One of the great allures of being in nature is roughing it. That means some dirt under your nails, greasy hair and overall grit. It’s part of total dissociation from the “real world” and true connection to the natural world. However, that doesn’t mean you have to be dirty. Staying fresh and clean is not only preferred, but can be essential to health and wellness while camping. Whether you’re backpacking into your campsite or car camping, there are niceties we have to leave behind such as temperature-controlled water and 12-step skincare routines. On the bright side, it’s easy to bring along essentials to make any campsite feel like home.
Plan What You Pack
What you bring with you into the wild is what you’ll have for the duration of your camping trip. This may sound obvious but when you forget something, it can sound a bit different. The best way to make sure you have everything you need is to plan ahead. Everyone is different so what you may need might be much more or much less than your campsite companions. Make sure you do research and plan for your specific needs. It also will depend on the weather, climate, duration of your trip, and overall comfort level you’d like to experience.
Personal Hygiene
Staying fresh and clean takes on new meaning while camping. Without following best practices with the right tools, you can find yourself encountering bacteria and germs that your body isn’t familiar, which can make you sick. Personal hygiene also keeps you in camping, hiking, and backpacking shape mentally and physically.
What to Bring to Stay Clean While Camping
1. At Least Two Full Outfits
Pack two of everything: socks, shirts, pants or shorts, underwear, outer layers, hats, beanies and whatever else makes sense for your trip. If you’re ultralight camping, you may need to alter this to meet the ideal weight of your pack. For more leisurely camping trips, it’s totally normal to overpack since you’re packing for every possible situation. This is the right way to think because you never know what conditions may arise. However, it’s best to pack your favorite versatile items. When it comes to bad hygiene and your attire, underwear, and socks are the most common culprits. You can turn your underwear inside out for a total of four uses, but that’s up to your level of comfort. Depending on the weather, it’s a treat to double up when packing your socks so you can sleep in a clean pair but again, up to your preference.
Overall, the benefit of two outfits, depending on the duration of your trip, is that you’ll always have a clean pair if you wash the other set in extra water or a nearby water source.
2. Fragrance-Free Hand Sanitizer
This one is a must. Hand sanitizer is an easy, lightweight, and compact way to fight all the germs you may encounter in the wild. Hand sanitizer is the backcountry replacement for washing your hands when you’re supposed to. It can also keep you safe from getting sick from threats the modern day-to-day world doesn’t pose, like giardia and other bacteria from dirty water. It’s best practice to use hand sanitizer before and after you eat, after you properly use your outdoor toilet, and interact with water sources.
3. Camping Soap
Soap is also a must in modern society. The only difference is camping soap is more dynamic than the bar of soap in your bathroom. Make sure your camping soap is natural, organic, biodegradable, unscented, and reef safe to keep natural lands safe from toxic substances. When you’re heading out for the trail, multi-use soap is essential to keeping your pack light and your cleanliness simple. Coghlan’s Biodegradable Camp Soap can effectively clean everything from your hands, hair, face, and body to greasy pots, pans, dishes, utensils, clothing, packs, and your tent.
4. Extra Water
Water is, of course, essential to stay fresh on your camping trip. From brushing your teeth in the morning and washing your face to cleaning cooking utensils after dinner — you’ll need fresh and clean water. There should be an emphasis on clean. It’s best practice to have a water filter that fits your needs with you on any camping trip.
5. Toiletry Bag
Like any long-term trip outside of your home, it’s natural to bring a bag full of the things you’ll miss (and need) from your bathroom. This element is so important to staying fresh and clean, I’d recommend keeping an extra toiletry bag in your vehicle and never heading into the wilderness without one — no matter how long your hike or camping trip might be. Keep yourself fresh and clean with these camping bathroom essentials.
- Fragrance-free Hand Sanitizer and Camping Soap – These are too important not to list twice. Keep both in your toiletry bag to ensure you and your camp stays fresh from occasional bathing to overall cleanliness.
- Toilet Paper and Two Sealable Bags – Bring along more than enough toilet paper with Coghlan’s Personal Toilet Tissue that has 140 biodegradable sheets per roll. Keep your TP in a water-safe bag with another weather-safe sealable bag for the used paper. This way you’ll have an easy and mess-free disposal of dirty toilet paper after your camping trip.
- Camp Towels – Unlike your average towels, camp towels are usually microfiber which makes them weigh less and absorb more. A Personal PackTowl is ultra-versatile and has superfast-drying performance that makes it great for camping, hiking, and backpacking. Use your camp towel to dry off after a shower, clean up water in your tent, and more. Don’t forget to hang it up nearby after you use it to ensure it’s dry for next time.
- Toothbrush, Organic or Natural Toothpaste, and Dental Floss – It’s funny how brushing your teeth can make you feel so much cleaner when you’re camping. It’s important to keep your oral hygiene tools in a separate sealable bag from everything else. For your toothbrush, the lighter the better! Some backpackers even cut off the length of the handle to cut weight. If you’re not concerned with the weight of your pack, bring whichever toothbrush you feel works best. Be sure to bring a travel tube of natural or organic toothpaste. The regular brands are not environmentally friendly or safe. The floss is often forgotten, but it can be used as string, plus there’s nothing better than having floss when something is stuck in your teeth on the trail since using a leaf or stick isn’t ideal or safe.
