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Backpacker Magazine – April 2008

Start Smart: Stay Clean and Healthy

4 strategies to feel and smell better

by: Susan Alcorn


Don't let backpacking's grungy reputation keep you off the trail. You don't have to give up on personal hygiene just because the nearest running water is a frigid stream. Make these hygiene tactics part of your campsite routine, and you'll look better, feel cleaner–and protect your friend's health, too.

Hands
  • To wash up, apply a dime-sized dollop of unscented sanitizer to your hands and rub vigorously for 20 seconds. If the sanitizer evaporates before that time, then you didn't use enough.
  • Soap, warm water, and friction remove fatty deposits found in food, especially meats. Use a biodegradable cleaner like Dr. Bronners Liquid Soap (drbronner.com, $3.75) and rub your hands for one minute.
Food
  • Lick clean your personal dishes, then wipe them with hand sanitizer, or warm water and biodegradable soap. Air dry by fanning.
  • Sponges and scrubbing pads are prime real estate for germs. Sanitize them after repeated use with alcohol gel or submersion in boiling water.
  • Pour trail mix into a person's hand instead of letting him reach into the bag.
Body
  • Reduce skin chafing by applying a non-greasy friction barrier like BodyGlide Anti-Blister and Chafing Stick (1.3 oz., $9) to any problem areas, especially hips and thighs.
  • Before turning in, give yourself a quick sponge bath with a damp, clean bandana. Wipe down your groin, armpits, and feet with alcohol sanitizer to eliminate bacteria.
Clothing
  • Change your clothes and underwear when you're done hiking for the day.
  • Pack three pairs of hiking socks: One to wear, one to wash, and one for sleeping.


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READERS COMMENTS

last summer in the high sierra, we used our bear canister to haul water from a lake to the campground to wash our clothes. it worked like a charm and having clean undergarments for the next day's trek was great.
Posted: Jul 03, 2010 joe

Anyone here of sagebrush. If you have it growing around you, use it. Great antibacterial, fresh smell, and its free. A plus, no nasty alcohol smell, that stuff is not good for you.
Posted: Jul 02, 2010 Frontier Gal

Anyone here of sagebrush. If you have it growing around you, use it. Great antibacterial, fresh smell, and its free. A plus, no nasty alcohol smell, that stuff is not good for you.
Posted: Jul 02, 2010 Frontier Gal

Even when I'm hiking in cool weather I get a pretty good workout and have very oily face skin so I do a sponge bath each night. To make this really simple I carry an empty plastic gallon jug with the top cut off(probably a tip from Backpacker). You do not need purified water just scoop it up from your nearby stream. I feel relaxed and sleep much better after wiping off sweat and dirt. Also keeps sleeping bag cleaner, I do not have a liner.
Posted: Jul 02, 2010 Lisa from Maryland

Anyone use Lavilin deoderant before a trip?
Posted: Jul 02, 2010 anon

Bah: You must have some angelic feet. I can't imagine wearing the same pair of dress socks for a week at work, let alone 9 days of wet hiking socks? We just got back from Philmont. I had 2 pair Smartwool hiking socks and a liner pair. I usually wore the liners around camp, and rinsed/switched the hikers every third day. None smelled as fresh as when I started.
Posted: Jul 02, 2010 Anonymous

With regard to socks, I disagree with having a 3rd pair. Bring one to hike in and one to sleep in. Quality wool hiking socks should not smell even after 9 or 10 days of use. I wore the same pair of SW medium cushion hiking socks for 10 days straight, it rained 9 of them and was 70 the last day. By the end of the trip, they smelled as fresh as when I started.
Posted: Jul 02, 2010 bah

Best deodorant system: waterless handcleaner, then thai stone, then bath powder(I make my own from corn starch and baking soda in a blender)
Posted: Jul 02, 2010 Anonymous

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