Personal Hygiene While Camping

Ah, camping. There’s nothing quite like getting back to nature – breathing in the fresh air, cooking outdoors, roasting marshmallows around the fire, falling asleep to the sounds of crickets and waking up to the dawn chorus.

If only it were that simple. We all know that camping’s fun, but whether you’re halfway up a mountainside or at the seaside, it’s hard to prevent mess from becoming stress. Even the simplest of spillages seems to be twice as difficult to remove when you’re surrounded by mud and grass, and constantly at the mercy of the weather.

Of course, wet wipes are famously indispensable on any camping trip, and as the UK’s original and number one wet wipe brand*, at Wet Ones we know a thing or two about keeping clean in the great outdoors.

Rule number one, of course, is to bring plenty of packs of rose-scented Be Fresh, citrus-infused Be Zingy or whichever Wet Ones are your favourite – knowing that you’re doing your bit for the environment by carrying biodegradable plastic-free wipes. You won’t believe what a difference a simple pack of wet wipes can make when you’ve got no access to soap and water – especially if you’ve got little ones with you.

But beyond that, here are our favourite tips for maintaining your personal hygiene when you’re camping…

Take improvised showers

Unless you’re camping near a gentle waterfall, you’re not going to be standing under running water any time soon. So you’re left with one option – an all-over body shower with Wet Ones. Not only can they clean every nook and cranny but they’ll refresh and cool you down when the weather’s warm. Plus, they’re dermatologically tested to be kind to your skin.

Switch Toothpaste

Regular minty toothpastes aren’t great for the environment, so try to find an organic or natural toothpaste and bring this along instead. Brush your teeth in the usual way, but take a swig of your drinking water alongside in order to dilute it before spitting any out. This way, you minimise the impact on your surroundings.

Hold back some fresh clothing

Everyone knows there’s nothing wrong with making clothes last for that little bit longer when you’re camping. After all, who’s really going to judge? With that in mind, if you’re camping for any length of time, make sure you’ve got crisp, clean clothing waiting at the bottom of your bag for when you’re a few days in. There’s nothing better than the feeling of slipping into fresh clothes when they’re in short supply. And you’ll never quite manage to recreate that home-laundered feel in the middle of a field, even if you try…

You can wash clothes if you need to

If you’re camping for a couple of weeks, don’t worry about bringing enough clothes to last the whole trip. On a sunny day when drying will be easy, put some eco-friendly or biodegradable soap into a tub of warm water, and scrub what you need to by hand. You’ll struggle to get any stains out, but they’ll still be a whole lot fresher than when you started. Just make sure you don’t do all your underwear at once, so that you can have a dry set on hand when you need it!

Keep your hands clean

This is another area where Wet Ones won’t let you down. In the woods and the wild it’s easy to pick up all sorts of bacteria, but also easy to get rid of it – as our hand wipes are effective in killing 99.9% of bacteria. Make sure you keep them close by and use them on your hands throughout the day, especially before cooking and after going to the toilet. It’s always worth keeping a bottle of hand sanitiser handy too.

Leave your sleeping clothes in the tent

It might be a pair of light pyjamas or you might don a hoodie, woolly hat and thick warm socks for camping. Whatever your preference, keep them inside the tent throughout your camping trip. Things like pollen and even the smoke from your campfire can get into the fibres of your clothes, and you really don’t want those on your skin when you’re sleeping – so cooking in your PJs is out of the equation.