Tips for efficiently doing camp dishes?

[wahoowad]

We're looking for tips to improve our basecamp dish cleaning. It's typically just the 2 of us so there isn't a whole lot, and we try cook more basic meals that don't dirty up a lot of equipment that will need cleaning. But we still end up needing to clean a couple plates, cook/fry pans, cups and miscellaneous utensils after breakfast and dinner meals. We aim for easy lunches that don't dirty up anything. Our trips so far are anywhere from 2 to 4 days.

Currently we trickle water out the spigot of our 7-gal water jug while quickly cleaning with a sponge and Campsuds, followed by a trickle rinse and wiping down with a clean towel. We set a dish basin on the ground to capture the trickled water to prevent a puddle of dishwater that is both messy and would attract bugs. My issues with this method is we feel rushed since the trickle is slowly depleting our limited water resources and in our haste we may miss spots or otherwise not get things as clean as we each want (I'm more the clean freak than her).

Next trip we're simply going to bring an additional water jug to address basic water needs. I still feel partially filling the basins would take a lot of water, but with more water next trip we might try it. We considered switching to paper plates and disposable utensils, might try mixing that in although it won't eliminate washing the cookware and cookin utensils. Aside from experimenting with these ideas are there any life changing tips or practices you recommended?

 

[Wilson123]

We're looking for tips to improve our basecamp dish cleaning. It's typically just the 2 of us so there isn't a whole lot, and we try cook more basic meals that don't dirty up a lot of equipment that will need cleaning. But we still end up needing to clean a couple plates, cook/fry pans, cups and miscellaneous utensils after breakfast and dinner meals. We aim for easy lunches that don't dirty up anything. Our trips so far are anywhere from 2 to 4 days.

Currently we trickle water out the spigot of our 7-gal water jug while quickly cleaning with a sponge and Campsuds, followed by a trickle rinse and wiping down with a clean towel. We set a dish basin on the ground to capture the trickled water to prevent a puddle of dishwater that is both messy and would attract bugs. My issues with this method is we feel rushed since the trickle is slowly depleting our limited water resources and in our haste we may miss spots or otherwise not get things as clean as we each want (I'm more the clean freak than her).

Next trip we're simply going to bring an additional water jug to address basic water needs. I still feel partially filling the basins would take a lot of water, but with more water next trip we might try it. We considered switching to paper plates and disposable utensils, might try mixing that in although it won't eliminate washing the cookware and cookin utensils. Aside from experimenting with these ideas are there any life changing tips or practices you recommended?

I like to use liners...either dutch oven liners or make out of foil for more liquid or grease to aide so don't have to scrub so much, use dawn dishwashing liquid as removes grease quicker so basically just wipe clean. Using paper plates and plastic utensils saved from drive thru's and carry trash out when leave :)

 

[madcratebuilder]

I use wipes the clean before wash/rinse.

 

[The other Sean]

We use flour tortillas whenever possible, doubles as a plate and eliminates forks and spoons a little.

Also, we wash in a small plastic bin. We heat some water (one coffee pot worth) , add soap, wash all dishes in the bin, then we use our hand pump sprayer to rinse. We normally use one coffee pot of water and only a part of the sprayer water.

This is what we use. It also doubles as running water to wash hands / faces / smelly parts.

 

[MMc]

I use a 1lt bottle for washing and have 2 wash bins, white one is for soap blue is for rinse. Pour soap and a little bit of water to wash the well wiped utensils, then plates, and finally dishes. Pour hot water over everything sparingly. Rinse a second time individually. Use the rinse water to wash white bin following with a quick rinse of both. I like the hand pump idea.
I stay away from paper because of waste.

 

[Craig M]

I use a collapsible tub to wash and a spray-bottle to rinse. To wash, I heat some water then add some cold water to get the right temp. Add dish soap (biodegradable) and start washing one at a time. I wash the 'cleanest' stuff first, to the dirtiest. I wash, then grab the spray bottle to 'rinse', then towel dry. I know some people use the spray bottle to wash and rinse, but I prefer washing in the tub, and don't waste too much water..

Tub:

Spray Bottles:

 

[rsweet]

Can't say enough about how useful the flo-master is! Buy one and you won't look back. Also I have a camp chef hot pot, which is great to have for huge amounts of hot water! Coffee, cooking, cleaning, bathing etc. Hot water in the flo-master just blows stuff off of dirty dishes.

 

[slomatt]

We tend to first scrape off any stuck on food (into the fire if there is one) and then use our used napkins or dirty paper towels to wipe out the dishes. This removes most of the food. Then we heat up a small amount of water in a pot, add a little soap, and use a brush to scrub/disenfect everything going from cleanest to dirtiest. Then we rinse everything using dribbling water or a pressurized sprayer if available. If you really want to keep water usage low you can grab some sand from a river bank and use that to scour your dishes before rinsing. Backers will often rinse the left over food scraps out with water and then drink the water so that it is not wasted.