Necessary to shower?

[easyfeazy]

Do you have to shower on the playa to stay "competent?" If everyone smells like crap, it's OK to smell like crap, right? How many people take regular showers?

[AntiM]

We don't, we use baby wipes and a garden sprayer/mister. A shower does not equal nice smell. There are many options for cleanliness.

Oh, go ahead, I can hear the snark sharks circling.

[easyfeazy]

Genius!

[dragonfly Jafe]

...nope - antiM "Snark Shark Repellent" already in water....

the aura of good advice will have to dissipate a bit first before the Snark Sharks will stop by...

Wipes and such do OK for all but hair, and that will get pretty nasty after a few days of no washing due to fine Playa dust. Hair can be washed using a basin (to catch the water) and 1 to 1-1/2 gallons of water. There are usually some camps devoted to gifting hair washes, and it is not too hard to find someone of the opposite sex to wash your hair (if you are nice about it) if you have no shower.

A hot shower ever 1-3 days is a nice luxury to have tho'...and one I highly recommend if you can bring the hardware.

[phil]

Spit baths. Wash out of your dishwater - just rinse out your various groins.

[geospyder]

I used a product called Fresh Bathand had no odor problems and suprisingly I even felt clean. I had no problem with hair. I shaved my head the night before going to Burning Man.

[shiznicks1]

We didnt plan on showering for the week, but our nice neighbors brough one of those outdoor shower bags and its soo nice to get a nice rinse every now and then. But clean? Not gonna happen, by the time you dress yourself the dust has already begun its attack. What im doin this year for a cheap shower will be to purchase one of those water jugs from the grocery store that sit on their side and have the little nozzel on its side. Just cut a hole in the top to refill it and just hang it somewhere. Nice, simple, cheap and efficient, plus your nozzle wont leak :)

[teardropper]

A simple way to keep fresh, when you can't shower, I use a dilute Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap in a spray bottle and one of clear water. I ordered from a hospital supply some large, nappy wipes for bed bound patients, but regular wipes would work, or a wash cloth. I think you can figure out what to do with it, concentrating on your sensitive areas. This will leave you tingly and minty fresh. Remember that if you use a solar shower or a spray can that you can't discharge your greywater on the playa, you must use an evaporator pond or collect it for transport off the playa.

[easyfeazy]

[quote="teardropper"]A simple way to keep fresh, when you can't shower, I use a dilute Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap in a spray bottle and one of clear water. I ordered from a hospital supply some large, nappy wipes for bed bound patients, but regular wipes would work, or a wash cloth. I think you can figure out what to do with it, concentrating on your sensitive areas. This will leave you tingly and minty fresh. Remember that if you use a solar shower or a spray can that you can't discharge your greywater on the playa, you must use an evaporator pond or collect it for transport off the playa.[/quote]

Perfect. I shower with Dr. Bronners every day anyway.

[dragonpilot]

And as a special treat, I recommend the Human Carcass Wash...not only do you end up feeling clean (they use misters w/ Dr Bronners), but it's a ton o' fun...check the daily schedule you'll get at entry for times and location.

[Sham]

(they use misters w/ Dr Bronners)

When I went through, there were mistresses with Bronner's too!

I take a nice hot shower almost every afternoon. I have the shower bag, but find a big salad bowl and a wash cloth works great to make me feel human again. Head to toe and lots of soap----it's so invigorating!

[TomServo]

Misters or spray bottles work. I prefer to NOT smell like shit, so bathe regularly. As incredible as it may seem, your skin drinks as well, so helps keeping hydrated.

[epic_elite]

can any one even smell the smell of people over the smell of the playa?

[TomServo]

can any one even smell the smell of people over the smell of the playa?

Some people are worse than others. Once you clear out the playa booggers.

[Elderberry]

We shower (full shower), every day. We build a shower structure that holds 6 to 8 shower bags and an evap pond for the gray water.

It's a playa luxury.

JK

[TomServo]

Personally, a shower at least once a day makes being out their much more comfortable.

[motskyroonmatick]

Yep. Showering every day is great! I did not last year and it was terrible. Never again. The shower system will be set up and used daily!

[Here and there]

Do you have to shower on the playa to stay "competent?" If everyone smells like crap, it's OK to smell like crap, right? How many people take regular showers?

I've taken regular sun showers on the Playa, but I saw something that was an even better idea - if you have the cargo capacity. A couple had brought an old bathtub, and filled it with water. There is definitely something to be said for having your own pickup truck.

