The unwanted consequence of storing a wet dishwashing scrubee has always bugged me. That is namely, if stored wet it obviously it becomes a haven for bacteria growth. I think I have a solution, but I would be interested in how others deal with this.

I use a granite gear water bucket for dishwashing and personal cleanup.
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works pretty well. I like the loop at the bottom so I can hang it upside down.

The problem that I haven't had the foresight to deal with is the storage of a wet scrubee. In the past I have put it in a zip lock (don't want cross contamination inside my pack) but this invites bacteria growth.

I think what I am going to do is to hang the water bucket outside my pack on a biner in the middle/rear (have to be certain it doesn't snag any branches) and then put the soap and scrubee inside one of these
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and fasten it to the water bucket. Use the mesh portion to store the scrubee (allowing it to dry) and the interior pocket to store the soap.
Seems ideal. Anyway, thought I would share that. The website   (You need to Login or Register
has some things that could be of interest.  

At home - use the powers of your microwave (assuming your scrub doesn't have metal content) to heat/steam sanitize an older scrub.  Let air dry and then put in small ziplock.

At camp - use small amount of bleach in your rinse water.  When done with dishes, scrub goes into the bleach water, and is wrung out.  Ours typically goes right back in the ziplock.  I guess you could air dry it out, or even put it on a hot rock next to the fire for a full dry.

Throw out with the trash upon return.

By George that's it JJ. Even a drop or two of bleach in a cup full of water would solve the problem. As somebody who uses bleach pretty often you'd think I would of thought of that. :P

Perfect. I'll add an eyedropper full of bleach to the set-up.  [smiley=thumbup.gif] Thanks jj.

I'm not sure I would want my water bucket hanging on back of pack, no matter how it was attached or located :-/
In my experience, the more you hang on outside of pack, the more chances you have to snag or hang-up especially if the trail is a little rough.
Snag that water bucket, or lean against rock not thinking and you wind up with a leaking water bucket.

I'd look for a small mesh zip bag with clip or loop for carabiner and clip that on bag of pack or near haul loop. I know there around, you just need to look in pack accessories. I have a kitchen gear bag that has a built in mesh sack for scrubee. IF you need a new set-up I'd get one with the mesh built in, if not I'd consider the little mesh gear sack ;)

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Not to worried about putting a hole in a granite gear water bucket rather getting it hung and having it yank me off my feet. I hang my sandals back there and never had a problem. Of course there's always a first time isn't there :exclamation

In the past I've always just put it away wet. Don't recall too much in the way of negative consequences either. But I have a new system this coming year.(No hassle, no stress, no digging around for stuff......everything categorically grouped via various sized waterproof duffels).

I'll have to give that water bucket hanging off the back of my pack a good hard look. Maybe I can snug it down with a shock cord of some sort (something else to get hung up  ;D )      

Rince it with a mild bleach solution.

just use it wet
don't sweat it

Odoriferous emanations.........yuk!  :P

Make sure you use the green scrubees without sponge backing- just scratchy green mesh that can be shaken to damp dry and have very little substrate for bacterial growth.

Rinse, boil with rinse water added right after the last cup of coffee is made and shake out and hang in mesh bag with other compadres to dry; or in the cook kit for the daily trip in the wee hours of the morning damp. I cut a big one up so when they get sketchy they go into the construction of the righteous garbage bag.

I cut up an old rag towel into 3-4 inch squares, put a few drops of dish soap on each one and pack them in a small zip lock bag.  I have one for each day I am out and use it for the dishes, then either burn it when I am done or pack it out with the garbage.  Always a clean rag and no drippy soap bottles in my pack.  ;)

I don't take a scrubby with a sponge attached, but use a plastic one that is more like a chore-boy, just a plastic mesh thing.  That and an SOS if we are cooking over a fire (for the sooty pots) is all I use for washing dishes.

I do take a small bottle of dish soap, but it isn't drippy and have never had a problem with it.

After scrubbing dishes the scrubby is rinsed with hot water (recently boiled) like the dishes and packed into a ziplock bag wet.  It never gets unpleasant and I have never worried about bacteria.  However, if I were to do so (and now I may) I would use the "few drops of bleach) method.  But I would not take a scrubby with a sponge attached, ever.

After a trip, a used one just is thrown away, and of course so are any used SOS pads.  I use the SOS very sparingly and often only use one on an entire trip.

I fully agree Spartan 2 and also haven't worried much about bacteria in my camping dish cloths; and probably still will not worry about it.  The main thing is not to put your scrubbie away wet.  If I have a damp cloth I often use a wooden clothes pin to clip it to my kayak deck bungee or a pack strap, out of the way but still securely with me.  I also do this with wet shoes or my damp beach towel while I travel.  On a nice day they quickly dry and can be packed away at the next portage.

These days dishwashing liquid is antibacterial so the sponge tends to last longer than it use to IMO. My "silverware" ... cups and stuff (toothbrush) hang from a tree in a mesh bag but the soap and sponge go elsewhere in an open upside-down bag so the sponge can dry, somewhat. (I can dream at least.) In any case, I don't want that sponge anywhere near my toothbrush.

