How to Wash Dishes When Camping (3 Bin Method)

Washing dishes is one of those camp chores which can go horribly wrong. Imagine dirty dish water splashed over your clothes, insects feeding on food particles, or even bears getting attracted to your campsite. Here is a very simple but effective method for washing dishes when camping.

How to Wash Dishes when Camping (3 Bin Method)

You will need:

Three basins: These are your “sinks.” Collapsible basins work well for this.
Drying rack or fourth basin: There are also collapsible dish drying racks (like this one) which are perfect for camping.
Biodegradable soap
Sponge

Instructions:

1. Wash Basin

This basin contains hot water and a small amount of dish soap. You do NOT need a lot of soap. Three drops is enough!
Dunk dish into the basin.
Remove dish from water and scrub with sponge.
Dunk again to remove bits of food.

2. Rinse Basin

Dunk the dish in the rinse sink to remove particles of food and dsoap.

3. Cold Rinse Basin

This basin contains cold water. You can also add bleach to disinfect your dishes. Use 1 Tbsp of bleach per gallon of water.
Dunk the dish in the basin.

This is a perfect setup for washing camp dishes for a large group. The last basin is for drying clean dishes.

NOT a good setup. This dishwashing station is too low, full of clutter and there is nowhere to put the clean dishes.

Tips

Make sure dishes are as clean as possible before you start washing. It’s okay to lick your dishes when camping. It makes cleanup a lot easier. Otherwise, scrape all food bits into the trash.
Elevate the sinks so you don’t have to hunch over. A picnic table works well for this. Or maybe you want a folding camp kitchen with a built-in sink.
Use the campground dish washing station if there is one. You don’t want to lug basins of water across camp if you don’t have to!
Properly dispose of the food scraps and dirty water: Leaving these on the ground can cause critters to come to your campsite.
Make a plan for draining the water. Camp sinks are very heavy when full. It is almost impossible to carry them without splashing water all over yourself (which is particularly disgusting when its dirty dish water). One solution is to use camp sinks which have a drain. This allows you to drain the water into a bucket for easier carrying or drain directly onto the ground.