Something to keep in mind as you read reports that something worked - like baby wipes, for example. Our bodies are all very different. One person's funk is not another's. Some have very dry skin, and for them, perhaps baby wipes are fine. Others, like me, probably could lease out drilling rights to their skin, if their bodies ever produced more oil than they already did. Baby wipes won't remove that, and after a few days, one might not only be fragrant, but miserable as well. Misery is not good.

Which is not to say that the baby wipes are necessarily completely worthless. Let's say that you're a lot richer than me, and you do bring that bathtub. My thought is, do the baby wipe thing, then a sun shower, and then a soak, and you might end up feeling comfortable, without turning the tub water into pudding by the end of the week. Sort of like the way the Japanese traditionally took baths, doing something like a sponge bath before entering the water, which would then take off the last bits of grime.

What I don't know is whether the couple brought in fresh water, daily, or just covered the tub when not in use. That part would be important, because playa dust turns amazingly sticky when wet. Uncovered water turns muddy very quickly, and evaporates with great speed. If it were me, and I had the money, I'd probably put the tub in a large dome tent, to reduce the dust levels when the tub was uncovered and in use.

This does raise the question of what to do with the greywater, but I've been running on, so I'll stop.

[Captain Goddammit]

I can't imagine going to Burning Man and not bringing shower facilities! Being rich has nothing to do with it. I just see zero reason why you can't have a daily shower. Even if you're flying in, you can pack a camp shower-bag thingy and obtain water by bartering some really good booze or food, pre-arranging with a friend, or even buying ice from Camp Arctica and melting it.
But then, if you use Dr. Bronner's hippy-helper normally, you might have a different view. And that's cool.

[CLARKcon]

Take a solar shower once every 2-3 days, use moist wipes for refresh-ups. The acidity/talc like quality of the dust acts as a natural deodorant to a degree. Like was said, I actually like the human pheromone scent towards the end of the week it smells human (not a bad thing!). I think we just get so use to smelling perfumes added to washing products,etc. that ORGANIC smells seem foreign, our nose gets untrained/desensitized.

[theCryptofishist]

I basically hate showering outdoors and with those solar showers--I can never get things to a comfortable temp, so I'm with the baby wipes and washclothes in strategic places. Also, evap ponds are a total boondoggle and packing out dirty water isn't fun.

And all that's before we get to the special equipment I'd have to have.

[Elorrum]

The shower I take when I get home is soooo wonderful. On playa, I use the biggest wipes I can get, from the bedridden folks aisle at the drugstore. Also used some called oohahs, from a military surplus online. Wash my hair over a basin with solar shower water a few times during the week, and on the morning I leave. Do a good wipe down before bed each night, face to feet. I like to sleep as clean as I can. It's good enough, and I don't have to do evap arrangements.

[TomServo]

A spray bottle shower is a bit labor intensive, but eliminates the need for an evaporation pond or pad.
We used a propane camp shower. Just like home! Kinda pricey though. Also use a watering can..cheap and simple.

[Hayden]

One thing I have NOT noticed is people mentioning another way to evaporate water; FIRE!!


Everyone talks about evap ponds and how showering creates so much grey water...


Well, I plan to bring a 55 gallon barrel in order to have a small campfire in and around my camp (with designs cut in it to light up the surrounding area) and came up with a 2-fold idea.

If you realllly wanted to, you can come up with a radiator design (copper tubing, etc) and put it in a metal box that can be laid over the burn barrel.

Plumb a cold water inlet - moves through the hot pipes and voila!

BUT...then pure genius struck (and I can't imagine SOMEone has not already done this or talked about it!!)....pour your grey water in the metal basin!

You can hinge it so it's out of the way until you actually need to use the system, but evaporate the water over fire. Obviously, all of the rules should be followed for oipen fires.

[TomServo]

One thing I have NOT noticed is people mentioning another way to evaporate water; FIRE!!


Everyone talks about evap ponds and how showering creates so much grey water...


Well, I plan to bring a 55 gallon barrel in order to have a small campfire in and around my camp (with designs cut in it to light up the surrounding area) and came up with a 2-fold idea.

If you realllly wanted to, you can come up with a radiator design (copper tubing, etc) and put it in a metal box that can be laid over the burn barrel.

Plumb a cold water inlet - moves through the hot pipes and voila!

BUT...then pure genius struck (and I can't imagine SOMEone has not already done this or talked about it!!)....pour your grey water in the metal basin!

You can hinge it so it's out of the way until you actually need to use the system, but evaporate the water over fire. Obviously, all of the rules should be followed for oipen fires.

