A pee cloth is reusable toilet paper for pee. That is the basic idea.
Let's begin with the most important thing you need to know about using a pee cloth: it is not complicated.
I know it can feel complicated if you have never used one before. Maybe you are holding your brand-new pee cloth and looking at it suspiciously. Maybe you are wondering, "Am I really going to put this against my body and then attach it to the outside of my backpack?" Maybe you have questions about which side to use, where to keep it, how often to wash it, whether it is sanitary, and whether everybody on the trail will immediately know that the attractive square of fabric hanging from your backpack has encountered urine.
These are all reasonable questions.
The good news is that once you use a pee cloth for the first time, the entire process will probably make so much sense that you will wonder why you spent years carrying tiny wads of toilet paper that immediately became damp, shredded themselves inside your pocket, stuck to your body, or had to be stored in a plastic bag filled with other used toilet paper.
A pee cloth is reusable toilet paper for pee. That is the basic idea. It is designed to help you dry off after urinating while hiking, backpacking, camping, traveling, working outdoors, or doing literally anything else that involves having a body and needing to pee somewhere without a convenient bathroom.
Here is exactly how to use one.
Prefer to watch? Here's me walking through every feature.
step onePee
This is the part most people already know how to do.
Find an appropriate place to pee while following any local rules or regulations. Move away from trails, campsites, water sources, and other people whenever possible. If you are in a fragile alpine environment or an area with specific guidelines about human waste, pay attention to those guidelines. Owning a pee cloth does not grant you diplomatic immunity from Leave No Trace principles.
Once you have selected your luxurious outdoor restroom, lower your pants, position your body, and pee.
Some people squat. Some people use a pee funnel. Some people have perfected a wide-legged hover that resembles a woodland crab. There is no prize for elegance. The goal is simply to avoid peeing on your shoes.
for the record — almost everybody who pees outside regularly has eventually peed on a shoe. This is not failure. This is experience.
step twoPat Yourself Dry
After you finish peeing, take your pee cloth and gently pat yourself dry. You can also hold the absorbent side of the cloth in place for a moment until you can tell that the moisture has been absorbed.
Do not wipe. Do not drag the cloth across your body. Do not scrub back and forth as though you are trying to remove a difficult stain from a countertop.
The technique is extremely simple: gently pat or hold.
Think of it as blotting a tiny spill, except the spill is pee and the countertop is your vulva.
If your pee cloth has two different sides, place the absorbent side against your body. On a Kula Cloth, that is the plain black side. The printed side is waterproof and is designed to face outward when the cloth is hanging from your backpack.
Pat with the black side. Not the pretty side.
I know the pretty side is tempting. It has mountains or flowers or cats or something else delightful printed on it. But the black side is the business side. The printed side is the party side. Please do not invite the party side into the business meeting.
A pee cloth is also intended for pee only. It is not a poop cloth.
I realize that sentence may feel unnecessary, but I have been doing this long enough to know that somebody, somewhere, was about to ask.
I am not interested in expanding the industry in that particular direction.
step threeFold It Closed
After using your pee cloth, fold it so the absorbent side faces inward. On a Kula Cloth, the snaps allow you to fold the cloth in half and keep the used side tucked inside.
This helps protect the absorbent side from dirt, dust, branches, backpack grime, mysterious trail substances, and whatever else is currently happening inside your hiking universe.
Then attach the cloth to the outside of your backpack, belt, running vest, bathroom bag, or another convenient location.
Yes, people may see it. No, most people will not know what it is.
They will probably assume it is a tiny towel, a decorative backpack accessory, a bandana, or an oddly formal handkerchief. And honestly, even if somebody does recognize it, that person is probably another pee cloth user and will silently congratulate you on your excellent life choices.
But Isn't It Wet?
Usually, not for very long.
A good pee cloth is designed to absorb a small amount of moisture and dry quickly. You are not soaking the cloth. You are simply patting away a few remaining drops of urine.
When the cloth is attached to the outside of your pack, air and sunlight help it dry between uses. This is one reason you should not immediately stuff it into a dark pocket, where it can marinate beside your granola bar for the rest of the afternoon.
let it breathe. Your pee cloth has an outdoor lifestyle. Support its dreams.
Does It Smell?
Under normal use, a properly designed pee cloth should not develop a strong odor quickly, especially when it is allowed to dry between uses and washed regularly.
Urine from a well-hydrated person is largely water, so staying hydrated can also make the entire experience more pleasant. If your urine is extremely concentrated, your body may be gently suggesting that it would appreciate a drink.
That said, a pee cloth is not a magical artifact. If you use it repeatedly for days without rinsing it, shove it into a sealed plastic bag, and leave it inside a hot car, it may eventually begin to express itself.
Please wash your pee cloth.
How Often Should You Wash It?
There is no universal pee cloth washing schedule because people pee different amounts, hike in different conditions, and possess wildly different tolerances for dirt.
On a day hike, many people wash their pee cloth when they get home. On a backpacking trip, you can rinse it regularly and give it a more thorough wash when you return.
If you are on a longer trip, wash it with a tiny amount of biodegradable soap (I like WildBatch All-in-One Cleansing Powder) at least 200 feet away from lakes, rivers, streams, and other water sources. Use water from your bottle or another container rather than washing the cloth directly in the water. Rinse it thoroughly, attach it to the outside of your pack, and allow it to dry.
At home, wash it with your regular laundry according to the manufacturer's instructions. You do not need to create a separate sacred washing ritual unless that brings you joy.
What About Menstrual Blood?
