Dishwashing

[sctmom]

How do you wash dishes when car camping? How about when backpacking?

How do you dispose of the dirty water?

 

[eisely]

Dealing with the last question first, dishwater should be disposed of in a sump if one is available. An area for dish cleaning should be established separately from the food preparation and sleeping areas. If there is no sump then simply dispose of the water on the ground. Observe the same rules about distance from streams and water sources as apply to latrines.

 

Philmont teaches an effective means of dishwashing that I have not seen elsewhere. Each crew is issued a simple rubber spatula such as is used in your kitchen and a perforated frisbee. Also, every camp site I ever saw had Philmont had a sump. The crew also gets a supply of ziplocks. Every dish is scraped into the frisbee with the spatula. This done over the sump as water is used to assist in this mechanical cleaning. You end up with a certain amount of solid material that goes into the ziplock and that is carried out.

 

Washing consists of two phases. Hot soapy wash and hot clear rinse. Dishes are then air dried. Since there may still be some residue, the dishes should not be placed near the sleeping area as bears and other critters may be attracted.

 

I also teach my scouts to wash the cleanest items first. This is usally the cups and plastic silverware, followed by individual bowls, and the dishes used for food preparation.

[Dedicated Dad]

Dont forget to rub liquid soap on the outside of your pots before you put them into the fire and cook your food.

[Eman]

The Scoutmaster of our troop could give clinics on dishwashing. First all of the dishes are licked or scraped clean. We have 3 washing tubs that nest in each other. First boil some water. The first tub is camp suds with cold-hot water mix so you can use your hands. Next is very hot rinse water and tongs are used to retrieve the dishes. Third is very hot bleach water to sanitize and again tongs are used. Everything is then laid out and either air dried or towel dried. No problems with soap left on anything and no cleanup when we get home. Water is dumped in a sump or a dug cathole.

Back packing is done much like Philmont.

[Dedicated Dad]

We have 3 washing tubs that nest in each other. I made tripods out of metal pipe that had chains hung from the apex to hold the metal wash tubs over the fire. I did it for my Star project if I remember correctly. They worked well for car campouts but werent practical for backpacking, they can move up and down as the fire is stoked or fades.

[eisely]

The two pot method I described is what you will usually do in backpacking. If you are car camping you may be doing more involved meals, have more time, etc.

 

One thing I forgot to mention is that used dishwater may be used to put out campfires. It depends partly on timing. This is most useful in the morning in cold weather. Often the scouts will restart the fire from the night before to warm up and this new fire needs to be extinguished before you leave the camp site.

[le Voyageur]

Since I don't car camp, I'll answer your part b. question..

 

- menus are designed around rehydration using boiling water. For the most part the boiler stays clean and any additional water left over is added to the waterbottle (since I'm boiling water, water is drawn from the source without any filtering).

 

- anything requiring washing (most of the time just the spoon and food bowl) a small amount of hot water is added to the bowl then stired arouund while scrapping the sides, the final step is simply drinking the water (this way you don't have to carry soap into the backcountry).

 

If a scrubbie is needed, the mesh bag that holds the cookset can be used for the job.

[sctmom]

Obviously lots of ways!

I've also heard of cold soapy water wash, hot soapy water wash, then hot bleach rinse.

 

AND hot soapy water wash, hot water rinse, then cold bleach rinse. Reasoning being that bleach starts breaking down in hot water in some way you don't want it too. Maybe some of you have enough chemistry background to understand that or explain it.

 

[andrews]

I was going to ask that same question.

 

I picked up, since I have been an adult Scouter, that you wanted a cold rinse since the bleach would break down. If I am wrong, I would like to know.

 

We never used bleach when I was a Boy Scout. Two pots was all then: warm soapy wash and hot dip/rinse.

 

Brad

[Dedicated Dad]

you wanted a cold rinse since the bleach would break down. If I am wrong, I would like to know. Brad, I spoke to a chemist friend regarding your query. He concurs that a hot/boiling rinse of bleach and water will release the chlorine from its bond to the isotope. Chlorine is a gas. However, the rinse temperature does not need to be cold, in fact it can be faucet hot but not scalding to the touch. He said it takes a great deal of time for the chlorine to dissipate and I gather much longer than the time needed for KP duty.

[andrews]

Thanks.

 

Related to that, is a cold bleach rinse still effective? It still has the advantage of minimizing the required hot water, allowing more for the wash and hot rinse.

 

Knowing it shouldn't dissipate that quickly is useful as well.

 

Brad

[Mike Long]

Yep, I'm with Le Voyageur on this one.

 

Lots of times I cook in my cup, rinsing is all you need. Though if you aren't used to it drinking grey water can be disturbing at first.

[FScouter]

You might have a tough time convincing a boy to drink grey water. But announce that the last course of the meal is "soup". Do the rinse thing, then heat it up and eat the soup.

[buffalo2]

Long as we're on the topic I'll raise a question regarding washing dishes in a base camp environment using 3 pans. I too was raised to use hot soapy water, hot clear water for rinse followed by a bleach water/disinfectant dip for 20-30 seconds in cool-warm water (and thanks to the chemist above for clarification)

Some of our folks are preaching the bleach dip before the rinse cycle so as to remove the bleach residue and quote their Wood Badge training...

I think that's incorrect and more than just a style issue but would appreciate discussion or perhaps a concensus from the group.

Probably oughta check my references before we get too far also.

Thanks!

[sctmom]

For what it's worth, the Clorox website has this subject under "health / childcare". They say to wash in hot, soapy water; rinse thoroughly; then immerse dishes for 2 minutes in "sanitizing solution" (1 tablespoon bleach for 1 gallon of water). Then air dry.