My sweet husband, bless his heart. While he would do almost anything for me, convincing him to sleep outside in a tent was has taken me over ten years to do. You see, he’s a super clean dude. Does that sound strange? It’s true though; the man loves to clean, do laundry and is very meticulous about his personal hygiene. He likes his stuff squeaky clean, so camping has never been on his must-do list. But after I did research on staying clean while camping tips to ensure our campsite/car/bodies would remain as germ-free as possible, he agreed to take our very first family camping trip.
And guess what? He didn’t just survive camping – he thrived. He LOVED IT. My man made it his personal mission to make clean camping with kids his very own superpower!
Staying Clean While Camping
I tease him a bunch, but my husband has a point: clean and orderly areas make us all feel more comfortable. He and I made a concerted effort to keep a clean campsite during our trip and took steps to clean, disinfect and sanitize all of our stuff after our camping trip, too.
Here are 5 clean campsite habits we’ll keep as we continue making family camping memories:
Large tarp under the tent: acts like a mat, easy to sweep to prevent dirt from getting inside your tent. Because a dirty tent would have sent the hubs over the edge!
Clorox Wipes: Not to be forgotten! We brought a full canister of Clorox® Disinfecting Wipes to wipe down hard surfaces like public toilet seats, the inside and outside of the car, flashlights, muddy shoe bottoms. You name it, my man cleaned it with Clorox Disinfecting Wipes.
Wet bag: I’m actually super particular about this. Wet clothes don’t belong with dry clothes, so they either hang on a line to dry or go into the wet bag to be cleaned when we got home from our camping trip.
Baby wipes: For the pits and bits that start to feel a little grimy after a day of camping, baby wipes are a must. Keep a stash just outside the tent to clean off dirty feet and fingers before going in for the night.
Bucket System to clean dishes: We used paper plates, etc for our first camping trips, but we won’t do that again. For future camping trips, we’ll clean dishes and cooking utensils with the 3 bucket approach: one with clean water, soapy water and rinsing water.
Cleaning Tips For When You Get Home From Camping
You’ve done it – you went camping! Trust me, I know how exhilarating it is. But the camping work isn’t over when you get home; there’s still plenty to do.
Here are 4 tips our professional-camping friends gave us so that our next camping trip runs smoothly.
Clean and store tent properly: Take care of your tent! Make sure it’s been wiped down, completely dry, zippers have been cleaned and that all the poles and parts are stored away properly.
Pre-treat stains, do laundry: Our kids got SO dirty and came home with crazy camping stains all over their clothes. Oh, and don’t forget all the smoke fumes from the camp fire! Not a big deal, though. As soon as we got home, we started our laundry by treating stains with Clorox® 2 Stain Remover & Color Booster and added it in the wash with our regular detergent. When you use Clorox 2, you can actually remove 4x more stains and brighten 2x more than using detergent alone.
Clean coolers/water jugs: Hose all those things down and let dry completely before storing.
Take Inventory: I’m the Type A in the family, so this is totally my job. I make sure to replace stuff that was broken or used and ensure everything has been cleaned thoroughly before putting them away in the garage. I also keep a list of new camping gear that I think we would enjoy for the next trip.
We did it! There was a time that I thought my husband’s disdain for dirt would keep my family from experiencing all the wonderful camping memories I had as a kid. I’m proud of him for giving it a shot and am thrilled that he loved it as much as I do.
By putting effort into keeping a clean campsite and cleaning our stuff properly as soon as we got home, we all ended up being happy campers!
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