How do you bathe if your water heater goes out...for five years!?

When we traveled around out great country for 2 years in our caravan we often stayed in national parks / or other beautiful areas with no facilities.

We didn’t travel to find out what caravan parks were like ;);)we wanted to see/ explore areas off the main road / highways areas.

So we’d use a large round plastic dish filled with warm water by boiling the kettle on the gas stove in van .
We put the dish in a little pop up type tent ( after dark ) I used a huge sponge that soaked up heaps of water to splash over myself
The tent provided privacy and stopped the kangaroos laughing :D :D
 

camping inthe summer i set a10gallon black plastic garbage filled with water on a rock in the sun,,,,,,a couple of hours and I had lots of hot water.....winter time i had access to cold water and a stove...heat the dang water up... also have used the community rec fac when it is open to the public on weekends
 
I have mentioned this elsewhere that I have lived in an Intentional Community since 1986. I only have $670 in SS a month. The other monk brings in about the same. When our water heater died we looked into replacing it. The plumber said our old building's water pipes would need replacing too. The cost of it all was prohibitive.

If you are "low income", there are several Federal and State programs that may be able to help fix/replace your home appliances.

https://wellkeptwallet.com/free-appliances/

Do some searching on the Internet, or contact the State...you may be able to resolve this problem for little or no cost.

 
Last edited:
I lived without a water heater or running water for 20 years. As long as you have a tub or shower with a working drain you can heat the water and pour or dip over you. In the summer, I put 6 green soda bottles (from Gingerale or 7UP) filled with water in the sun. After a few hours they will be warm, if they go too long, they will be hot. Then pour those over you in the tub or even outside if you can take an outdoor one.
 
This is a fun thread!🤣😂 I've used the Campers Solar shower, works great.
If there is a lake nearby, take a bar of soap and shampoo. You might might smell fishy after but you'll be clean. My mum used to bathe us all in the lake. I only had one instance where bathing in a river made me smell fishy.
I do like the 5 gals of heated water idea. I couldn't pick up that pot after heating it though. I'd have to get creative getting the hot water to the tub.
 
I do like the 5 gals of heated water idea. I couldn't pick up that pot after heating it though. I'd have to get creative getting the hot water to the tub.
Get a heatproof jug, dip into the heated water and pour it into the tub that already has cold water in it.
 
A good ol' 5 litre kettle you can heat on the stove is a good source of hot water too. I bought one online a couple years ago to save on electricity wasted by my old water heater and for when the water heater finally broke down. We always had a big kettle at my mom and dads place. They didn't have a water heater. We took baths in a metal tub and heated additional buckets of water on the coal heater or the gas stove.
Yep. That's how we bath when camping. Either as a sponge bath, or heat the water to 103 degrees, then pour it into a 2.5 gallon jug that I've rigged a ball valve to, then hang it overhead. Works great.
 

Back
Top