How to wash dishes
- 1Set up before you eat — heat wash water; line up three bins, each with tongs; pick a wash spot 200 ft from water.
- 2Scrape — scrape all food scraps into a trash bag so dishes start as clean as possible.
- 3Wash (pot 1) — scrub in hot, soapy (biodegradable) water; re-scrub anything stuck.
- 4Rinse (pot 2) — dip in clean hot water with tongs until no soap bubbles remain.
- 5Sanitize (pot 3) — dunk in cold water with sanitizer (bleach or a tablet) per the product's directions.
- 6Strain the greywater — filter food bits out and bag them for trash.
- 7Disperse the greywater — into a designated drain, or broadcast 200 ft from camp and water over a wide area.
- 8Air-dry and store — hang or place dishes to dry, then pack clean gear away.
Remember it as
Wash, rinse, sanitize — hottest to coldest.
When to use it
- After every cooked meal at camp — the standard patrol cleanup routine.
- Cooking merit badge and Outdoor Adventurer cleanup requirements.
- Group camps, where sanitizing shared mess kits prevents an illness spreading through the patrol.
Common mistakes & safety
- Sanitizing is illness prevention, not just tidiness. The sanitize pot kills bacteria that cause the gastroenteritis that spreads fast through a patrol.
- Hot water and tongs. Wash and rinse water is hot — use the bins' tongs to keep hands out and to keep hands off clean dishes.
- Follow the sanitizer's directions — use bleach or tablets at the product's stated strength and contact time.
- Air-dry, don't towel-dry. A camp towel recontaminates "clean" dishes — let them air-dry.
- Greywater goes 200 ft from water, and wash with clean, treated water.
Going deeper
- Scrape, then three-pot. The biggest time-saver: scrape dishes into the trash bag first so the wash pot stays usable.
- Start the water before dinner. Hot water takes time, and cleanup goes fast while the stove or fire is still hot — aim for hot wash water (about 160°F).
- Hottest to coldest. Soap and scrub in hot, rinse the soap in hot, then sanitize in cold — bubbles gone before the sanitize pot.
Official source
Safe food handling and clean up — Scouting America →See also the three-pot method in detail. Follow your sanitizer's directions.