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Best Female Hiker Hygiene Supplies:
What You Need
To Stay Clean And Comfortable 

By Diane Spicer

The best female hiker hygiene supplies are inexpensive, easy to find, lightweight, have a small footprint in your backpack & in the environment, and work hard to keep you feeling clean and refreshed (not gross and greasy) on your hike.

Sounds like a tall order, right?

Luckily, you have this secret weapon:

• Hiking For Her's trustworthy hygiene tips, gathered over decades of trail time, right here on this page.

Just so you know, Hiking For Her will receive a small percentage of your purchase price if you decide to order these recommended female hiker hygiene supplies.

• It doesn't cost you anything extra.
• It supports the tips HFH shares freely.
  

You gain great hygiene products for your hike AND have the satisfaction of knowing that you've helped to keep this trustworthy hiking information flowing to your virtual trail sisters.

Quite a bargain, wouldn't you agree?

Now, on to the best female hiker hygiene supplies!

Day hikers have less extensive hygiene needs, so we'll start there.

Followed by backpacker hygiene supplies to tackle multi day trips, with or without abundant surface water at your disposal.

• Drop down to the backpacking hygiene tips to save time.

Day hikers:
female hiker hygiene supplies
for your body

Let's focus first on sweat and grime, because you're going to accumulate a lot of it on the trail.

How to defeat the grime and grit

A sweaty face and neck can take some a lot of the fun out of a day hike.

Not to mention the feeling of dust and grit in your frown lines. (just me?)

Pre-moistened, deep cleansing towelettes are handy to carry for that reason alone.

But why stop there?

Press them into service for a thorough cleaning of your hands in the absence of surface water, prior to eating.

Wipe the sweat out of your armpits, beneath your breasts, and in your groin to feel refreshed and ready to head back to the trail head.

Use them as a replacement for toilet paper.

Pay close attention to grit between your toes, and get rid of it so you don't set yourself up for foot problems.

Or wipe the grit off your gear: hiking pole handles, camera case.

Or your hiking baby and toddlers!

Treat minor skin irritations immediately

When you're hiking in hot weather, you may find that your skin is prone to heat rash (prickly heat).

This can happen on areas where your clothing is tight and restricts evaporation of your sweat.

It can also be caused by sunscreen application and accumulation of trail dust on sun exposed areas.

• Read more about uncomfortable hiker's rash here.

Apply healing balm to minor wounds

A bramble patch or a granite boulder can extract some of your skin as payment for passage on a dusty hiking trail.

Irritated skin from plant oils or insect bites can also act as highways for microbes in trail dirt.

So think about female hiker hygiene supplies in terms of preventative actions you can take to keep yourself in good shape during a backpacking trip.

This All Good Goop is formulated to keep your minor wound both pliable and clean as it heals, thanks to essential oils and plant extracts (most of them certified organic by USDA/NOP standards):

Trail tip:

Carry a small amount of it in a bit of waxed paper closed with a twist tie, keeping the rest at home for application after your shower.

Flush the dust out of your eyes

When you think of hygiene, you might overlook your eyes.

Yet they accumulate their fair share of trail issues:

Pollen, dust, bright sunlight, fatigue from staring at maps, you get the picture.

If your eyes feel gritty, or look red and irritated, take a look (ha! punny) at these eye drops.

• Packaged in small amounts
  
• Stand up to being thrown into a backpack for months on end
  
• Feel really soothing

And here's the good news.

These are not the "eye brightening" drops that use vasoconstrictors to make the whites of your eyes less red.

Instead, they flush out the pollen and irritants and allow your eyes to circulate your natural tears.

• And there are no drying agents, such as astringents.

Trail tip:

One dose is enough for both eyes, unless you've got a huge dose of irritation going on.

And with 60 doses, you're probably good for the entire hiking season! Or you can share with your trail buddies ;)

Day hikers:
female hiker hygiene supplies
for body wastes

It's inevitable! Poop and pee happens to all of us on a day hike.

So let's deal with it in a straightforward, hygienic manner!

Best hand sanitizer for hikers

Before we discuss the waste, let's get clean hands.

And then clean our hands again after handling the waste.

Well known hiking fact: Most food borne illness on the trail is due to pathogens lingering on hands that were not washed after bathroom breaks.

Avoid the pain, sanitize those hands!

Why sanitizer? You may not have access to water, or the amount of water you are carrying is limited and should be devoted to staying hydrated.

Fun fact for female hikers: Purell is a female owned company!

Liquid wastes

This would be menstrual blood and urine.

