How to do Laundry While Backcountry Camping

When we go backcountry we try to bring as little clothing as possible. Typically people bring way more clothes than they need. For five days in the summer we recently each brought:

• a bathing suit
• one pair of shorts
• one pair of long pants
• one t shirt
• one long sleeve t shirt
• pajamas
• two pairs of socks
• three pairs of underwear
• one bra (Chris obviously didn't bring a bra)

Keep in mind that the list above includes what you're wearing so you have actually less than that in your pack. We didn't end up using our socks at all and could have done with just bringing one pair each. I forgot to bring our rain jackets and that's something I typically generally always bring and should have been on the list.

To do laundry while backcountry camping you'll need a Ziploc bag, some water (I use clean water), and some soap like Dr. Bronner's (I use the Baby Mild Unscented) or Camp Suds. Here's what you do:

If you can't watch the video, it's really simple:

1. Put your dirty clothing into the Ziploc baggie
2. Put some water into the baggie
3. Add a couple drops of soap
4. Close the baggie and shake and rub it like crazy
5. Dump the dirty water into a cathole 200 meters away from your site and any water source
6. Add clean water
7. Close the baggie and shake and rub it like crazy
8. Dump the water into a cathole 200 meters away from your site and any water source
9. Hang your clothing to dry

And there you go - clean clothes.