In my travels, as a hammocker, I find it has been easier to execute a LNT philosophy. My latest success story:
With water carriage at a premium, and NOT wanting to rely on baby wipes, I sought a way out of the conundrum.
As a woman with longer hair, hygiene is doubly important. Are the two needs (LNT/not smelling like a hyena) DOABLE?
Eureka: this morning I successfully accomplished three feats at once. This is how...
1. I placed a tarp on the ground, as well as my laundry bucket, to prevent uninvited dirt or guests.
2. with a washcloth I wet down my body a section at a time and soaped up with castile soap and a touch of baking soda mixed in 4 oz water
3. I mixed an appropriately small amount (1 oz) of biodegradable hair CONDITIONER in 6 oz water and gently worked it into my hair, accomplishing a gentle cleanse and conditioning all at once (it has tea tree so also acts as a mild repellant to creepy crawlies) and let it set.
4. Using my camp towel, I began rinsing my body of the soap and residue from the day's activities. This took about 20 oz of water with several wring-outs...not on tarp as the castile is safe.(30 oz water total used to this point)
5. The remainder of the water was used to carefully rinse out the conditioner (catching in to my collapsible laundry bucket) and leave my hair amazingly clean and fresh. After squeezing out all I could, I finished by putting certain items into the bucket with a touch of castile...thus cleaning and acting as a fabric softener...to soak. A brief rinsing was all that was required afterward. (I generally soak things I wore one day on the next and dry them in a net bag or on my ridge line).
I used a little more than needed (could have gotten by with 7 cups) but I wanted th extra water for my final step and already had it portioned out.) So, I cleaned all of my womanly body, washed/conditioned my hair, and did the bulk of washing of my basics with ½ gallon of water!
So much for women hogging the bathroom
YES, I could use wet washcloths in a baggie, and I have done so innumerable times, but this just felt right and SOOO good.
The key is NOT using soap on one's hair as it dries it out too much and requires much more to remove. When outdoors, you do not want to further punish your heavenly locks by ignoring them nor by stripping them.
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