cold weather hygene questions

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How to keep clean in a freezing cold house?I know that in an extended cold weather survival situation one must keep clean or skin oil will gunk up the first wicking layer,making layering unefective and the wearer cold. Now,how to wash when it's cold,without freezing more so? thanks to all helpful people,flamers and nutbags.

-- zoobie (zoobiezoob@yahoo.com), June 26, 1999

Answers

A gallon of water heated up makes for an exellent sponge bath. You just have to dry yourself off quickly so you don't get too cold. You can wash your clothes and hang them out to dry in any temperatures over 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Contrary to popular belief it's not the temperature that dries clothes it's the evaporation of water. Water will evaporate in anyhing over freezing temperatures but naturally it will take longer. So temps do affect the drying time but you can just as easily hang oyur clothes on the line if it's 35 as if it were 85. If it's truly too cold to hang clothes out to dry then I'm not sure what to do. I guess Eskimos dry their clothes by the fire and have a few spare sets to rotate so they never have to wear anything that is damp.

-- (native@Maine-lander.com), June 26, 1999.

Clothes can be set out to dry in temperatures below freezing also. Yes, they freeze, but interestingly enough ice evaporates slowly through a process called sublimation. It does take a while though.

-- Hawthorne (99@00.com), June 26, 1999.

Store many boxes of Baby Wipes, Wet Ones, whatever brand you prefer. Also have BD alcohol swabs for quick little wiping of hands. Every day scrub vigorously with hot water and sponge/washcloth. We got EcoFlame tins on sale to heat water indoors. There's a no-rinse shampoo. Yes, one gets much colder & ickier-feeling if one doesn't clean the pores every day!

For hair, even if it's really cold it helps to shampoo hair every other day. We've been shaving our heads in the summertime and then letting it grow out for the year -- looks like a really expensive layered haircut! About that time again, but no sun ;( No point shaving head unless can stimulate scalp with mellow sun. Anyway short hair will be more practical next Winter.

We've invested in several types of caps 'n hats to keep warmth in during Rollover. Polartec is light, washable, and warm. We also have some hooded fleecy sweatshirts. Layering! Sleeping bags, lots of blankets. We never turned the heat on last Winter in order to acclimatize and see what we needed to do. No woodstove or alternate heat in apartment. Of course everybody else's heat was on so it wasn't a true test :^) Fortunately in our neck of Cascadia it hovers around 320 and only gets below that for maybe 3 weeks.

Hoping for a mild Winter ...

xxxxxxxxx xxx

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 26, 1999.


Zoobie

Well the best answer is to not have a freezing cold house or you are going to have more to worry about than keeping clean. You are right about the clothes layering. The good part is that you don't get as dirty when in cold weather. Sponge baths as mentioned are the way to go. The BEST way to stay clean in the cold is a sauna. They are real simple to set up and have some kind of water shower set up to rinse after the good sweat. The water doesn't need to be heated for the rinse and a matter of fact cold water is very refreshing. Gets the blood circulating. I have not checked out sites about saunas on the web but there must be lots. Don't forget the Scandinavians used suanas all the time. Highly recommended.

And yes clothes will dry well in blow freezing weather. IMHO socks are the critical clothes to keep clean, dirty socks will contribute to cold feet which are the most vulerable to freezing. LOTS of folk up in the arctic regions with no toenails. As mentioned before I would recommend heavy wool knit socks and have an inner and outer sock to cover the foot and knit sock. If you can try getting rubber slippers, good inside, outside footware in dry cold places. Of course mocassins and seal skin boots are the cats meow but unlikely you will get them :o)

Good luck!

-- Brian (imager@home.com), June 26, 1999.


Winter before last I went the whole season without heat. Not an activity I'd recommend, even in a relatively mild climate like mine. Anyway, when I got home at night I generally crawled right into bed, it was too cold to do much. I had a whole lot of blankets, and two summerweight sleeping bags, one inside the other with zippers on opposite sides. A good knit cap helped a lot. In the morning I jumped out of bed and hoofed it to the shower. I did have hot water, and even though the air was cold the hot water kept me warm. Then a real invigorating towel-off, jump into my clothes and go to work.

I plan to have some propane heat for Y2K, though not for the whole house. But a hot sponge bath in the cold would be all right I think. Some real good winter clothes, thermal underwear, many many layers. Also helps to eat lots of calories and stay well-hydrated.

-- Shimrod (shimrod@lycosmail.com), June 26, 1999.



How a bout those waterproof neoprene socks? I've never tried 'em, but if they're waterproof they must be closed-cell so they should just wipe clean.

'course you wouldnt wanna wear em when its not real cold cuz yer feet'd get sweaty...

-- biker (y2kbiker@worldnet.att.net), June 26, 1999.


Re : mukluks, you can get them in places where the weather gets cold enough. Although not common here in Edmonton, they are available every winter. I bought two pairs last winter (gave one to my mom). I know there's a few leather workers in the area who make them, and one pair I bought a few years ago was made on the Stony Indian reserve. If there's someone who's interested, e me.

-- Tricia the Canuck (tricia_canuck@hotmail.com), June 27, 1999.

TWO WORDS.

WILLIE WARMERS.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), June 27, 1999.


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