Doing Dishes

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Patrick, I really haven’t posted any detailed photos. We’ve had a lot of rain.

 

[CPT Davenport]

I think I have perfected my water rationing, washing system on our most recent 3 week journey.

- Use little rubber scrapper and remove all food particles (it has a stiff side for serious scrappage)
- Heat water on the stove (this is key!)
- Pour a small amount of HOT water into blue spray bottle with 2-3 drops of detergent. We were using way too much soap! I noticed that most of the water waste comes from just trying to get all the soap off.
- Plug sink and spray each dish with soapy water stacking in sink.
- Wipe each dish with dish cloth utilizing the little water that gathers in sink with a dish towel. I'm liking the towel better than sponge. It has one side that is abrasive and doesn't soak up water and get moldy. Dries quickly as well.
- Pour a small amount of HOT water into clear spray bottle and spray off soap.
- Wipe dry with clean towel and put away.

Whole process uses less than 1 cup of water. Wife was using 2+ gallons before!!!!!!!!!!! She is not an immediate fan of my rationing technique but the system is growing on her. We are only conservative to this extreme when filling up water is not an option for a few days. When we get to a CG or water is plentiful, we adjust within reason.

Any burnt on craziness happens in the cast iron and is handled with chainmail scrubber and boiling 1/4" of water in pan.

 

[rubberlegs]

Those are great ideas!

 

[Sleddog]

I spent nine years living in a tipi hauling water in 5 gallon buckets for myself and 30 dogs, by atv during summer and snowmobile during winter. I learned quickly to be a water miser and "camp clean" was good enough for everyday life. Water is mostly used for drinking, cooking, and washing hands. For camping these days, I figure one gallon of water per person per day.

I'm sure your wife wouldn't go for it, but we rarely heat water for dishes and don't bother with soap or bleach except for a rare exception when I think there is something that could actually make a person ill. Each of us gets a paper towel at meal time. The dog does pre-wash, then we just use a few drops of water and the leftover paper towels to clean up dishes and eating utensil. The skillet is cast iron, so no soap there for certain, just a wipe down. The pot is mostly used for boiling water and rarely needs to be cleaned. If a dish is really dirty, I will heat a cup or two of water on the stove, but even then I probably won't use soap. I once had a single bottle of dish soap last me close to 10 years.

I realize the lack of soap or bleach will seem gross to many people, but it works fine with zero health consequences, been doing it this way for almost 20 years now on all sorts of camping and backpacking trips. Maybe I have been exposing us to all sorts of gems and such, but maybe that's part of the reason we both have excellent immune systems and rarely get sick.

 

[JWL]

We lived in a small town in New Mexico that basically ran out of water. They started charging by the gallon and charging LOTS! We learned real quick how valuable water is and still practice it ti this day, a bucket in the shower to catch the water while it is warming up…my wife has a a meltdown when she sees some one constantly running the water while doing dishes, so we maintain those practices while camping. We have a shell and no plumbing, everything is mobile. We use those collapsible basins for sinks and a growler with a battery operated sink or a Waterport outside. Like most have stated if a pot is used a little water in it is used to do dishes or washed/rinsed off in the basin. We have camped in some extremely hot temps in Big Bend and Devils River using very little water. The vast majority of our water goes into the dog.

 

[smlobx]

This is the way I was shown on a 10 day rafting trip many years ago and it has worked well for us.
1. Use a paper towel to wipe down as much as possible (can burn the PT if you’re allowed fires in the evening campfire)
2. We have 3 small collapsable bins.
A. The first one gets warm water and a small amount of biodegradable soap for washing.
B . The second bin gets fresh water for rinsing
C. The third bin has a 10% Clorox solution for disinfecting

We can usually get by with using about 1/2 gallon or less. I forgot to mention that we just stack any breakfast or lunch stuff in the sink and wash everything once after dinner.

 

[DesertDog]

Late to the discussion. We're truck camper with a tent so at most we only carry 10 gallons of water. Like many others, Springer Spaniel wash or use paper towels for stuff the dog shouldn't eat. Washing is to a heat up a quart of water on a camp stove to near boiling for wetting the sponge then add a drop or two of soap to the sponge (not the water) and give the dishes a sponge bath only dipping the sponge in the water to keep it wet enough to slide easily on the dishes. (Hint, wearing household dish gloves let you work with hotter water). All soapy dishes go into a large kettle with the still hot wash water poured over for rinse only after all dishes have been soaped. Things that touch my mouth get washed first (forks, spoons, drinking cups) while water is cleanest.

We also carry an assortment of paper plates and bowls for sticky things like instant oatmeal where it would take a lot of water or many paper towels to get the residue off.

 

[DesertDog]

An old but fitting joke.
A minister goes to visit a church member at their home. While there, he/she/they, is invited to stay for dinner by the (husband, wife, spouse, significant other or select your preferred pronoun). The minister, a straight upright person whose motto is "cleanliness is close to godliness" is visible apprehensive as the old house is a bit shabby with dust and occasional bits of dog hair in sight. The homeowner seeing this, and a bit embarrassed, says, "Oh, don't worry minister, me dishes are as clean as soap and water can make them". Calmed by this, the minister sits and enjoys a wonderful dinner of stew - but being a stew, there is some gravy left on the plate. Afterwards, and being a polite person, the minister asks if the homeowner wants help with the dishes. To which the homeowner repeats, "Don't ye worry minister, as I told ye, I will get these as clean as soap and water can made them". The minister says farewell but as about to leave, nearly faints to see the homeowner place the plates on the floor and call out "Here Soap! Here Water! get yer dinner!

 

[ski3pin]

This good joke/story can also be posted over in the "I need to hear a good joke" topic.

 

[fish more]

paper plates