How to Clean Camp Kitchen Gear Properly

Rob Lee

Washing dishes is a ritual in the backcountry. If you want a hot meal, you must deal with the mess afterward. But in the backcountry, cleaning up the kitchen involves more than just scrubbing the dirt off. You must make sure to keep yourself safe from water-borne illnesses while protecting the environment from your waste. Whenever you wash up kitchen gear in the backcountry, follow low-impact camping rules.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Water source Biodegradable camp soap
Water source
Biodegradable camp soap

Step 1

Draw at least a liter of water from your camp's water source using a clean container, such as a water bottle or unused cooking pot.

Step 2

Dig a shallow hole 100 feet from the water source. Apply a small amount of biodegradable camp soap directly to your dirty utensils. Use as little soap as possible.

Step 3

Pour water into each piece of cookware and scrub it clean. Pour the water into the hole, and rinse the cookware in fresh water. Clean any forks, knives, spoons or other utensils by filling a pot with water. Wash your utensils, then pour the water into the hole.

Step 4

Fill in the hole with the dirt you removed. Disassemble your camp stove and clean the fuel jets according to manufacturer's instructions, if necessary. Remove any fuel pumps and seal fuel containers.

Step 5

Allow your cookware to dry in open air. Any eating surface should be allowed to dry for at least 8 hours to kill any water-borne pathogens from an untreated water source. If you are camping for the evening, hang your cookware in a mesh bag or lash it to the outside of your food container. Lash cookware to the outside of your pack after you strike camp in the morning.

Tips & Warnings

To avoid having to let your kitchen gear air-dry, filter or treat your water before washing.

Never clean your kitchen gear near or in a water source. Only use biodegradable, ecologically safe camp soap. Even though domestic kitchen soap is often biodegradable, it usually has chemicals that are harmful to backcountry environments.

Never clean your kitchen gear near or in a water source.

Only use biodegradable, ecologically safe camp soap. Even though domestic kitchen soap is often biodegradable, it usually has chemicals that are harmful to backcountry environments.

Resources

Tips on Camp Cooking

Article Written By Greg Johnson

Greg Johnson earned his Bachelor of Arts in creative writing from The Ohio University. He has been a professional writer since 2008, specializing in outdoors content and instruction. Johnson's poetry has appeared in such publications as "Sphere" and "17 1/2 Magazine."

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