By Bob Wells
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One of the very first thing people ask when they hear about
van/car/RV living is, "How do you stay clean?" If you are in an RV
it's pretty easy since you are fully self-contained with running hot
and cold water and full bath facilities. It is quite a bit more difficult
if you are in a car or van, but not insurmountable.
How do I shower?
That depends on what you mean by a shower. Do you mean standing in
a shower under a stream of hot water, or do you mean getting your
body clean? My wife has been a registered nurse for the last
fifteen years, and one of her jobs is keeping her patients bodies
clean without the use of a shower. Some people are bed-ridden for
many years and if they are not kept clean they develop bedsores,
and of course they cannot take a shower. So how do they do it? The
same way people have been keeping clean for thousands of years.
They put some clean water in a basin with a mild soap and wash every
inch of their body with a wash cloth. Then they rinse their body with
a clean, soap-free wash cloth. And it works, people get clean and
don't get bedsores. Much of what we are doing as van/car dwellers
is going back to an older, more primitive time. I like to think of it as a
"purer" and simpler time. Most problems of living in a van can be
solved by asking ourselves, "How did they do this 500 years ago
before modern conveniences?" Today, we may want to use anti-
bacterial soap, and warm our water on a propane camping stove, but
we are basically doing what they did way back then.
Here are some quick tips on staying clean:
If You Must Shower:
While you can stay clean using the above methods, it is a hassle. And
for some people a shower is a psychological and emotional necessity.
Here are some tips if you must shower:
It is not hard to rig up a shower of your own. The problem is finding
the room. If you are in a car, it is nearly impossible. It's easy in a
high top van (not so much a regular van) or any vehicle you can stand
up in. You just find a way to hook your shower bag up near the roof,
stand or kneel in a large tub, open up the spigot and take a shower.
Conserving water is important since you have a limited amount of
warm water. One option is to fill your spray bottles with warm water
and use them to get yourself wet. Then use soap to scrub and only
use the solar shower as a final rinse. A more elaborate shower is
possible with a small 12 volt pump shower kit. Coleman makes one for
about $25 that comes with a pump and a shower nozzle. Put your 5
gallon water jug (that you painted black and left in the sun all day)
on the floor by your tub. Put the intake end of the pump into the jug
and run the outlet end up so the shower nozzle is over your head.
Turn on the pump and out comes the water. You can get these as
elaborate as you want, including on-demand hot water and portable
shower enclosures. Just do a Goggle search on "camping shower".
If you are in the woods it's easy to set one of these up outside.
An alternative shower can be had with a garden sprayer available
at any garden center. Fill it with warm water, pump it a few times,
stand in your tub, and when you squeeze the nozzle warm
pressurized water will come spraying out the nozzle. It isn't the
same as a real shower but it may be close enough.
Your rinse water can be dumped outside in some out-of-the-way
place as long as you are using biodegradable soap. I once had a
friend who lived full-time in a truck he converted to a camper. He
put in a shower and just drilled a hole through the floor and let the
rinse water run out on the ground. I think that's fine and would
probably do the same thing if I had the room for a shower.
Here are some ideas of where to shower if you can't shower in your
vehicle:
Living in your vehicle makes staying clean more difficult, but as we
have seen, with just a few adjustments it can be done. The joy of
freedom and travel make it well worth it to me and many others. You
must decide for yourself if it is worth it to you.
van/car/RV living is, "How do you stay clean?" If you are in an RV
it's pretty easy since you are fully self-contained with running hot
and cold water and full bath facilities. It is quite a bit more difficult
if you are in a car or van, but not insurmountable.
How do I shower?
That depends on what you mean by a shower. Do you mean standing in
a shower under a stream of hot water, or do you mean getting your
body clean? My wife has been a registered nurse for the last
fifteen years, and one of her jobs is keeping her patients bodies
clean without the use of a shower. Some people are bed-ridden for
many years and if they are not kept clean they develop bedsores,
and of course they cannot take a shower. So how do they do it? The
same way people have been keeping clean for thousands of years.
They put some clean water in a basin with a mild soap and wash every
inch of their body with a wash cloth. Then they rinse their body with
a clean, soap-free wash cloth. And it works, people get clean and
don't get bedsores. Much of what we are doing as van/car dwellers
is going back to an older, more primitive time. I like to think of it as a
"purer" and simpler time. Most problems of living in a van can be
solved by asking ourselves, "How did they do this 500 years ago
before modern conveniences?" Today, we may want to use anti-
bacterial soap, and warm our water on a propane camping stove, but
we are basically doing what they did way back then.
Here are some quick tips on staying clean:
- Wash frequently. We are not depending on one big shower to
get us clean so try to stay clean through the day. - Use public restroom's to wash. They are every where so make
use of them (gas stations, grocery stores, convenience stores,
restaurants, fast food places). Get in the habit of carrying a
wash cloth in a ziploc bag and washing up as needed. Facial
cleansing pads are mild and can be used frequently. - Carry portable diaper wipes as a last step after using the
toilet. - The new alcohol anti-bacterial gels (like Purell) work
extremely well and allow you to stay clean without any water.
Always carry a small bottle with you and refill it from the big
bottle you buy at a discount store. - For washing in the car/van use antibacterial soap. Consider
using Palmolive dish washing soap. It is mild enough for your skin
but a very good cleaner. Just a few drops goes a long ways. - Go to a thrift store and buy enough used washcloths or diapers
to last between washings. I usually do my laundry every two
weeks, so I have at least 14 wash cloths on hand. If I use one
on my crotch, I won't use it again until it has been laundered.
