Whether making a meal on an outdoor stove or roasting food over an open fire, cooking is one of the most fun activities a Scout can do at camp. Learning to cook an outdoor meal helps you stay energized on the trail and earn your Eagle-required Cooking merit badge. Properly disposing of or storing leftover food and cleaning your dishes can help ensure a successful camping experience. To help you stay clean at camp, we’ve put together 5 tips on washing dishes so you can stay clean on your next outdoor adventure. 

1. Cook the right amount of food
2. Heat your dishwater
3. Use biodegradable camping dish soap
4. Keep dirty dishwater away from water sources
5. Remove as much food as possible from your plates

The Sea to Summit Camp Kitchen Clean-Up Kit features a 10-liter sink perfect for small to medium-group cookware and dishwashing!

If you want to pack light, avoid food waste, and have fewer dishes to clean, try cooking only the portions of food you need to feed your troop. You can gauge how much food you'll need to cook and reduce leftovers by asking around and finding out how hungry each person is before every meal. A good rule of thumb for short trips like a weekend hike or overnight campout is 1-1.5 lbs of food per person daily. Cooking the right amount of food can help you reduce leftovers and limit the pots and pans you'll have to clean afterward, so you can spend more time relaxing after a long day of exploring the great outdoors. If you end up with leftovers, double-bag your food and pack it out. Leaving out food at camp will attract unwanted animals and insects that can be a problem for other campers. 

Using warm water to clean your dishes will help remove food more efficiently. In general, hot water is more capable of removing grease from pots and pans, helping to prevent a greasy film from building up on your equipment. Washing your dishes with hot water will also reduce drying time and sanitize your dishware, as the heat helps kill germs better than cold water. Besides, if you're camping or backpacking in cold weather, the hot water feels so much better on your hands! To heat water for dishwashing, we recommend this GSI Halulite Ketalist Boiler. Its classic, low-profile design provides the capacity of a 1-liter ultralight boiler in the easy-to-pour profile of a tea kettle, and it comes with a stuff sack that features a nylon bottom panel and short sides to help keep soot and char off your gear. 

Household dish soap can be harmful to the environment. Some campers will say to ditch the soap altogether, but doing so can leave harmful bacteria on your gear that can make you sick. To wash dishes outdoors, it's best to use biodegradable camp soap. Not only is biodegradable soap better for the environment, but most are gentle on your skin and tough on germs. We recommend this Sea to Summit Wilderness Wash Biodegradable Soap to clean all your outdoor cooking equipment at camp. Wilderness Wash is phosphate-free, pH neutral, and you can use it sparingly thanks to its concentrated formula that requires only one capful for washing dishes or taking a shower. It comes in a convenient 3-ounce bottle with a lid insert and secure cap so it won't leak inside your pack or bag. A versatile soap that follows Leave No Trace guidelines is great when you want to stay clean and pack light. 

Water used to wash your body, laundry, or dishes should be disposed of at least 200 feet away from water sources like streams, rivers, and lakes. Gray water can pollute streams and lakes, even if you use biodegradable camp soap. Many campgrounds require you to wash your dishes at your camp, not in common areas. To do that, you'll need a camping dishwashing station. Instead, we recommend using the Sea to Summit Camp Kitchen Clean-Up Kit mentioned earlier. This kit features a 10-liter sink perfect for small to medium-group cookware and dishwashing. The kit includes a pot scrubber and a double-sided washcloth for easy cleaning. Generally, you only need to use a small amount of biodegradable soap when washing dishes. After washing your cooking gear (pots, pans, mess kits, etc.), pour your wastewater into a cat hole about 6 to 8 inches deep. It's up to all of us to help preserve the environment and reduce our impact, so we and future generations can enjoy the beauty of the great outdoors!

Once stomachs are full and everyone's had enough to eat and refuel, try removing as much food as possible from your dishes. It's simple—the more food you can scrape off your pots, fry pans, and dishware, the easier it will be to clean your gear. A pan scraper is best, but a rubber spatula works fine. Not only will it be easier to clean your words, but it will also help prevent your dishwater from becoming too gross with leftover bits of food. If you have many dishes to clean at camp, it's best to replace your gray water once or twice, as washing dishes with dirty water can be counterproductive. To easily transport up to 10 liters of water to camp, we recommend the Sea to Summit Folding Bucket. 

We hope these tips will help you stay clean at camp after cooking a fantastic outdoor meal! If you're gearing up for an outdoor adventure, tag us using #ScoutShop_BSA for a chance to be featured on social channels! For mess kits, fry pans, Dutch ovens, biodegradable soap, and more outdoor cooking and cleaning gear, visit ScoutShop.org—the official online retail store of the BSA.