A pee cloth is intended primarily for urine, but a small amount of menstrual spotting is generally not a crisis. If you are actively menstruating, you may prefer to rinse the cloth more frequently or carry a second one so you can rotate between them.
A pee cloth can be especially useful while using a menstrual cup or disc in the backcountry because it gives you a reusable way to pat yourself dry after emptying, cleaning, or reinserting your menstrual product.
As always, the cloth is for external use. Do not insert the pee cloth anywhere.
I did not expect to type that sentence professionally, and yet here we are.
Can You Use a Pee Cloth With a Pee Funnel?
Absolutely. In fact, a pee cloth and a pee funnel like the pStyle are an elite outdoor urination partnership.
After using your funnel, place the absorbent side of the pee cloth against your body and gently pat or hold it in place until the remaining moisture has been absorbed.
You can also use a clean section of the cloth to pat away any remaining drips from the funnel before storing it, although some people prefer to carry a separate tiny cloth for that purpose.
The main objective is to avoid putting a dripping pee funnel directly into your backpack beside your lunch.
your sandwich did nothing to deserve that.
Where Should You Keep It?
Keep your pee cloth somewhere easy to reach.
This sounds obvious, but I have watched people carefully attach their pee cloth beneath twelve layers of backpack straps, trekking poles, water bottles, and camp shoes. Then, when they urgently need to pee, they have to dismantle their entire backpack like they are disarming a bomb.
Attach it somewhere accessible. The shoulder strap, hip belt, or outside of the pack usually works well. Some people keep one in their car, one in their daypack, one in their backpacking pack, and one in their travel bag. This may sound excessive until the first time you accidentally leave yours at home and spend an entire hike feeling personally betrayed by toilet paper.
What Do You Do With It in a Public Bathroom?
Use your best judgment.
A pee cloth can be useful anywhere toilet paper is unavailable, including trailhead bathrooms, campgrounds, music festivals, roadside restrooms, portable toilets, and airports that have briefly descended into chaos.
You can use it discreetly and return it to a small pouch (the antimicrobial Kula Pocket is made for exactly this) or attach it to the outside of your bag afterward. You do not have to dramatically unfurl it in the bathroom like a flag while announcing, "BEHOLD MY REUSABLE URINATION TEXTILE."
Unless that feels authentic to you.
Is a Pee Cloth Sanitary?
When used and cared for properly, a pee cloth is a practical reusable hygiene tool. The basic habits are simple: use it only for urine, pat rather than wipe, fold the used side inward, let it dry, wash it regularly, and clean your hands after going to the bathroom.
The cloth does not replace handwashing. Your hands are often the part of the bathroom process most likely to spread germs, whether you are using toilet paper or a reusable cloth.
Carry hand sanitizer or a small handwashing setup. On backpacking trips, I personally like having a small bottle of soap and a lightweight water container so I can wash my hands properly.
Your wilderness experience does not need to include accepting fecal contamination as part of the adventure.
What If You Drop It?
You will survive.
Pick it up and assess the situation. If it landed on a dry rock, brush it off and continue with your life. If it landed in mud, animal poop, a pit toilet, or something else deeply unfortunate, wash it thoroughly before using it again.
You may also choose to retire it from active duty. Not every pee cloth gets a heroic ending.
What If You Leave It on Your Pack at the Grocery Store?
Congratulations. You are now an ambassador.
This happens all the time. You finish your hike, toss your pack into the car, stop for snacks, and walk through the grocery store with your pee cloth still attached.
Most people will not notice. The people who do notice will probably not know what it is. And the tiny percentage who recognize it may experience the profound joy of seeing another person casually participating in the reusable pee cloth revolution.
You do not need to feel embarrassed. You are simply a person carrying a small square of fabric that has encountered urine. Almost every pair of underwear in that grocery store has lived a more complicated life.
Why Use a Pee Cloth at All?
Because toilet paper is annoying.
It gets wet. It falls apart. It blows away. It sticks to your body. It has to be packed out in many environments, which means you may end up carrying used toilet paper around inside a plastic bag.
A pee cloth is simple, reusable, comfortable, and less wasteful. It gives you a reliable way to dry off without leaving toilet paper behind or stuffing used paper into your pockets.
And yes, you absolutely need to pack out toilet paper. Toilet paper does not instantly disappear because you tucked it beneath a pinecone. Animals can dig it up. Wind can uncover it. The backcountry is not improved by tiny white blossoms of used toilet paper scattered beside the trail.
A pee cloth helps eliminate that problem.
The Most Important Pee Cloth Advice
Do not overthink it. That is the entire system:
You do not need to be a hardcore backpacker. You do not need to hike fifty miles. You do not need to identify as an outdoorsy person. You can use a pee cloth while camping, traveling, gardening, working outside, attending a festival, living in a van, navigating a bathroom emergency, or simply trying to reduce the amount of toilet paper you use.
The first time may feel unusual because it is new. The second time will feel easier. By the fifth time, you will probably wonder why anybody ever convinced you that carrying around a wad of fragile paper was the superior technology.
I have spent years talking with people about pee cloths, and this is the thing I wish every new user understood: your body is not gross. Peeing is not shameful. Taking care of yourself outside does not need to be stressful or embarrassing.
Look at you — unzipping a tent on the internet. That exact curiosity is what makes a good backcountry human. You don't need permission, a special body, or perfect technique to belong outside. You just need to show up (and maybe pack a Kula Cloth). Now go be the wonderfully ordinary animal you are. 💛
zip it back up ↩You are an animal who lives on Earth. Sometimes you have to pee outdoors. You might as well be prepared.
You might as well be prepared.
Love,
Anastasia
Founder, Kula Cloth®
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