits in an otherwise dirty excursion. You don’t need to be in the backcountry to do this. Many people have done this while traveling when laundry facilities are rare to keep up hygiene and maintain their expensive clothing to last.
Some great reasons to keep your clothing clean are obvious. They range from making clothing last longer, keeping smells & odors away, removing oil & sweat from accumulating, reducing bacteria, preventing stains from setting and avoiding rashes. Yes, all of the aforementioned factors are at play on a long enough timeline san cleaning of clothing.
The Lesson Here
In short, to keep your clothing clean is another way of keeping your body clean (and arguably your mind as well). I’d rather be thinking about how great the sunrise or sunset is than how bad I am smelling while experiencing it. Taking a little bit of time to make sure you and your property are clean is a small price to pay for comfort and health. Even after a wearing an article a few times, you are already depositing oils, skin and grime into the fabric. These are things you don’t want to carry with you long, especially far away from help.
