Tips For Cleaning Camping Dishes

Scrape your dishes well with a rubber spatula (scrape into a ziplock baggie or empty can), then wipe with a used paper napkin or paper towel. This gets the worst of the "ick" off before you wash. You will want three containers (plastic dishpans, buckets, plastic tubs, etc.) that will accomodate your largest dish or pot/pan.

One will be for warm soapy water, one for tap temperature rinse water, and one for hot water with a capful of bleach to sanitize. If you are only camping for a day or two, you may be OK to skip the sanitize step, especially if you toss everything into the dishwasher when you get home.

Bring a scrubby sponge and do your dishes in this order: cups, plates, utensils, pots and pans. NEVER put knives into the wash bucket and leave them. Whoever is washing should pick up each knife and wash it individually, then rinse and sanitize, so no one gets sliced accidentally!

If you have a dish drainer, you can use that for air drying, or have someone towel dry and put away as you wash.

When you are all finished, dispose of your wash water correctly. Pour it down a drain, if there is one provided. Or strain the water through a strainer to get any food particles, then scatter the water at least 200 feet from any water source. Put any food particles you caught in the strainer, into the container you scraped your dishes into at the beginning, and dispose of that container appropriately.

Source: 40+ years of Girl Scouts, plus general Leave No Trace guidelines.

By Eileen M. from Elk Grove, CA