How Do You Wash Your Hair While Backpacking?

By Anna Duncan

Backpacking is a great way to explore the outdoors and reconnect with nature, but you don’t have to sacrifice hygiene on your trips. Washing your hair while backpacking may seem challenging, but it’s actually quite simple. You just need a few essential items and some patience.

Gather Supplies

The supplies you need for washing your hair while backpacking depend on the type of water you’ll have access to. If you’ll be using untreated water, then it’s important to bring a water filter and purification tablets. These will help remove bacteria, protozoa, and other contaminants from the water so that it’s safe for washing your hair.

You’ll also need a small bottle of shampoo or soap, a towel or cloth for rinsing off, and a comb or brush to style your hair after it’s been washed.

Prepare Your Hair

Before you wash your hair, it’s important to prepare it. Start by brushing out any knots or tangles so that they don’t get worse when wet. Then apply some conditioner to hydrate and protect your hair before washing.

Wash Your Hair

Once you’ve gathered all the necessary items and prepared your hair, it’s time to start washing. Start by filling up a container with filtered or purified water (or pour straight from the river if you trust its cleanliness).

Then add a small amount of shampoo or soap, swish it around until it lathers up, then pour it directly onto your scalp. Massage the suds into your scalp and roots for 1-2 minutes before rinsing off with clean water.

Rinse Off

After shampooing, rinse off all the suds from your hair with clean water (filtered or purified). You can do this in stages if necessary; start by pouring some onto your scalp and massaging gently to remove any remaining suds before rinsing with more clean water. Make sure that all the shampoo/soap is gone before moving onto styling!

Style Your Hair

Once all the suds are gone from your hair, you can style as usual using a comb or brush. If necessary, add some leave-in conditioner or oil to help tame frizz and flyaways.



Washing your hair while backpacking doesn’t have to be difficult!

All you need is filtered/purified water (or access to clean untreated water), some shampoo/soap, a towel/cloth for rinsing off, and a comb/brush for styling afterwards. With these essentials in hand plus some patience – you’ll be able to keep yourself feeling refreshed and looking good even on long backpacking trips!