Take a “Field Bath” daily. Use a wash cloth and a small amount of water to wipe and clean off (in this order) the face, neck, chest, back, arms, legs, hands, underarms, feet, arm pits and then privates. (Some lists put privates before pits). Re-wet and wring out the cloth often during the process. Special considerations are needed if there are any fungal issues (you do not want to take a foot fungus and transplant it to your personal private area. Wait until your body has drived off before putting on any garments. Using two seperate clothes may also be advisible.
Different schools of thought indicate when someone should take a field bath. Most, however, believe that it should be before retiring at night or shortly after waking. If water rationing allows, do both morning and evening (especially for women).
When going to bed, wear a night shirt, nothing underneath. This allows your body and skin to dry and breath. It also allows the clothes worn the day prior to air out and dry. Clothes that are dirty or oily from wear for several days will hold moisture and will eventually grow mold, fungus, or bacteria. It is important that they be dried to prevent the dangerous growth (and odor). In hot enviroments, it is not uncommon to sweat while you sleep. If possible this should be minimized as much as possible (by clothing choice, bedding material, and bed location). However, sometimes it will be impossible. Although your body will be able to breath, it still needs to dry. In these enviroments, some time should be spent (during the warmer parts of the day), wearing nothing but an improvised skirt (think kilt) or a summer dress for women. The most important three parts of the body that need to dry out are the arm pits, private area, and the feet.
If in a more humid enviroment, leaving clothes out over night may only seem to have them be more damp by morning. In those enviroments, alternate outer clothes every other day, and on the set that is not being worn, hand out in the direct hot sun light for several hours (during the warmer months), and if there is little heat out doors and you have a heat source such as fire, hang them to dry near the fire (but monitor them to ensure they do not catch fire).
Try to have the ability to take a bath once a week. Twice a week would be preferable, depending on the water rationing issue.
Wash the face and then the hands at least one extra time during the day. Always wash the hands before eating a meal, and after a bathroom break. Preventing disease will be a much higher priority after most teotwawki situations, and taking the small amount of water to wash the hands may be the deciding factor towards life or death for many individuals.
If hot and dry areas (or days), not bathing properly will lead to a sever itching problem sometimes refered to as ‘prickly heat’. As the body sweats water, salt, and toxins leave the body. In dry heat, the water evaporates quickly leaving the salt (and toxins) on the surface of the skin. If the body is dirty, or these salt crystals are allowed to build up, they will eventually begin to form / be lodged in the folicals of the skin. They will iriate the sensitive skin, causing sever itching and sometimes a rash. The only way to cure this problem is by ‘disolving’ those crystals with water by washing often, but it takes several times and several days.
Other conditions that can occur without proper washing are Ringworm, fungal infections, boils (trapped bacterial infections under the skin), infected hair follicles, and chaffing.
