Sponge Bath

The Sponge Bath. I have heard it called other things but we always called washing from a basin: a spit bath. If water services stop and those on wells need to start conserving water, you will need to be good at taking a sponge/spit bath.



People are used to hopping in the shower everyday and getting clean. But cleaning yourself from a basin is a skill in my opinion. We have a metal basin and when our well was down, this was our shower. I would bring home water from work (didn't want to tap into my stored) and bathe this way. Soldiers may be experienced in bathing this way plus campers have to do this. We have no running water at camp so I have had experience.

I wonder how many of you could go one week of no showers, using only one gallon of water a day to perform your hygiene ritual. Share your sponge bathe tips and experiences and if you have never done it, I challenge you.

PS- I always set a cup of water aside first thing for teeth brushing and face washing.

 

Have had my share of sponge baths / bird baths in the field...often in the dark. I kept a piece of dishwashing sponge in a sealable bag. Much personal hygiene could be achieved with just a mug of warm water.



Then there is the camel back option....



But who's peeking at the improv shower apparatus...

 

I have had a many a canteen shower one time I took a bath in a mud puddle it was like being in a Hilton bath tub at the time.

 

As a kid in about 1944 I was in St Mary's hospital in Rochester MN, a part of Mayo clinic then and still. Once a day we had an alcohol bath, stung a bit and embarrassed the heck out of me as it was a complete bath and was done by a nun. Don't know when the custom stopped, as there were no showers in the bathrooms and only a separate room with tubs down the hall. Don't know if it was to prevent disease, clean you, or what, but in 14 days I never was given a tub bath, only a daily spit bath with a wash cloth and alcohol from a basin. I also remember alcohol baths being given to bring down fevers and washing with a basin on the porch with soap and water when we came in from the barn or from the fields to get at least the worst off before we went into the house. Even those days you used a cooling towel in the worst of the summer and wore it wet around your neck, helped to keep you cool if the air was dry and if it was humid, the cold water on the towel felt very good for at least a while.. I wonder if an alcohol bath would be better under survival conditions in a shelter, as there was usually only about a cup or so in the basin and I guess it was antiseptic and probably would do a number on surface parasites. Haven't bothered to look it up, but the nurses of yesterday had a lot of survival tricks learned in the school of hard knocks that modern medicine no longer uses or teaches.

 

Mom called them "bird baths" and we loved them as a treat not having to get in the tub and take a proper bath. I have also heard them call a "whore's bath", but not from my Mom I assure you..

 

While I have taken a spit bath many times over the years, I prefer this:
Amazon.com : Solar Shower Bag, RISEPRO 10 gallons/40L Solar Heating Camping Shower Bag with Temperature Hot Water 45°C Hiking Climbing XH07 : Sports & Outdoors

My RV has a shower but why burn the fuel to heat water when the sun will get it VERY hot and costs nothing?
When camping with the girls I would set up a small enclosure with a tarp and they could shower off after we got back from riding the quads. The one we have has a slotted wooden case that the shower stores in. It also opens up flat to double as a drain board to stand on while showering. To me this is much better than a spit bath. I typically fill the bag only 1/2 way with water and set in the direct sun. Reason is that the water gets too hot and I will add cold water to get the temp just right. What's left over after bathing gets put back into the sun light to reheat and the process continues.

 

"Whore's Bath," in my family! Pretty much as Brokor described it, wash cloth, soap, then rinse with a slightly wetter wash cloth. One of the greatest luxuries I can remember is being up in the Korean DMZ, where we only carried drinking water, and running outside during monsoon torrents and getting a warm, hard shower! Oh momma!

 

My Grandmother washed her hair every few days with cotton balls and alcohol, she said it was a throwback to her childhood when water had to be carried in and cooking and drinking came first. She could wash her hair n 5 minutes and it was dry when she was done. And like T.Riley, they were called bird baths in my household and I took many of them growing up. Maybe why I enjoy a long hot shower so much now....

 

We called them both sponge and spit baths. Have taken many of them in my lifetime and taught most of our children when camping if they couldn't go jump in a lake lol. Have had to take more than a few where we live right now. I like to heat the water over a campfire and or our woodstove here if possible. Use a couple cups of water, more if possible, wash wash cloth soap it up wash, wring out soap the best you can, use a bit of water to get out more, wring again and then wet wash cloth in the water and use to wipe off soap. Rinsing my face first.
As a child I took a whole lot of them in front of the coal oil stove, we didn't have a bathroom in Pewaukee or up by Lily WI at my grandmother's just an outhouse, same at my dad's in Rockford IL. all through into the 1960's.

 

Camping I don't care about bathes much , only when I get home .
However a friend of mine uses baby wipes in place of bathing because of a catheter in her chest for dialysis .
The baby wipes are good for lots of personal cleaning and requires no water.

 

The benefits may be outweighed by negatives by using an alcohol bath. Ethanol is best taken orally

San Diego News, California & National News - San Diego Union Tribune

The same benefit can be had by using a cup of water than a cup of alcohol.



Spongebob Squarepants could not be contacted for comment.

 

The boost to morale of feeling clean and refreshed is worth the effort of making it happen, even in more austere conditions. Setting up, and putting away are those parts of the ritual that are worth the payoff of feeling good about oneself.

 

Grand maw would heat up a # 3 tub of water over a wood fire in the yard, We then hauled it inside in buckets , Dump it in the bath tub for a warm bath!

 

Wow! I lived in the lap of luxury compared to some of you folks! We had a hand pump in the cabin kitchen so with the big wood range we heated water in a big galvanized tub, lifted it to the floor, (my folks, I was little) and had a nice bath. To rinse, buckets were heating on the range, mom or dad poured it over each other and me! I have a family photo album with a picture of me, about five, in the galvanized tub toys and ducky in hand, but I'm not showing it here. I'm just much too adorable!!!

 

Modern convince, a cook stove with a side compartment to heat water.

 

One of the reasons I try to take a wash basin or a 1/2 gallon pot when I go out for more than a day.

 

2 gallon garden sprayer

1 gallon of warm water. Pump for pressure. Stand in tub (you do have running water most of the time - yes?)
wet down, soap up, rinse, repeat.

ETA - just the thing for our tiny RV. I get to hold for mama....


the bath house can be a tad drafty tho....

 

Hubby liked yours DKR