- This topic has 16 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 20 years, 9 months ago by
.
- Posts
You can always get someone to do it for you for a somewhat cheap price or you can do it yourself in a bucket or in the sink, in nice and hot places your stuff will dry quick. As for personal hygiene, a lot of places have running water, and if luck is on your side, you may be blessed with hot water :D If you dont have running water you usually can get a ‘bucket shower’ that will consist of a bucket of warer and a small pail to toss water over yourself, and sometimes its hot too :D
Simply learn to wash your clothes yourself, you can do it any where, a sink in a hotel, a creek or anywhere there is water.You can always drop ’em off at the local laundress, most Asian countries have an abundance of laundresses, some will wash while you wait others take a day or so but you can easily find someone and I’ve NEVEr had trouble with clothes theft, possibly because my clothes (especially shoes) are too big for most asians.
Keeping yourself clean is VERY important, look at the section on first aide kits, my suggestion is to carry alcohol or swabs, I think baby wipes were mentioned, you can take a quick bath with this or wash your hands, remember in most areas that are hot and tropical bacteria multiples rapidly, swab yourself down even if you clean up with soap and water and you’ll get less large boils, pimples, rashes and skin infections.Also take care of your fet, wash your socks frequently if you wear them….athletes foot abounds!
Spamhog
I do “laundry” every time I am near a sink, spigot or bucket.
Blue jeans are a real bitch to clean and dry in a bucket but they will keep from smelling bad..but never truely get clean,
Also showers are nice.I love showers but there are not going to be that many showers in the world that fit our definition. Really ,to be clean you gotta be willing to squat on a cement floor with a little spigot of cold water barely dripping out. But you gotta wash with something because bacteria love all the stuff you sweat out and in most countries you do not want this bacteria to take up residence with you.
I actually like those “quick dry” synthetic shirts with all the front pockets. They are easy to clean and dry. When I was a truck driver I would just hop in the hotel shower with my clothes on and shampoo everything clean and it’d be dry in the morning.
Another thing to remember in odd places is that Soap is Soap. Wash cloths with the same soap you wash your body with (especially in Eastern Europe) or you may end up with some weird chemical rash or lye burn when you didn’t rinse all of the soap out of your underwear.
I like to carry a small bottle of Campsuds. It’s a biodegrable product that can be used to wash clothes, dishes or you. A sink stopper and a few meters of 550 cord round out the kit. If you are so inclined, a few caribiners can help you string up the cord to let the clothes dry.
I agree with Kurt about the synthetic thing. Cotton is extremely heavy when wet and takes a long time to dry. I prefer high quality thin wool socks with some capilene or like material for shirts.
On my last trips have I brought “cut off” trekking pants in some lightweight and quick drying material.
I recommend it, easy to wash and dryies fast. Plus that they are durable and practical.Kurt, I will remeber that about the soap, it explains a couple of things. I thought it was something else and runned screaming to herr doktore.
I’m in Kurdish Turkey at the moment and travelling very light. Subsequently I am having to wash my clothes frequently.
I use the sink and Shampoo as soap. Very important piece of kit is a sink plug. Most cheap hotels don’t have a plug in the bathroom. If you don’t have a plug with you, stuff toilet paper ın the plug hole.
Had to take a shower ın Dogubeyazit last week and because I am travelling without a towel, I used my under pants to dry myself.
You may cringe but it works and they dry quickly. If you’re not travelling so lightly, then don’t forget your towel!FP
..that is the Bulgarian word for towel. I learned it because I forgot to bring a towel to Bulgaria. My kurpa za litse was made by Eastern Europes finest toiletry engineers who decided that polyster was the most absorbant fiber.
Picture a towel that doesn’t dry you off but instead gets wet and smells bad right away…always bring a towel. (Ford Prefect)
Also another good thing is to pick up a three-pack of cotton bandanas. I liked the ones with Harley Davidson and the Rebel Flag that you would get at truck stops. They dry fast and can be used as a towel or washcloth or snot-rag. They clean easy too and the redneck themed ones can be given away as gifts (make sure they are clean)
Sink stoppers…the big thin flat ones are the best.
One of my friends claims that minty white toothpaste makes an excellent deoderant , but I have never tried it. (I dunno…toothpaste on armpits?)
Oh yah…somewhere I picked up toenail fungus and have no intention of taking pills that might damage my liver to get rid of it. Any of you got a recomended home/travel/ military cure?
Kurt,
Vicks Vapo Rub applied on/around the nail a couple times a day will get rid of it. Have seen it work! Not sure of why it does but it may have something to do with “choking” the fungus out. Bad thing is it takes 2-3 months to be effective and most people don’t have that kind of patience.
Take care…J
kurt-
have you tried the normal athleets foot remedies?
if you need stronger stuff (the normal stuff is 1% or 2% whatever), go over to the embarassing things aisle and pick up something for yeast infections. same ingredient, but at 4%.
of course you might want to see a doctor. if it spreads it can get dangerous or permanent (depends on what it is I suppose).Toenail fungus are pretty tenacious critters (some are yeast and some are not). Best cream is Lamisil (terbinafine) but usually you should have the nail debrided by a podiatrist first and then apply it religiously for months -recurrence rates are high.. The most effective cures are those nasty liver withering tablets (Lamisil, Sporanox, Diflucan) and they cost a fortune ($500-800) and then the cure rates are still miserable – still tends to recurr after a year or two. Don’t even think of wasting your money on the nail polish product – expensive and even in clinical studies basically worthless (I can’t believe the FDA even let that one through except that it isn’t likely to kill anyone or fungus for that matter).
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.