Saving Water- bathing, clothes washing etc.

[Coachgeo]

Did a search first and found nothing. Hope I was not using wrong search key words and this has not been hammered out to Ad nauseam .

Been experementing with water savings for future expedition. Thought ya'll may have some intrest.

Bathing

To use less water you have to NOT use "soap" Soap is a surficant. It works by molecular bonding what is on your skin with the soap/water's "surface" instead of your body, hair, what ever your washing. THUS then you must "rince" to remove the grime, sweat, oil etc. The idea is to use a cleaner that is NOT a soap but more of an astringent(sp?)

1. Witch Hazel on one of the below. (Witch Hazel is a natural cleaner "astringent" and contains 14% Isopropyl alcohol.
a. baby wipe.
. I like wipes in expedition format cause you can burn them... BUT it is more to carry, Then again..... could be part winter heating plan? Fire starter material?
b. wash cloth" will have to be washed with soap and water. Granted that takes less soap and water than your whole body.

NOTE: lotion.... Witch Hazel dries your skin (thus does fair for bug bites, Poisin Ivy etc.) so you need to re-mosturize with lotion which can be home made with glycerin and other natural products. Obviously can be store bought too.

2. Rinceless body wash. This is the stuff used on the Space Station, nursing homes, hospitals for bedridden. Goes along way. Various similar products exist.. No Rince is the one used by NASA though.
a. same considerations as above with washcloth / baby wipes

3. Cut Isopropyl Alcohol. I used 50% though it probably can be cut more. Worked best out of all of them. Again though you would want to use lotion.

NOTE: First two can be heated before hand for comfort. Well the No Rinse stuff can. Only assuming WitchHazel can though this may make the alcohol evaporate.... same with the Isopropyl blend.

Hair Washing

Only thing I've found that really saves water is again those sold as Rinseless or no rinse. Again No Rinse Product is one used by NASA. Some products are sold as body and hair rinceless wash. No Rince products is seperate, smells different and the bulk stuff you mix with a little water is at different ratio too. This I have now and will take me forever to use up the bulk I have. Not sure I like it. Makes my scalp itch.... but I got a sensitive scalp.

Cloths

Not found anything to reduce water use "when you wash" but you can reduce how often you need to wash:

a. give a mist of Odoban on your just worn clothes. Hang dry quickly too. The stuff kills the bacteria that causes odor "and disease". Works AMAZINGLY well. Can wear clothing several times before washing. Apparently kills toenail fungus to. Dont ask me how I know.

b. sport frebreze. Works well.. it is an enzyme I believe. Does destroy odor creaters BUT; if Im not mistaken, does not kill bacteria that can produce more odor and diesease.

Hope that helps someone. More water saved for "drinking" being made available the better IMHO. Might be something to consider for normal living too since water is the base of life and we have to begin looking at using it differently anyway.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Good topic. Depending on the season/temperature I bathe every 1 to 3 days when in the middle of nowhere, but this is typically done by using about 2 cups of water that I warm up and is just enough to soak a washcloth in to wash my face, arm pits, and other smelly places. Even at home I rarely use soap outside of the shower unless I am cutting up raw meat or getting grease off after working on a vehicle. I have never had a serious illness, so I don't worry about germs and my skin gets dried out from most soaps, but we do carry hand sanitizer with a moisturizer when out and about. Even though you wouldn't ever think I used to be a minimalist based on our 4 vehicles and nice home, I grew up backpacking and then learned even more about the basics in the Army.

 

[FellowTraveler]

Did a search first and found nothing. Hope I was not using wrong search key words and this has not been hammered out to Ad nauseam .

Been experementing with water savings for future expedition. Thought ya'll may have some intrest.

Bathing

To use less water you have to NOT use "soap" Soap is a surficant. It works by molecular bonding what is on your skin with the soap/water's "surface" instead of your body, hair, what ever your washing. THUS then you must "rince" to remove the grime, sweat, oil etc. The idea is to use a cleaner that is NOT a soap but more of an astringent(sp?)

1. Witch Hazel on one of the below. (Witch Hazel is a natural cleaner "astringent" and contains 14% Isopropyl alcohol.
a. baby wipe.
. I like wipes in expedition format cause you can burn them... BUT it is more to carry, Then again..... could be part winter heating plan? Fire starter material?
b. wash cloth" will have to be washed with soap and water. Granted that takes less soap and water than your whole body.

NOTE: lotion.... Witch Hazel dries your skin (thus does fair for bug bites, Poisin Ivy etc.) so you need to re-mosturize with lotion which can be home made with glycerin and other natural products. Obviously can be store bought too.

