So true about folks forgetting how gross things can get fast. I always notice hardly anyone lists extra soap—not just for washing hands, but laundry bars too (Fels-Naptha or even plain castile). Clean clothes are a big deal for your mood and infections. Same goes for nail clippers and a decent pair of tweezers. Little cuts plus dirt = real problems real fast, especially if you’re gardening or out in the woods a lot.

Another thing I keep is a stash of old cotton t-shirts. Cut up, they work for cleaning, makeshift filters, even as emergency TP if you’re desperate (then you can wash and reuse). Not glamorous but gets the job done. Along those lines, comfort’s overlooked—think a proper pillow or a set of earplugs, just to make sleeping possible when folks around you are stressed or noisy.

Curious if anyone here’s found a good system for reusing water when sanitation options are limited? Like, using rinse water from laundry for other purposes?

Reusing wash water’s huge, especially when you don’t have endless clean water to throw at every problem. Back in the day, we’d save our soapy wash basin water for scrubbing floors or even pre-soaking heavily soiled tools—no sense wasting what still has a bit of cleaning kick left. For laundry, I like the two-bucket system: first rinse (dirtiest water

Reusable cleaning cloths get ignored a lot—people stockpile wipes, but eventually those run out. I keep a pile of old flour sack towels just for this. Solar showers are another overlooked thing; even a DIY black bag can make a world of difference cleaning up after a sweaty day. Anyone figured out a good low-energy way to sanitize cloths when the sun’s not shining?

BlueSkyWanderer said:

Reusing wash water’s huge, especially when you don’t have endless clean water to throw at every problem. Back in the day, we’d save our soapy wash basin water for scrubbing floors or even pre-soaking heavily soiled tools—no sense wasting what still has a bit of cleaning kick left. For laundry, I like the two-bucket system: first rinse (dirtiest water

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That two-bucket system for laundry is gold, honestly. Been teaching it at my comms workshops when we get into water discipline, and it’s always an eye-opener for folks who’ve never washed clothes by hand. Save the relatively clean rinse for dirty jobs, and you stretch every drop. I’d add—don’t forget about collecting slightly-used water from other places too, like from cooking vegetables (assuming it’s not loaded with grease). Even that can be put to good use scr