- Ladies Only – This one is for female-identifying campers. Be sure to bring feminine hygiene products like a menstrual cup, tampons, or pads. Even if you’re not on your cycle, it’s best practice to bring them just in case. It’s also good to bring biodegradable and non-scented wet wipes to make sure you’re feeling clean after a long day. Another hack is to bring baby powder or dry shampoo to keep your hair looking clean.
- A Portable Shower – While this might not seem essential, it can be a real treat. Along with your extra water or water filtration device, be sure to bring the Nemo Helio LX Pressure Shower. Unlike most camp showers, the Nemo Helio LX doesn’t use gravity to deliver great water pressure. You can quickly and easily pressurize the voluminous 5.8-gallon tank with a foot pump and, with occasional pumps, you can keep it fully pressurized for 7-10 minutes of strong, continuous spray. This is the ultimate hands-free and luxury addition to your next camping trip.
- Creature Comfort Items – This is another item that might not seem essential to some. Although, there’s no better feeling than indulging in some of your favorite things from home in the middle of the wilderness. Everyone’s creature comfort item will be different. For example, I’ll bring my favorite steps from my skincare routine in lightweight portable bottles. Feel free to bring a little something from your daily routine to stay fresh, clean, and comfy along for your camping trip.
6. Stuff sacks
This might be more of a hack but one way to stay organized while camping is to bring organizational bags, also known as stuff sacks. When all the right things are in all the right places, it’s easier to stay fresh and clean inside and outside your pack. However, be sure to get weather resistant sacks just in case. The Coghlan’s Stuff Bag hits all the marks for an ideal organizing ally. This bag is made from acrylic coated nylon and is water repellent so you can be sure your items are kept safe and dry in any weather condition.
You can also bring a liner for your sleeping bag that serves as a stuff sack especially made for your sleeping bag. The Rab Silk Neutrino Sleeping Bag Liner not only serves to protect your bed from the elements but can also add warmth and comfort to sleeping in the wild.
What Not to Bring to Stay Clean While Camping
On the other hand, there are some things that may seem like a good idea to bring along on your camping trip that aren’t necessary or environmentally friendly. Here’s a short list of things to leave at home:
- Deodorant – As most backpackers say, “embrace the funk.” Deodorant scents can attract wildlife and the fact is that everyone will be stinky so your natural BO won’t be bothering anyone.
- Unnatural Hygiene Products – These products you might pick up at a hotel or bring in your travel bag usually aren’t biodegradable or environmentally friendly. If you’re going to bring anything be sure that it’s reef safe, scent-free, natural, organic and biodegradable.
- Razors – Just leave it at home and let your hair grow wild while you’re in the wilderness.
With the baseline of packing for success, you can begin to discover what might be missing for your needs. However, cleanliness goes beyond your pack and into the campsite with activities that may leave your site messy and give nearby wildlife a reason to come by for a visit.
Why Camp Cleanliness?
If your tent is your house then your campsite is your neighborhood. It’s important to keep clean while camping to reduce risk and respect natural land. Follow outdoor ethics guides like Leave No Trace that make it easy to be sure you’re leaving the land how you found it.
How to Keep Your Tent Clean
- Scent-Free – Try to keep all scented products, dirty towels or clothes, and food outside of your tent so that no insects or wildlife try to get in to find out what it is.
- Keep Water Out – Be sure to use your pack towel to keep the inside of your tent free from water so it doesn’t gather and become stagnant.
- Keep it Simple – Try to keep only the essentials in your tent. This is different depending on the nature of your camping trip, but it’s ideal to keep only what you need.
How to Keep Your Campsite Clean
- Clean up after every meal – Don’t leave any food, dirty dishes or smelly condiments out.
- Use the “200 Feet From Your Campsite” Rule – From brushing your teeth, doing dishes, and going to the restroom, you should do anything that can leave a strong scent at least 200 feet away from your campsite to keep out unwanted visitors.
- Bring a Bear Vault – Even if there aren’t bears in the area, it’s good to keep food and anything stinky in a Bear Vault or bear-safe container. This also keeps all your food in one safe space so it doesn’t get all over your campsite.
- Communicate with your crew – Keep up with your camping crew to make sure you can consolidate duties and needs to work smarter (and not harder) to keep your campsite fresh and clean.
Keeping yourself, your tent, and your campsite fresh and clean can make or break your camping trip. After a few trips, you’ll find yourself getting this down to science!
Article by Christin Workman
Christin (she/her) is a writer and outdoor enthusiast. She’s a backpacker, hiker, ‘baby’ climber and a stop-and-smell-the-wildflowers kind of adventurer. Christin lives in Colorado with her husband, Rhodesian Ridgeback, and a myriad of plants. When she’s not playing with words, she’s either out in backcountry, tending to the garden or practicing aerial arts.
