A comment on personal hygiene

Rob is to blame for asking a question and opening up this can of worms. I can't be held responsible if you regret reading this by the end.

The essential items are:

Deodorant

Wet wipes

Toothpaste and toothbrush

Bar of soap

Razor

When we are dry camping, which is often the case in Mexico as campsites are not as frequent as they were in the USA, then hygiene requires a combination of 'not really caring' alongside a 'something is better than nothing' approach.

We use deodorant and wet wipes to minimise the rate at which we get pungent. As we both get dirty at the same rate, we don't notice any smells but we don't want to offend anyone we meet so we do our best to stay as fresh as we can.

We brush our teeth twice a day as it only needs a splash of water and really helps to make us feel fresh. When dry camping we have learnt that rinsing and spitting isn't as necessary as we used to think it was. 

When we get somewhere with water (a hotel or a campspot with water) then the bar of soap comes into play. It's most obvious use is for washing ourselves, but it is multi function. It doubles up as shaving foam. It doesn't make a big lather but it does soften the bristles a bit. Many cycle tourers forgo shaving and grow a beard but I'm a fan of smooth chops. Most small shops sell individual razors.

The final use of the bar of soap is for laundry. If we are somewhere with a shower then we just get in the shower with our clothes on and wash and rinse them while we are in there. It is an efficient way to get them clean. Clothes get rolled into a towel which them gets twisted; this is a great way to get them as dry as possible.

We operate a 'one clean / one dirty' regime for our cycling clothes. The dirty ones get reworn each day until they can get cleaned. They then become the clean set. We change into the clean set at the end of each day after a wipe round the important bits with a wet wipe.

All in all, this is a system that works for us. It isn't too onerous and, so far, has kept us reasonably hygienic.