10 Smart Ways to Wash Dishes While Camping (Without Polluting Nature)

After campfire cooking, washing dishes doesn’t seem glamorous, but it’s vital to keep the campsite clean and safe for everyone.

I often try to make a triangle between the places. Kitchen in one area, sleep in another, a few hundred feet from the kitchen, and a prep and cleaning area at a triangular point from two locations.

This is where I wash dishes and brush my teeth. Don’t dump near water, and if there are chunks, dig a hole. Here are some ways to wash while camping.

1. Bring the Right Dishwashing Kit

For car camping, some essentials include a collapsible 10-liter sink, a chain mail scrubby, a sponge with a 3m green scrubby, Dr Bronner’s, a paper towel, a dishcloth, and a brush.

When I car camp, I often bring paper towels to wipe off everything you can. And two shoebox-sized plastic containers come along.

If possible, a mini drying rack, biodegradable soap, gloves, and squeeze bottles are great.

You can also bring a half scrubby sponge and Dr Bronner’s for backpacking. Don’t forget to get water. It’ll be hard to manage it if you go too far from water access.

2. Choose a Safe Spot 200 Feet Away from Water Sources

It’s the camper’s responsibility to wash their dishes directly in a watercourse.

Many throw food subsidies into the water to catch fish. Bacon grease is a good bait for crawfish.

Even if you have biodegradable soap, you need to wash cookware and dishes 200 feet away from water sources.

Washing dishes near water or in water can have a heavy impact on the ecosystem, especially in oligotrophic environments such as clear, cold water like mountain lakes and creeks.

When you introduce nutrients into an environment, it’s terrifying.

Organisms such as fish and animals have adapted to these ecosystems. If you change it, they have to compete with other organisms that are less specialized.

3. Scrape Food Waste First (Before Washing)

First, I scrape and eat every crumb out of the pan. Then, I soften the hard, crusty stuff with a small amount of water, wipe it out, and toss the paper towel in a trash bag or into the fire if the regulation allows.

I also use ash on the pans to avoid using soap. I scoop the ash wet, then scrape it minimally with a piece of wood and put it in the fire again.

You can also use spatulas, napkins, or even sand to scrape off food.

Also, if you cook without oil while camping, it’ll be easier for you to dishwash. This way, you can reduce grease or oil in your water.

Besides, cook less fat, scrape out fat before cleaning, and check which pan to use. A heavy cast iron with a porous surface or a polished stainless steel is easy to clean.

Cast iron has been traditional for campers, but it creates a mess.

4. Two-Basin Method (Wash + Rinse)

This method includes 2 collapsible basins and a long-handled dish brush.

• Fill basins partway with potable tap (cold) water.
• While I eat, I often put a pot of water on the stove or campfire to heat. And after dinner, I scrape all food residue off the plates and utensils into the trash.
• Then, I use a damp paper towel to loosen the stuck-on food or sauces if required. This way, you don’t see food remnants in the wash water.
• Pour hot water into each basin, adding a drop or two of Camp Safe soap to one.
• Put the dishes into the wash basin, wash them, and transfer them to the clear water basin. Rinse, set aside on a towel to dry.

I don’t use bleach or alcohol; only environmentally friendly soap and hot water. Hot soapy water and rinse always help with our dishwashing at home before processing to automatic dishwashers.

So, I also try to mimic the same in the camp.

Make sure to dispose of wash and rinse water appropriately. This is where a 5-gallon bucket comes in handy. I don’t want to save dirty dishes and prefer to wash after each meal.

Also, I dislike using paper plates or disposable cutlery as they generate a lot of trash. A set of aluminum plates/cups/bowls/silverware is enough to bring from home.

5. Three Tubs with a Water Conservation Method

Three tubs collapse and stack, and a hand-held strainer. They don’t take a lot of room.

The first tub is hot soapy water, the second is clean water rinse, and the third tub is used to sanitize, where you can use a few drops of bleach or vinegar.

When the meal is done, you need to pour the soapy water through the strainer.

This helps catch the food bits, and the gray water goes into your water bucket. Then, you need to pour the rinse water into the soapy water bin, slosh it a bit, and then pour it through the strainer.

First Wash

• Fill all three tubs about halfway with water.
• Boil a pot of water to add to tub 1, with biodegradable camping soap.
• Add a measured amount of bleach to tub 3.
• Scrape or wipe food remnants from dishes as much as possible, and wash things starting from lightly soiled to the dirtiest. Rinse in tub 2 and sanitize (or second rinse) in tub 3.
• Dump tub 1 either at a planned dumping spot or using the dispersal method (far away from any water bodies).
• Pour tub 2 into the now-empty tub 1 and add a little soap.
• Allow tub 2 to dry and cover tub 3.
• Dirty dishes that until the next wash (Anyway, I wash twice a day) are wiped and placed directly into tub one.