2. Rinceless body wash. This is the stuff used on the Space Station, nursing homes, hospitals for bedridden. Goes along way. Various similar products exist.. No Rince is the one used by NASA though.
a. same considerations as above with washcloth / baby wipes

3. Cut Isopropyl Alcohol. I used 50% though it probably can be cut more. Worked best out of all of them. Again though you would want to use lotion.

NOTE: First two can be heated before hand for comfort. Well the No Rinse stuff can. Only assuming WitchHazel can though this may make the alcohol evaporate.... same with the Isopropyl blend.

Hair Washing

Only thing I've found that really saves water is again those sold as Rinseless or no rinse. Again No Rinse Product is one used by NASA. Some products are sold as body and hair rinceless wash. No Rince products is seperate, smells different and the bulk stuff you mix with a little water is at different ratio too. This I have now and will take me forever to use up the bulk I have. Not sure I like it. Makes my scalp itch.... but I got a sensitive scalp.

Cloths

Not found anything to reduce water use "when you wash" but you can reduce how often you need to wash:

a. give a mist of Odoban on your just worn clothes. Hang dry quickly too. The stuff kills the bacteria that causes odor "and disease". Works AMAZINGLY well. Can wear clothing several times before washing. Apparently kills toenail fungus to. Dont ask me how I know.

b. sport frebreze. Works well.. it is an enzyme I believe. Does destroy odor creaters BUT; if Im not mistaken, does not kill bacteria that can produce more odor and diesease.

Hope that helps someone. More water saved for "drinking" being made available the better IMHO. Might be something to consider for normal living too since water is the base of life and we have to begin looking at using it differently anyway.

A thought on using anything that kills bacteria or makes things smell good;
Apparently some other problems medical are surfacing relating to killing good bacteria too which is considered very risky these days. Get some of those bacteria killers in say your anal orifice wiping your rear and you'll eventually find out how bad things can get!

I'd seriously read the labels on the products that make things smell fresh etc to make sure there are no other dangers relating to their use, you'll find there are! Again, breath some of that so-called freshener and you are asking for medical issues down the road.

I am amazed that so many people use products that harm them and their loved ones w/o ever reading the warning labels.

 

[Coachgeo]

A thought on using anything that kills bacteria or makes things smell good;
Apparently some other problems medical are surfacing relating to killing good bacteria too which is considered very risky these days....

for a year long trip you got a good point, weeks or month... should not be an issue, especially since your body will to a point rebuild the good bacteria if your eating properly and not poping antibiotoc pills.

Side note on the "No Rince" bathing product (which is NOT an antibacterial) Im finding it smells a little Formaldahidish or very faint urninsh. A smell I came across often when caring for my parents in the last years of their lives. Spent basically every day visiting, help clean and feed them etc. at a nursing center (didn't have too.... just was the right thing to do). Anyway.... there was a stinch I grew to unfortunately easily recognize even at faint levels and allways thought was urine smell. That didnt make since cause they did really do a good job of cleaning but the smell grew sorta discomforting to me and still brings back some memories I'ld care not to recall. Now I know it was from products with a forumlation like the "no rince" I've been using. "Even with that experienece leaving me a little more particular to not likeing that smell; am finding it's not a big issue using the No Rince product. A few squirts of Axe body spray and; like me,:ylsmoke: you'll smell all manly. Ready for the wild outdoorsy woman:beer:

 

[etbadger]

When we were living in our van for a couple years, and water was valuable, we developed a washing routine where we used disposable wipes (intended for the inferm, sold in sealed packages at drug-stores), followed by a rinse with a wash-cloth with a little hot-water from the stove. For each person it was 1 wipe and perhaps 1/2-1c water for a pretty thorough wash. Amy has long hair, so that was another task, with a couple cups of warm water in a spray bottle, with one soak and then lather up, and then a rinse with high-pressure spray.

For clothing we had the anti-bacterial spray, and usually wore synthetics that don't soak up a lot of water, and take little space when crunched up, so a small pot of hot water could wash them in a bucket and they dried quickly. Wash the cleanest first and so on, then rinse in same order. Same order with rinsing and washing dishes.

I like to think we were clean enough to appear in public

-e

 

[Black Dog]

I did a canoe trip in Canada a while back and perfected the bucket bath. It still uses water, but not much. It is true that you can wash yourself very well with just 8-12 ounces of water and a wash cloth. Sure, any soap left over we did rinse off by jumping in the lake, but still you don't need gallons and gallons of water.

 

[Coachgeo]

sounds good. Try the Rinceless stuff next time and report back for a comparisons please.

