Substitutes For Toilet Paper In The Wild

I have heard of using Items such as smooth stones and mullein leaves as a substitute for toilet paper. What are some of your suggestions for an effective substitute and way to maintain your hygiene after having to relieve yourself in nature?

 

One very pliable substitute for tissue paper would be dried corn husks. ,They are very pliable to use when you have the urge to relieve yourself in the wild. You can bring corn with you as food and then save up the husks specifically for these situations. They also have many other uses besides being absorbent.

 

One way that I have been told that works well is just to spread your buttocks apart as much as possible with your hands as you defecate. It will give you the same effect that animals without such large rare ends usually get when they release their bowels. The cleanliness will be strikingly better than it is when you just go to the bathroom regular. If you need leverage while you do this, you can lean your back against a tree.

 

I would probably go with leaves as a pretty good option. Maybe the best option however would be to use water ( if there is a lot of it that is). Never sacrifice drinking water.

 

As everyone else has said, leaves are the number one substitute. You just have to be careful about which kind you grab. I mean, snatching up a handful of poison oak and cleaning yourself off with it is a baaaaaad idea.

If it was dire straits however, I'm pretty sure there's a reason I always keep an extra pair of socks with me, haha.

 

I think the leaves are the best substitute for toilet paper in the wild, but you really have to be careful about that. The last thing you want is to accidentally grab some poison ivy, or a leaf you might be allergic too. But as long as you do that, you should be fine. In the wild I'm not sure there's many other suitable substitutes. Water might be the only other workable one, but you should try not to waste clean drinking water on anything other than drinking it.

 

Mr. Cluckeyo grew up with an outdoor toilet. The first time he came to visit me, we were walking around the place and he saw the fig trees. He said those would make good "asswipe". They are a large, sturdy leaf.

 

If you are in the tropical area, dried banana leaves is an option. The dried cob of the corn is also a good one but I think it will be a bit itchy. I've heard of a friend using a smooth stone to finish the deed because there was no leaves big enough to serve his purpose.

 

I once heard a tip that if you aren't sure if you can use a plant as toilet paper, smell a leaf. If it has zero funk, tear a piece of it, smell it. If it gets really funky or kinda stings the eyes/nose when you get near it, prolly keep it away from your butt. If everything there goes well, take the ripped open piece and rub it around your forearm a little. If it starts to burn, sorry bout that, but you learned.

If it passes the smell, inside smell and rub on your skin test, probably safe to wipe with.