In the final stage, pour the sanitizing rinse into the water bin.

Slosh it a bit, then into the soapy bin, and then through the strainer and into the bucket.

Second Wash

• Boil a pot of water
• Pour tub 3 into tub 2
• Collect more water in tub 3 and add bleach (if needed)
• Repeat the wash method.
• Repeat the water rotation method, dumping the wash water after use, using the first rinse as part of the next wash, and using the sanitizer water as the next rinse.

You can put the food remains in the trash from your strainer. Dispose of gray water at least 200 feet from your campsite and any water source, or in an established campground.

There can be a drain or something. Don’t jump on the ground, as a smell attracts animals.

6. DIY Dishwashing Station Setup for Campsites

Though you select the leveled ground for a kitchen or campfire, you need to get an elevated location for a dishwashing station.

The simple way to put your basins on logs, crates, or picnic tables at a campsite. This helps you work with dishes and water smoothly, like you do at home.

Choose a tree and add a hook or line to hang drying mesh bags and kitchen utensils.

Make sure you place a towel and a soap station near your station.

7. Use Biodegradable Soap (But Use It Right)

There is no affiliation or sponsorship, but like many campers, I prefer using Dr. Bronner’s.

It has a natural biodegradable detergent known as Sal Suds, which is great for dishes, laundry, and general cleaning. Liquid soap also works well.

But that doesn’t mean it’s entirely safe in water.

Even if you have biodegradable soap, make sure you wash the dishes away from water resources. Always wash and dispose of waste away from natural water bodies.

Either get it cast over soil at least that far away, or pour it into a small cathole.

8. Air-Dry in a Mesh Bag or On a Line

I often bring a cooking set in a drawstring mesh bag. And you can store several things in it and in as little as $2.

Put a hot soapy water first and rinse next, cool water, and last with a dissolved sterine tablet. Now, put each mess kit in a mesh bag and hang it on a tree branch or line to dry.

Let the sun sterilize naturally and avoid using towels that get dirty fast in the wild.

Bio-Suds and Greenies provide a great mesh bag for hanging dry.

9. Strain and Scatter Greywater

Some campsites have a greywater pit. This can be a square cover roughly 1 foot square somewhere near the front of the site.

The hole is filled with gravel with a metal grate over the top. The gravel allows water to soak in deep, and the grate keeps animals from being able to get to the food particles on the top.

But these days, they are getting rarer and rarer.

If the campgrounds have no sink for dishes, your dirty water runs into the toilet or outhouse.

Use a mesh strainer to catch leftover bits. If you don’t have a strainer, take a garbage bag, poke a few holes in it, and add leaves.

Pack out solids or dispose of them properly. Use sticks in the ground to hang it and dump your grey water in it slowly so the leaves strain the food.

Hang the bag in a tree at night and pack out with other garbage.

Make sure you scatter greywater 200 ft away from camp and water sources.

Biodegradable soap in small quantities works well. Reduce the soap by scraping and wiping dishes before dumping in the wash water.

10. Quick Wipe Method for Minimal Mess Meals

This is Ideal for ultralight backpackers or one-pot meals. It works well with oil-free meals or no-cook options.

For this method, you need to wipe greasy stuff down first and deglaze pans with hot water. Here are the complete steps.

• Scrape and eat all the bits out of the cook pot or store them in a trash bag.
• Use a scraper to loosen any food bits that still stick.
• Wipe down the pot and spoon with a paper towel, napkin, or reusable cloth.
• Add a small amount of water to the pot and wipe down to remove any remaining food.
• Use the wet paper towel to wipe down the spoon if required.

If you want to sanitize or sterilize your utensils,

• Put about a teaspoon of 90% isopropyl alcohol on a new paper towel and sanitize the spoon.
• Add some of the sanitizing alcohol to the pot and wipe it down. Apply enough alcohol to wet the interior surface of the pot.
• Let it dry and pack up your mess kit.
• Finally, wipe down your scraper with the alcohol towel.

Final Thoughts

For camping, get a plastic bin or a collapsible rubberized wash sink with camping soap, based on the space you have.

Wash dishes with soap and wipe with a paper towel with a little amount of water in backpack camping.

Dishwashing is my least favourite part of camping, but I dislike it when many fellow campers do it in a destructive way. So I always handle it with leave no trace principles.