How to wash dishes while camping

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What to do with dirty dishes on a hike? Just put the dirty dishes in, and then you can’t use them again. Disposable dishes will not work, because you will have to carry garbage bags with you. Fortunately, there are several options for how to wash dishes in nature, and in this article we will talk about them.

Method 1 With Liquid Soap

1 Apply a thin film of biodegradable liquid soap to the bottom of the cookware before you start cooking. This will not allow the pots to turn black, and washing them later will be easier.
2 Boil dishwashing water at the stake while eating. It is much easier to wash the dishes immediately after eating, because otherwise the leftover food sticks to the edges and hardens.
3 Cook three pots or pots.
- The boiler for washing. It should have hot water with dissolved drops of biodegradable liquid soap.
- Hot rinse water. Water must be clean.
- Cold rinse water. A small amount of bleach or a similar substance that would kill bacteria should be added to the water (see tips at the bottom of this article).
4 Clean the leftover food from the dishes before washing them. Wipe plates, pans, and utensils with a tissue to get rid of pieces of food. Thanks to this, wash water will stay clean longer.
5 Rub the dishes in the boiler for washing dishes. If you do this immediately after eating and cooking, you’ll have to grate a little (unless you set the bottom of the pan on fire when you cooked).
6 Dip the dishes in the rinse pot with hot water and hold it there with tongs. This is a mandatory step, because you need to wash all the soap from the dishes so that you can eat from them later without fearing for your health.
7 Immerse the dishes in cold rinse water for 20 seconds.
8 To dry the dishes, put them on a clean towel on the ground or on foil. Allow the dishes to dry naturally or wipe them with a paper towel. If you want to dry dishes in the fresh air, put them in a clean, dry drawstring bag made of mesh material and hang them on a tree branch or in any other place so that the bag with dishes does not touch anything. Air and sun will dry everything quickly enough, and clean dishes will not come in contact with dirty surfaces. The bleach will evaporate.
9 Drain the remaining water from washing the dishes by passing them through a sieve to trap all the pieces of food.
10 Take the cauldron of water 60 meters from your camp or river, and then throw it into an open area or pour a bonfire with this water.
11 Transfer the contents of the sieve to a bag, and put the bag in a backpack.
12 Pour rinse water into the dishwashing pot to rinse off any remaining detergent. Then drain the water where you poured it for the first time.
13 To disinfect boilers, rinse them with cold water in which you washed the detergent from the dishes, and then dispose of the water as before.

Method 2 Without Soap

1 Take sand or gravel. It is best to take them from the river bank, because there, most likely, there will be no organic substances.
2 Heat the water as described above.
3 Smear the fat left over from the cooking utensil, pour wood ash from the fire on top and add a few teaspoons of hot water. You should have a thick dishwashing detergent, but it may be too aggressive (see warnings at the bottom of this article).
4 Rub the dishes with sand or gravel to remove food from it in the boiler for washing dishes. Rinse in another boiler.
5 Wet the dishes or dry in the sun.
6 Heat the dishes before cooking to get rid of bacteria.

Method 3 Second Method Without Soap

1 Before lighting a fire, clear a place for it. Do not throw rubbish in the fire. Wood ash is a great dishwashing detergent. After eating, allow the coals to cool to medium temperature.
2 Take a large cauldron. If you have a cauldron with crusts and residual fat, it will do.
3 Using a long spoon for laying food, put hot coals in the boiler. About two cups of charcoal are enough for you.
4 Add a little water to form a liquid mixture with pieces of ash. It should be hot, but not scorching.
5 Spread the mixture over dirty dishes. Everything will look awful, but this method actually works. Rub charcoal over frozen pieces of food. If some adhering pieces do not go away, leave the mixture of water and ash for a while in this area.
6 Take a pot of clean water and utensils and move 60 meters from the camp. Put the dishes up the hill and start washing it. Pour water on top of the slide to save. Set each clean plate aside in a clean and dry place. Do not forget to rinse your hands.

Method 4 Using a Household Spray

1 Use non-stick boilers and grills, as well as a separate cheap cooking set for camping trips (that is, one that you won’t feel sorry for). When the boilers are still hot after cooking, wipe them with a paper towel, holding it with tongs, so as not to burn your hands. Use as many towels as needed. The boiler should look almost clean.
2 Apply a window cleaner or any other household spray to the boilers (a small amount will be enough) and leave it on the surfaces while you eat. After eating, spray on plates.
3 Wipe the dishes with paper towels so that there are almost no traces.
4 Rinse with clean water.
5 Understand why this is a good way. Less polluted and discharged into water bodies. Food in the water does not begin to rot, and therefore ants or rodents are not pulled to the camp. Leftover food is wiped and thrown into the trash or burned, rather than dumped into the water. If you want to make your trip eco-friendly, wipe the dishes with a cloth towel and then wash them at home.

An alternative way. Lick your plate before the food freezes. You can pour water so that the adhering food debris moves away, and then swallow the water. The same can be done with pots and boilers. This method is chosen by radical environmentalists.

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