 

[Coachgeo]

....
Side note on the "No Rince" bathing product (which is NOT an antibacterial) Im finding it smells a little Formaldahidish or very faint urninsh. A smell I came across often when caring for my parents in the last years of their lives. Spent basically every day visiting, help clean and feed them etc. at a nursing center (didn't have too.... just was the right thing to do). Anyway.... there was a stinch I grew to unfortunately easily recognize even at faint levels and allways thought was urine smell. That didnt make since cause they did really do a good job of cleaning but the smell grew sorta discomforting to me and still brings back some memories I'ld care not to recall. Now I know it was from products with a forumlation like the "no rince" I've been using. "Even with that experienece leaving me a little more particular to not likeing that smell; am finding it's not a big issue using the No Rince product. A few squirts of Axe body spray and; like me,:ylsmoke: you'll smell all manly. Ready for the wild outdoorsy woman:beer:

Discovered I had mixed the cleaning agent in the water too strong. At correct ratios it seems to be pleasing my nose better. Or I got used to it lol.

BTW 16oz mix (mostly water) last about a month washing once a day!!!!!! The Gal. bottle of concentratation looks like it will last at least a year!!!!

 

[mkitchen]

Has anyone tried Castile soap?

I used to carry Castile soap on backpack and bicycle touring trips and it always worked out well. It is made from pepermint and rinces easily and quickly. I have used it to brush my teeth, wash dishes and clothes and for bathing. I still carry it on backcountry trips but use it less. Also, a net scrubby (the type that you buy at any drug store for the liquid soaps) works better than a wash cloth because it rinses quickly and dries fast.
Even after 39 years of being together, Mo and I still like to shower together. That saves water eh?
Mikey

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Any thoughts on Dr Bronner products?
http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/SFNT.htm

How does one replenish baby wipes once they dry out?
Does one brand stand out from others?

 

[matt s]

The wild writing on the Dr Bronner bottle provides great entertainment if nothing else. If you've seen a bottle you know what I mean. :Wow1:

I use the dr Brunner stuff daily. Love the peppermint. As mentioned above (post about castile soap) it can be used for all washing needs including brushing teeth. I tried it for that and it was fine, not my first choice but it was fine. A small bottle would go a long way and it seems to rinse easily.

Note: my wife only uses it sparingly as it dries out her skin, I apparently don't have sensitive skin but still, fair warning.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

The wild writing on the Dr Bronner bottle provides great entertainment if nothing else. If you've seen a bottle you know what I mean. :Wow1:

I use the dr Brunner stuff daily. Love the peppermint. As mentioned above (post about castile soap) it can be used for all washing needs including brushing teeth. I tried it for that and it was fine, not my first choice but it was fine. A small bottle would go a long way and it seems to rinse easily.

Note: my wife only uses it sparingly as it dries out her skin, I apparently don't have sensitive skin but still, fair warning.

AH! Castile soap and Dr Bronners = Same thing

 

[Regcabguy]

We found that a 1-2 gal garden sprayer with elongated hose works wonders. The sprayhead atomizes the water stretching it out forever. You can direct the nozzle into the nooks and crannies of the body. I painted mine black to improve solar absorption. Heating some water in the coffee pot complements any free energy you can milk from the sun.

This system worked in Baja especially well.
We'd be camped at a surf spot and would start out with a seawater rinse with one of those water guzzler solar showers since seawater was plentiful. Next step was a good rinse with maybe a 1/2 gal of fresh water out of the sprayer

Total expense was maybe $30 and lasts for years.

 

[Coachgeo]

clothes washing has new options available. Myself these days am considering....

daily after wear:

. use a stiff brush above a waste can to brush out skin flakes/dander that humans shed
. use ultrasonic pen cleaner for under arms and any stains

Every other week or as needed

. wash clothes with either one or two below methods butttt use rinse water from previous wash.. to be soap water for next wash!!! orr... use rinse water twice for rinsing if previous batch was barely dirty..
.... modern version of plunger in a 5 gal bucket

... Ultrasonic (probably a couple of them) device in a bucket/tub

am considering a tank for JUST clothes washing/rinsing that is recycled and when can... replaced with rain water. This water will be get recycled thru an ultraviolet light to kill bacteria and filtered with a filter... possibly even one with charcoal. when it is swapped out for new water... will expel first the old water via a mister on a hot plate sitting at some point in the exhaust pipe path to again sterilize it and let it steam off into surroundings.

 

[rayra]

so much effort and expense chasing a ridiculous goal, unless you are truly heading into or across lands with no available surface water.