I have always used a water bottle cozy that I'd keep wet in warmer weather. Now with all summer trips it's always wet and bacteria poop will normally noticeably sour it in a few days. I don't expect it will kill me either but I can only ignore it for so long so I've gone the bleach route by repurposing a little, maybe 1/4 oz bottle that once held eye drop something or other I noticed in the recycle bin one day. I've been watching for a nice bottle twice as big for soap as that would last me two weeks easily.

I'll throw the sponge in the bleach bath too just cuz I can I guess. It's still not going near my toothbrush.

I am amazed the cozy has retained its color over the years. I was actually hoping it would get a few shades lighter by now but you only need a drop or two per 1/2 quart H2O to fix the smell.

If I remember correctly, bars and restraints use some sort of sanitizer that I expect might work too. Don't know if there's any advantages or not. Just a possible option if available.

Just throw the damn thing away and spend another buck for a new one.

prouboy

LMAO

Marlin

So if my scrubee that I cut in half is, is, oh I don't know, 5 years old - should I toss it and go with the other half w/o back up? If that half wears out or goes sour? Is it a trip buster?

Just having thumb fun tonight. Relax. We need to know these things do we knot? Carry on.  ;)

;D ;D ;D

This topic is definitely a symptom of winter house-i-tosis.  

We're all going a little crazy.  At least we're not talking about the merits of different brands of TP.  (Oh god, did I just start something?)

prouboy

Now they make TP without the dreaded, ultra-heavy & bulky cardboard tubes.

You know OS I solved that problem years ago...when I vacuum bag that luxury :o the center slides right out ;)

Hey, I was KIDDING!  Let's not go there.  It's dangerous.

prouboy

See Prouboy, that winter house-i-tosis is getting pretty strong. I think it comes from having too much time with hands on keyboards instead of paddles. Maybe paddling around a pool would help ease off the craziness, or would that just make people think I'm crazy? OK So I've been inside too long too.

Yeah, I'm going to hell.  

Rotting my gut drinking too much coffee, breaking my back with too much shoveling snow, and softening my brain with too much American Idol, for god's sake.  (Actually, that show makes me laugh, which extends one's life I've read, so I guess that's good thing.)  

prouboy

marlin55388 wrote on Jan 20^th, 2011 at 5:43pm:

You know OS I solved that problem years ago...when I vacuum bag that luxury :o the center slides right out ;)

Vacuum packed TP. The very definition of anal... ;D

It was my notion to keep it dry and cut the bulk...dry TP keeps the ladies happy. I never thought keeping the ladies happy was anal, but I do know it is smart. I have also considered stringing  a small silnylon fly over the GB for those rain days...when Mamas happy everyone's happy. Just Sayin'

We squeeze the Charmin into a gallon zip bag, which also keeps it dry. With vacuum seal, once you open it, it's open, unless you put it into another bag...

True enough; a call for clarity....it is what I do for the extra rolls and then once opened then into the biff bag which is a ziplock in a stuff sack with a bottle of handle sanitizer.  [smiley=dankk2.gif]

marlin55388 wrote on Jan 21^st, 2011 at 1:38pm:

It was my notion to keep it dry and cut the bulk...dry TP keeps the ladies happy. I never thought keeping the ladies happy was anal,

This whole thread is anal, if you get my drift.

prouboy

Puckster wrote on Jan 21^st, 2011 at 3:09pm:

marlin55388 wrote on Jan 21st, 2011 at 1:38pm: It was my notion to keep it dry and cut the bulk...dry TP keeps the ladies happy. I never thought keeping the ladies happy was anal, This whole thread is anal, if you get my drift.  prouboy

So, pretend we're all sittin' around a campfire after a good day of fishing.  Slight breeze, no clouds, a good drink or three, and the discussion turns to TP and all things anal.  Then prouby remarks...if you get my drift....

I pause, smell something...something really nasty...Geez, prouby!!  We all move upwind...  ;D  ;D    

Drifting daydreams of the soft water season to come. The boy is laughing in my mind ;D "dried veggies daddy" and shaking his noggin running away!

I use a scrubee which doesn't have any sponge component.  I think the sponge is where the bacteria really thrive.  An all plastic scrubbee is hard to find, but I finally found some at Cub Grocery Store.

Plus as mentioned, earlier, just boil the scrubbee and that will kill all the bacteria.

Westwood

That's what I said earlier, Westwood.  At my favorite store an all-plastic scrubee is easy to find and I use them at home as well as in canoe country.  I don't think they keep any food residue on them if you rinse well, and I don't worry about packing them away wet.

I am not sure I would boil it, but I rinse it with boiling hot water when I rinse the dishes and call that good.

We have never gotten sick on a canoe trip.  We do filter our water.  When Spartan1 became immune suppressed (after the kidney transplant) I feared that the nephrologist would say "no canoe trips" but all she said was "use a water filter".  We were fortunate to have a nephrologist who actually had been to the BWCA--how lucky is that??   ;D

(Oh, yes!  I MUST have dry TP!  But I think that was another subject and sort of OT of this thread.)