While you are there find a large enough tub basin for spot
cleaning. - An alternative to a tub basin is a spray bottle for those tough
areas like your arm pits or crotch. Spray the area so it is really
soaked. Put a drop of liquid soap in your palm and thoroughly
lather and scrub. Reapply as needed. Rinse with fresh water. - A solar water bag will give you free and easy warm water..
They are just black water bags with a shower nozzle on the
end. Place this in the sun through the day and you will have warm
or even hot water. A small one can be left on the dashboard in
the sun. If you have a roof rack, you can paint a water jug black
and bungee it on the roof. In the winter you may want to use
your propane stove to warm up some water. - Put warm water in a small basin, wet the washcloth and rub
with bar soap. Scrub your neck and face. Then work your way to
the rest of your body, rinsing in the water and reapply soap as
needed. The armpits and crotch are always last and kept
separate from the rest of my body. - Because of the risk of fungus, I wash my feet separately from
the rest of my body. In fact I usually just use an anti-bacterial
diaper wipe and use a spray bottle to rinse. - Washing your hair is easiest in a public washroom using their
sink, but is not always possible. In the car or van, lean over a
large basin and get your hair wet with your spray bottle. Apply
the least amount of shampoo you can get away with and lather
up (most people use too much, but people with oily hair may have
no choice). Rinse out the shampoo with the spray bottle. It may
help to keep down the splashing and mess factor to wash and
rinse several times rather than one big wash. If you have long
hair, consider cutting it short. It may be worth the sacrifice for
your new lifestyle, or maybe it isn't, only you can decide. The
spray bottle will rinse your hair but may take a while. You can
always use a pan and pour water through your hair to rinse if
you need to . It is usually a little messier. A garden sprayer
works well to rinse your hair. Any garden center sells these.
You just put in hot water, pump it a few times, and out comes
warm pressurized water. Buy a new one so you are certain
there were never any harmful chemicals in it.
If You Must Shower:
While you can stay clean using the above methods, it is a hassle. And
for some people a shower is a psychological and emotional necessity.
Here are some tips if you must shower:
It is not hard to rig up a shower of your own. The problem is finding
the room. If you are in a car, it is nearly impossible. It's easy in a
high top van (not so much a regular van) or any vehicle you can stand
up in. You just find a way to hook your shower bag up near the roof,
stand or kneel in a large tub, open up the spigot and take a shower.
Conserving water is important since you have a limited amount of
warm water. One option is to fill your spray bottles with warm water
and use them to get yourself wet. Then use soap to scrub and only
use the solar shower as a final rinse. A more elaborate shower is
possible with a small 12 volt pump shower kit. Coleman makes one for
about $25 that comes with a pump and a shower nozzle. Put your 5
gallon water jug (that you painted black and left in the sun all day)
on the floor by your tub. Put the intake end of the pump into the jug
and run the outlet end up so the shower nozzle is over your head.
Turn on the pump and out comes the water. You can get these as
elaborate as you want, including on-demand hot water and portable
shower enclosures. Just do a Goggle search on "camping shower".
If you are in the woods it's easy to set one of these up outside.
An alternative shower can be had with a garden sprayer available
at any garden center. Fill it with warm water, pump it a few times,
stand in your tub, and when you squeeze the nozzle warm
pressurized water will come spraying out the nozzle. It isn't the
same as a real shower but it may be close enough.
Your rinse water can be dumped outside in some out-of-the-way
place as long as you are using biodegradable soap. I once had a
friend who lived full-time in a truck he converted to a camper. He
put in a shower and just drilled a hole through the floor and let the
rinse water run out on the ground. I think that's fine and would
probably do the same thing if I had the room for a shower.
Here are some ideas of where to shower if you can't shower in your
vehicle:
- YMCA
- College Campus
- Truck stops
- Local Gym (daily pass or membership)
- Public pools or beaches
- Laundromat with a shower
- Spend the night at an RV park. While there you can shower, do
your laundry, watch TV, and charge your batteries.
Living in your vehicle makes staying clean more difficult, but as we
have seen, with just a few adjustments it can be done. The joy of
freedom and travel make it well worth it to me and many others. You
must decide for yourself if it is worth it to you.
Staying Clean
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Here is a cheap and easy way to get hot water.
Take some plastic water bottles and spray paint
them black. Take an aluminum windshield shade
and wrap it in a half circle around the bottles.
Leave it in the sun and for an hour or two you will
have very hot water!
Take some plastic water bottles and spray paint
them black. Take an aluminum windshield shade
and wrap it in a half circle around the bottles.
Leave it in the sun and for an hour or two you will
have very hot water!
Here is a pump-up garden sprayer painted black
to get hot in the sun. Makes a great shower!
to get hot in the sun. Makes a great shower!
This is a Stansport shower pump. The small box
is the pump and you drop in in a bucket of hot
water. It pumps it up and comes out in the shower
head I'm holding. It works great and costs less
than $30 on Amazon.com. It uses D cell batteries.
is the pump and you drop in in a bucket of hot
water. It pumps it up and comes out in the shower
head I'm holding. It works great and costs less
than $30 on Amazon.com. It uses D cell batteries.
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