More realistic is to have a hot shelter to retreat to after taking a cold wash or hot water wash in the cold air e . g . , lather up , then rinse with a pot of water , heated or unheated and do it in a designated wash area that won ' t run off into a body of water or mess up your camp . Strategic spot cleaning can be done with a wet soapy cloth , or with baby wipes . Also , just wiping the body with a clean towel , taking smudge baths , and changing clothes will keep you relatively fresh . It ' s often the stuffiness of being all wrapped up in the same clothing that makes you feel cruddy so if you expose yourself to fresh air , warm fire , and smudge it may keep you happy . Certainly , washing and drying towel or clothes will usually be easier than trying to replicate urban bathing facilities in the backwoods . I did know a guy who lived in a treehouse in the woods , who bathed in water from a natural spring . He set an old bathtub into the earth downstream from the source . Cold ! Fresh ! But you ' d better have a very certain hot shelter to retreat to .