You'll need to clean your body and also segregate your used supplies so you can pack it out and dispose of it properly.

If you choose to stand up and pee, using a female urination device (FUD) like this one, you'll want to either drip dry or wipe off with pre-moistened towels or toilet paper.

• Have those supplies handy in a resealing transparent plastic bag.
• Have an additional garbage bag to pack out what you've used, including menstrual supplies.

If you're a squatter, same deal, but you might want to consider this fast drying towel dedicated as a pee rag because the chances of dribbles down your leg are higher, depending upon what you're squatting on or near.

Trail Tip:

Not sure about standing up to pee? Read my TinkleBelle review.

Female hiker hygiene supplies for solid wastes

The terrain you hike in will make a difference in your approach to disposing of your poop and sanitary napkins, tampons or the contents of your menstrual cup.

If you're in high alpine terrain, rocky with little to no soil, you'll have to carry it out.

A convenient approach is to use a kit containing some sort of deodorizing agent, a strong opaque zip-close storage bag plus toilet paper.

That involves carrying these kits to get the job done until you can dispose of solid waste properly at home.

If you are in forested or desert areas, you will need to bury your waste. This allows soil microbes plus moisture to degrade it for you. And leave the soil just a little more fertile in the process!

To dig a cat hole, you'll need a strong but lightweight trowel. Here's the one I use.

You'll also want thicker pre-moistened towelettes, like these, or be sure you have enough toilet paper or natural non toxic materials to clean up properly.

• Natural materials (leaves, sticks, smooth stones) go into your cat hole. 
• Anything else gets packed out, to adhere to Leave No Trace hiking principles.

Clean your hands well after you cover up your feces (more trowel work) with one of these options:

• hand sanitizer (see above) that won't dry out your skin in a handy squeeze bottle with a carry bag and caribiner for your backpack like this one
  
• more pre-moistened wipes (see above)
• soap flakes and a bit of water

Segregate your trowel from the rest of your hygiene kit in a separate strong plastic bag.

Label it. If it becomes separated from your trowel, you won't use it for food storage or gear on accident.

Trail Tip:
Begin to think about your female hiker hygiene supplies as "Used" and "Unused". It will help your transition into a safe, organized backpacker.

Best female hiker hygiene supplies
for backpackers to carry

And because there are 30 cloths per package, you'll have plenty. Re-bag them according to your needs.

Trail Tip:

If you have surface water that you can haul back to your tent area, you can rinse out these towels and use them again to remove grit and grime.

You know, the grime from your dog's paws, your hiking boots, your trekking poles or anything else that you need to wipe down before entering your tent.

Or leave the used cloths out in the rain, or overnight to collect dew, for this purpose.

Best female hiker hygiene supplies to use
when you have access to plenty of water

Need some tips for backpacking kitchen essentials to keep dishes and utensils clean? 

• Here they are!

Panty liners for many purposes

Many female hikers struggle with the question: how much underwear should I bring on my hiking trip?

Here's where female hiker hygiene supplies can multi-task.

You can get away with only 2 pai of hiking underwearr, no matter how long your trip, if you use breathable panty liners!

• Wear one pair of panties with a panty liner on day one.
• Day two: turn the pair inside out, use a fresh liner.
• Days three & four: Wash first pair with Dr. Bronners unscented soap (see above) & let it dry while you repeat steps one and two with your second pair of underwear.
  

Natracare also offers tampons, pads and feminine wipes in biodegradable, plastic-free materials.

Trail Tip:

• Read about great options for women's hiking underwear here.

Plastic free storage solution

Plastic bags are cheap and lightweight, but what happens to them once you're home again?

• Landfills are filling up with our discarded plastic.
• And that plastic isn't going to degrade any time soon.
  

That's why it's a good idea to use the convenience of a transparent container which is plastic free, like this platinum silicone container.

Yes, you can use it for food on a day hike, but it also makes a great container for female hiker hygiene supplies!

• Long life if washed with warm soapy water
• Or clean in the top rack of a dishwasher, once you're off the trail

Trail Tip:

There is an entire universe of reusable containers from Stasher. You'll find lots of uses for them, and kiss plastic bags bye-bye.

More female hiker hygiene supplies
for your hiking plans

Staying clean on a hike leads to better mental focus and endurance.

And it keeps you feeling great!

So choose your female hiker hygiene supplies with care, and always pack enough to keep yourself fresh and comfortable.

And here's a idea for getting organized:

• Why not build your own hiking hygiene kit?

Here's to success in cleaning up good along the trail :)

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Best Female Hiker Hygiene Supplies