Utensil and cooking gear cleaning?

Shotgun

Shotgun

Joined
Feb 3, 2006
Messages
8,250
I do some hiking but not much camping. I quartered an apple today and was washing the knife off in the kitchen and was wondering how I would go about cleaning my stuff in the woods. I always assumed I would use a stream or something but what about if the stream is dirty or you're not near a stream at all? You guys have any tips or tricks to cleaning food off your gear? Besides licking it off of course.:D
 
For some tasks (ex. cutting an apple), simply rinsing your knife with water and drying it off should be sufficient.

For messier tasks, I pack a small bottle of biodegradable 'camp suds' when I'm camping. It works great as an all-purpose dish soap / shampoo / hand sanitizer / shaving cream, and it doesn't mess up the local streams or ponds.

For day hikes, I usually just pack a bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitizer. This, plus a spritz of water, keeps my knife (and hands!) clean after a meal. As an added bonus, it can be used as a fire starter.

All the best,

- Mike
 
Dr Bronners + small piece of sponge.

Dr Bronners is awesome soap made from all plant products and oils so it wont harm any aquatic life in the streams.

I snip off maybe an inch of sponge from a new sponge and take that with me. The scrubby side will take any dirt, food or blood off your gear.
 
The grease left over from animal fats ect + ashes from the fire and you get the soap effect. There is lye in the wood ash IIRC.

I also will use stream sediment as an abrasive to scour pots and pans and then allow the campfire or stove to kill any nasties.
 
I have brought a little soap and part of a scouring pad before and that worked.

If you are near a stream sand works great to scour. I don't worry about germs if it's a cooking pot.

If there is no water then I usually plan the food accordingly.

I use one of the Orikasa bowls and then just add the water to whatever I'm eating in the bowl. Then you can unfold the bowl and either lick it the rest of the way clean, use a bandana or wipe it on the grass.

One of the big benefits of that folding stuff IMO.
 
Have used sand as an abrasive cleaner.
For an Abrsive cleaner I use the small plastic netting bags we get Garlics and Avocadoes in ( and some kids toys) cut the steel clip off works well as a scourer and can be rinsed clean.
Carl
 
Last edited:
Besides biodegradeable soap, I always pack lots of wet wipes. They are great for quick sanitation, including wiping down cookware, and for giving yourself a bath. Then once used they dry up and make decent tinder.
 
evbouret said:
Dr Bronners + small piece of sponge.

Dr Bronners is awesome soap made from all plant products and oils so it wont harm any aquatic life in the streams.
Click to expand...

+1 :thumbup: I dare you to read the label though. If you've seen the bottle you'll know what I mean. They sell the mini bottles of it at REI. I bought one and just refill it from the large bottle we use at home.


This is directly from their site.

What are the uses and dilutions for your soap?

Although the label claims eighteen uses, we do not have the space to write all these uses on the label and still accommodate for my grandfather’s philosophy, as well as the new labeling laws that are periodically implemented. In reality, there are far more than eighteen uses, as people constantly write in to tell us about yet another utility of the soap. We won’t detail them all, but below are some of the major uses and dilutions.

For everyday body-washing: Get wet and pour soap full-strength onto hands-washcloth-loofah. Lather up, scrub down, rinse off, and tingle fresh and clean.

For other uses, dilute from one part soap into 40 parts water for light cleaning, to cutting it in half or using it full strength for heavy-duty grease-cutting jobs.

For shampoo, people have been telling us for years that they like using our soaps to shampoo their hair. Now, paired with our new Citrus Conditioning Rinse and Organic Leave-In Conditioning Crème, it works better than ever. For details, click here.

For the laundry, use 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup for one regular load; adjust as needed depending on hardness of water. I've been told that adding a dash of baking soda makes it even better.
For pets, lather up well and apply to their body. Be careful to keep the soap and the lather away from their eyes. I find a mixture of peppermint and eucalyptus works best.

For toothbrushing, apply a drop or two of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap (I prefer the peppermint) to a wet toothbrush. Brush as you normally would, rinsing accordingly. Be careful about using more than a couple drops of soap, as you might start foaming at the mouth (last time I checked "rabid chic" was not hip). Many people with sensitive or softer teeth like to use our soap as toothpaste because it lacks abrasives.

 
+1 on the alcohol based hand sanitizer! Inevitably you will use a rag of some type and then burn it or toss it in an appropriate garbage container when you are done. Last time, having forgot a dish towel, I used one of my spare socks. Needless to say now I have a spare sock.
 
I use a small bottle of biodegradable camp soap with half a scouring pad. When I heat water for cooking, I always prepare extra for washing. The hand sanitizer idea sounds good too.

Whatever the method, the key is to wash dishes right away as you finish with them while they are still easy to clean.
 
I prefer hand wipes over sanitizer.

Also, please don't wash gear directly in a river or lake. Carry the water a distance away, wash, and then dispose of it away from the river/lake.

If you're by yourself, or with others who maintain good hygiene, then simple soap is fine. As someone mentioned, gear used with bateria-unfriendly foods - such as dry foods or watery fruits - can simply be wiped. Gear used with eggs or meat should be washed w/ soap. Boiling will kill nasties.

Don't be confused with the fact that we don't soap wash cast iron. Those pots have been heated enough to kill most bacteria - eating and food prep gear have not. Big difference.

Though it may seem extreme, if you're with a group, then you want to add a sanitizing step using a 100 PPM bleach solution (1 tablespoon/gallon) for at least 1 minute, quaternary solution, or boiling water. In groups its all too common for folks not to clean hands after deficating. Those contaminated hands then reach into rinse water and theb contaminate other campers' eating gear. It happens.
 
When there isn't water around, you can always use your p-38 ('cause who DOESN'T have one of those ;) ) to scrape the food off your pots, pans, and utensils. :)
 
Bio-degradable camp suds is good, but a little heavy. Alcohol based sanitizers are great and work as good fire starters, too. A personal favorite are baby wipes - they come in small travel size packages you can keep in a food storage bag. Add a piece of scrubber sponge and you're all set.
 
Yep. I do the small scrubby and wet wipes too, along with hand sanitizer. Never been sick yet! (Knock on wood).
 
XMP said:
Besides biodegradeable soap, I always pack lots of wet wipes. They are great for quick sanitation, including wiping down cookware, and for giving yourself a bath. Then once used they dry up and make decent tinder.
Click to expand...

Same for me, I always have a ton lying around from the kids stash and I really like the wipes to clean cuts, get the sticky off the hands /knives. and as mentioned they make excellent tinder when dry.

Otherwise I carry 2 bandanas on me most of the time, one is used to keep me cool, and the other finds its way into pretty much anything.:foot::D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top