How about suspending a 5 or 10 gallon steel barrel, inside your 55 gallon burn barrel? Just dump grey water into the smaller drum, and use the burn barrel regularly. Maybe plumb a filler line, so you don't burn your arms up...? Wonder how the bottom seams would hold up under constant heat...maybe a very large cooking pot, or cauldron?

http://www.homebrewing.org/5-Gallon-Sta ... p_272.html

Great idea! I'm gonna try it this year.

[Thecatman]

I take a gallon of distilled water, stand in a homemade catch basin and pour the water over my head. Kinda like a sponge bath. Not as refreshing as a real shower but it'll do. I leave the water in the basin to eveporate.
The basin is four 1"x3"x3' boards screwed together with a black plastic liner which can get slippery, but like I said, it works for me.
The water does'nt have to be distilled.

[TomServo]

I take a gallon of distilled water, stand in a homemade catch basin and pour the water over my head. Kinda like a sponge bath. Not as refreshing as a real shower but it'll do. I leave the water in the basin to eveporate.
The basin is four 1"x3"x3' boards screwed together with a black plastic liner which can get slippery, but like I said, it works for me.
The water does'nt have to be distilled.

Those work great! But if your running a bar, crap water is in excess. I use a watering can. Feels more like a shower.

[muchas_cabras]

One thing I have NOT noticed is people mentioning another way to evaporate water; FIRE!!
~
BUT...then pure genius struck (and I can't imagine SOMEone has not already done this or talked about it!!)....pour your grey water in the metal basin!

How about suspending a 5 or 10 gallon steel barrel, inside your 55 gallon burn barrel? Just dump grey water into the smaller drum, and use the burn barrel regularly. Maybe plumb a filler line, so you don't burn your arms up...? Wonder how the bottom seams would hold up under constant heat...maybe a very large cooking pot, or cauldron?
~
Great idea! I'm gonna try it this year.

I encourage you guys to try this out at home before transporting your apparatus to the playa. It sounds feasible but in reality the amount of energy (fuel) needed to completely evaporate even a small amount of water is enormous. About a thousand BTUs are needed to evaporate one pound of 212 degree water (and water weighs over 8 pounds per gallon). So evaporating 5 gallons of wash water will take roughly 40,000 BTUs *after* it's heated to boiling. How much is 40,00 BTUs? Well, a good example which will be familiar to most everybody is propane which has around 91,000 BTUs per gallon. Also remember that these figures assume 100 percent efficiency. I'm not sure how efficient a 55 gallon barrel with designs cut in it to light up the surrounding area will be but we can safely assume that it'll be less than optimal...

The "secret" to evaporating grey water on the playa is surface area and for that, nothing beats a terrycloth beach towel. Just dip and hang (or drip while hanging) then the sun & wind does the rest.

[TomServo]

One thing I have NOT noticed is people mentioning another way to evaporate water; FIRE!!
~
BUT...then pure genius struck (and I can't imagine SOMEone has not already done this or talked about it!!)....pour your grey water in the metal basin!

How about suspending a 5 or 10 gallon steel barrel, inside your 55 gallon burn barrel? Just dump grey water into the smaller drum, and use the burn barrel regularly. Maybe plumb a filler line, so you don't burn your arms up...? Wonder how the bottom seams would hold up under constant heat...maybe a very large cooking pot, or cauldron?
~
Great idea! I'm gonna try it this year.

I encourage you guys to try this out at home before transporting your apparatus to the playa. It sounds feasible but in reality the amount of energy (fuel) needed to completely evaporate even a small amount of water is enormous. About a thousand BTUs are needed to evaporate one pound of 212 degree water (and water weighs over 8 pounds per gallon). So evaporating 5 gallons of wash water will take roughly 40,000 BTUs *after* it's heated to boiling. How much is 40,00 BTUs? Well, a good example which will be familiar to most everybody is propane which has around 91,000 BTUs per gallon. Also remember that these figures assume 100 percent efficiency. I'm not sure how efficient a 55 gallon barrel with designs cut in it to light up the surrounding area will be but we can safely assume that it'll be less than optimal...

The "secret" to evaporating grey water on the playa is surface area and for that, nothing beats a terrycloth beach towel. Just dip and hang (or drip while hanging) then the sun & wind does the rest.

A towel is fine for bathing, but the amount of water used, behind a bar is staggering. I use burn barrels anyways, why not re use them?

[C.f.M.]

I wouldn't use the word "necessary," but I think being able to shower greatly improved my mood.