Camping is a very fun experience, but it has some very annoying drawbacks, especially if you are a woman as maintaining feminine hygiene on the trail can be complicated. Peeing in the wilderness is complicated, can be embarrassing, and with the new leave no trail guidelines to help the environment, it should be done without toilet paper. There are some solutions that people have come up with over the years to try to make the experience more pleasant, like what is called a backcountry bidet, but there is a company that has created an even better solution, and it is called a Kula Cloth.
This Kula Cloth is an antimicrobial fabric that is meant to help women pee and clean themselves without waste. It is not just a sustainability issue, it is a comfort item that is now an essential item in almost every backpacking kit.
The Kula cloth, a perfect solution for more than just peeing outside
Traditional solutions have always been good, but cumbersome. The backcountry bidet is a bottle that you fill with water and use it to clean up, but that still leaves you wet, although clean. Using sticks, leaves or rocks have been acceptable solutions for centuries, and we have evidence from that form before Roman times, but it can be unhygienic and can cause infections of you are not careful or if you have a delicate system.
The new solution is only possible thanks to advances in textile technology and it is an ultra-absorbent, antimicrobial material pee cloth conceptualized by Anastasia Allison who founded Kula Cloth in 2018 after discovering a massive pile of used toilet paper while backpacking.
The final product is a compact solution that fits onto any backpack and can be used by anyone. It has been described as practical, packable and, most importantly, actually effective. Its silver- infused fabric prevents microorganisms from growing in it, which means that it can be used more than once and for a few of days in a row without any issues.
The design has let nothing to chance, and it shows that the designer is a backpacker, and every product has a loop one corner that snaps the cloth closed. This is so that once you use the cloth, you can fold in half and the soiled part remains in the interior and has an opportunity to dry while also not being contaminated by the outside world. However, if you have used it a few times, the best way to clean it again is to hang it open with the interior part facing out to the sun so that the antimicrobial properties can be activated by the sun.
The best way to clean it properly is to wash it with regular soap and water, which you can do once you get to camp if you are afraid that it is too soiled. That should not be a problem, since the Kula Cloth is super absorbent and can hold up to 10 times its own weight in water, plus the exterior fabric is totally waterproof so your wiping hand is always protected.
However, if that is not for you, it does not mean that it is not practical for other things. As long as it is clean, you can use it as a potholder or as a koozie for a cold beverage at camp. It is also a good sweat rag thanks to its super absorbent qualities and anti-microbial properties.
As a very fun addition, these cloths are not boring at all. This may seem superfluous but the designs on the outside cloths are great and varied. You can find anything from colorful rainbows to icy-blue wildlife, and they often have limited runs with even more fun prints.