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The options: Smooth oval rocks (from river beds if possible) Snowball Rounded sticks Leaves (as said elsewhere, be careful of which kinds) soft pine cones (relatively rare, but plentiful where they exist!) handful of grass Carry a piece of cloth specifically designed for this purpose and be sure to do two more things: 1 - Don't use the cloth for anything ...

Some methods Alcohol, either hand sanitizer or rubbing alcohol with a microfiber towel to have a "bath" Advantages: Lightweight, fast. Disadvantages: Dries your skin, have to carry the alcohol, and breathing it isn't perfectly healthy. Solar Shower Advantages: Can get pretty darned clean. Disadvantages: You have to carry it, collect water, and even ...

Yes you can. And more to the point, you should (save weight, and leave no trace). I have not found a backpacking cooking mess that could not be cleaned with a combination of (in this order): Tongue Finger Water + Finger (drink it -- truly "Leave No Trace" (its not as bad as you think)) Snow (when available) Pine Needles / plant leaves / grass stalks / ...

What I do is carry a small microfiber cloth. First I rinse my dishes, then I swish with a small amount of boiling water (usually left from our post dinner coffee), and wipe with the cloth. Voila, clean dishes. Sorry I missed the part about "found in the wilderness". Given that just skip the cloth and use the water ;) Another note. If the above method ...

After a long day on the trail, I'll take my grooming bucket (reused plastic margarine or sherbet container with lid), and go down to the water hole. Collect some water and rinse out the bandana. Start at the head and work my way down/in. I'll pull off my shirt and then wash my torso. Pull off my socks and wash my legs. I then wash my groin area, and ...

Species in the forest will vary by locale. Here in the Pacific Northwest, Thimbleberry aka Salmonberry leaves are thick and soft, so they make a good wiping implement. The subtly-named How to Shit in the Woods is a good primer on this topic. One option described there is to use urine. Basically, you hold back the urine until you're done with the bowel ...

Good hygiene is a highly subjective benchmark. Clean enough for comfort might be different than clean enough for company. Ocean water, albeit salty, is water. You can bathe with it, wash clothes with it, wash dishes with it etc. Soap behaves differently (the surfectants don't suds as well) but you'll still get things cleaner than they were. As for bathing, ...

A long time ago, before people had consistent access to Lye or any of the oils we use in soap now, they made it out of what they had on hand. A common one would be wood ash and rendered animal fat ( tallow ). There's guide on eHow on making said soap, but it appears to not only be time intensive ( rest time of over two months total ), but also involves ...