How To Wash Dishes While Camping

Step 1: Eat All Your Food

The first step is to eat all your food!

Store any leftovers and use a pot scraper or a piece of paper towel to scrape any food scraps into the trash.

We don’t want a bunch of food scraps floating in our wash bucket, so try to get as much of that off and into the trash first.

Step 2: Fill The Sinks

Fill your wash sink with cold or warm water. It’s generally easier to clean with warm water and it’s a lot more comfortable.

To make warm water, I fill my bucket with some clean cold water, then I use my camp stove to boil water.

I add the hot water to the cold water to create a comfortable warm water sink for cleaning.

Next, fill your rinse bucket with clean water.

Step 3: Wash

Add a little soap to your wash sink, mix it around, and then add your dishes.

Use the sponge to wash like you would at home.

You can even leave the dishes in there to soak while you clean up other things from dinner.

At this point, look around camp and make sure you have everything that needs to be washed.

It sucks finding a dirty pot later when you’re done cleaning!

Step 4: Rinse & Dry

After you’ve washed the item, move it to the rinse bucket to rinse off any soap.

Then you can air dry or towel dry everything.

That’s it - dishes are clean!

Step 5: Cleanup

Now we need to clean up the sinks and dispose of the water properly.

Pour the water from the rinse bucket into the wash bucket.

Make sure there are no large food bits in the water. Try your best to move them to the trash.

Now dispose of the grey water in your wash sink according to the local regulations for your area.

A lot of campgrounds have a specific place to dispose of the grey water which makes it really easy.

If you're dispersed camping you can "broadcast" it at least 200 feet away from your camp and away from water sources.

If you're in bear country, again, just check with the local forest department. In bear country, you might have to dig a hole and bury the water instead.

The wash water will have a food scent and can attract local wildlife, so you want to make sure you’re not leaving any food rewards for animals or attracting animals to your camp.

Once you’ve disposed of the water properly, let the camping sinks dry in the sun.

Hang your towel and sponge to dry completely before storing.