Tips to stay clean in the outdoors

The great outdoors smells great, but you won't smell so good after a few days of roughing it. Here are some top tips to clean up in comfort.

Use this frequently — before doing any meal prep, before any eating and after bathroom break. You'll be cleaner and ward off any unpleasant stomach bugs.

Fill a large plastic bottle with water and leave it in the sun; after a few hours you'll have warm water for a soothing sponge bath.

For the ultimate luxury in the outdoors, you might consider packing a small inflatable wading pool. Find a sunny spot, inflate the pool, fill it with water, wait a while for the sun to do its job, then step into your warm bath.

Poke sieve-like holes in the bottom of a plastic bucket, then stack it inside a larger (and solid) plastic bucket. When it's time for a shower, hang the bucket with the holes from a branch and fill the bucket without holes with warm water. Stand beneath the hanging bucket, pour warm water into it, and enjoy the brief sensation of warm water rushing over you.

If you plan on treading far off the beaten path into the wilderness, bring some isopropyl alcohol and a few cotton balls. After a long day of trekking, dip the cotton ball in the alcohol and wipe down your feet, underarms and groin area. You'll feel cleaner and better in an instant!

Sleeping bags tend to become a bit musty after a couple of uses, but you can freshen a bag by putting a bar of soap or a fabric softener sheet inside. Do it after you crawl out of the sleeping bag each morning, then zip the bag shut. The next time you slip in, remove the bag freshener and put it aside to use again, then drift off into sweet-smelling dreams.

You'll end up smelling like roses when you bring these great tips to get clean on your next camping trip. Your family will think you're a rock star!