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Under Things Nobody Ever Thinks About:

My prepper philosophy is to think, what did people do before modern conveniences? I do that, with a few modern tweaks whenever possible.

Things like toilet paper, paper towels, disposable diapers are modern inventions. In a long term emergency, they WILL run out. Normalcy bias makes us assume we’ll always have these things. When we don’t, hygiene suffers. An inability to safely wipe our butts can be life threatening.

Washable, re-useable cloth backups are imperative, for yourself and for barter. Plus a way to wash and sterilize these cloths.

Wallyworld and Dollar stores sell bundles of terry cloth washcloths, about $4 for a pack of 20. Twenty dollars buys 100, which should last 1 person 2 or 3 weeks, being used in place of toilet paper, although washing should happen every day. I’ve got a few hundred stashed.
When washing, keep separate from those used as regular bath washcloths.
I’ll use the colored ones for bathing and save the plain white ones for t.p. substitutes. Understand, these are backups, not to be used UNLESS the supply of t.p. runs out.

A covered diaper pail placed in the outhouse, to hold the used cloths. The cloths can be washed right in the pail, using clean water and strong bleach, and air dried. More than one diaper pail is a good idea.

I have a old timey galvanized washtub for bathing self and washing clothes.

A clothesline and pins are necessary. If no outdoor clothesline is possible, a foldable wood rack costs about $12—$20. These items are absolutely necessary, lest you drape your clothes on shrubbery to dry. When the grid goes down, your electric dryer will not work.

I’ve purchased a few bundles of cloth diapers, pins, and rubber pants, in case of need, or for barter. Babies don’t wait until a disaster is over to be born. In Katrina, people were looting, killing and getting killed while searching for diapers. In the shelter in Baton Rouge I saw a mother coming in, holding a baby without any diaper, just poopy all over. Normalcy bias: people accustomed to disposable diapers hadn’t even thought of improvising by tying a t-shirt and plastic bag on the child’s bottom.

Bleach is needed to purify drinking water, but also to sterilize cloths and surfaces. Now is a good time to get in practice of making your own bleach by the gallon, using calcium hypochlorite.
Put 25%bleach/75% water in a spray bottle and get in the habit of using it everywhere, especially cooking surfaces. This is a money-saver anyway. Who needs $5 cleaning products that don’t even kill germs?

I’m also weaning myself from paper towels. I keep a few rolls, for now, but don’t even try to stockpile them. Too expensive. Instead, I’m buying bundles of cloth dishcloths, wrapping them in plastic bags, and storing them.

Stackable refillable 1-gallon Ozarka water bottles.
5-gallon Primo water bottles.
Both size bottles are easily transportable to a water source, even if on foot, and once filled, won’t be too heavy to transport back with wagon or wheelbarrow.
Several dolphin water pumps that fit the 5-gallon bottles.
Calcium hypochlorite.
The 5-gallon waters with pumps can be placed where needed, near cooking, washing, bathing areas in the house or camp.

A couple of Coleman solar camp showers. The galvanized tub goes underneath, outside. In winter, the tub comes inside and the water is heated in a kettle in the fireplace.
An Ov-glove (as seen on TV!) is good to grab the hot kettle.

Also, I’ve got at least a dozen hand-crank can openers.

Don’t forget to buy a good whetstone, to keep your knives and tools sharp.
Extra WD-40, gas stabilizer, and tire slime.
There is a 14-gallon gas container ON WHEELS with a hose and pump. Not cheap, but great to have.

I won’t pay $85 for a 30 day prepper bucket. Not enough food to last me 30 days; it’ll be et up in a week. I’ll get a lot more meals /calories for $85 if I fill my own bucket, but it still wouldn’t last 30 days. Think about it. When you buy groceries, does $85 buy 90 meals with coffee? And a bucket with lid?

The 5 gallon paint buckets from hardware stores are food grade plastic, if they are marked HDPE with 2 in a triangle. They only cost $3 or $4. The regular lids only cost a couple dollars more. The special airtight lids are about $10 each and can be ordered online. They fit on the $4 food-grade paint buckets from the hardware store.

"How to Wipe When There is No Toilet Tissue"

http://grandpappy.org/hmwipe.htm

During a long-term hard times event, what will you do if you completely run out of toilet tissue?
If your family should find yourself in this situation then the following information may be of use to you.
Prior to a hard times event it would be advisable for a family to invest in the following items in addition to toilet tissue:

Latex Gloves
Latex gloves one size larger than each member of you family would normally wear. Write each family member's name (or initial) on his or her own set of special latex gloves at the wrist area using a black permanent marking pen. Or each family member could have his or her own unique color of latex gloves.
Sponges
At least four soft sponges for each member of your family. Each family member should have his or her own special color sponges.
Plastic Spray Bottle
A plastic spray bottle, such as an empty window cleaner spray bottle that has been thoroughly washed and cleaned. Fill the spray bottle with clean water.
Bucket Or Plastic Tote Container
One small plastic tote container or bucket that is at least 6-inches wide and at least 3-inches deep. Put several ounces of soapy water in this container.
When your toilet tissue is all gone and no more tissue is available:

Put on your color of latex gloves or the gloves that have your name (or initial) written on the wrist area.

Spray some clean water from the plastic spray bottle onto one of your special sponges and use the slightly damp sponge to clean your rear end. If necessary, moisten another one of your special sponges and use it to finish cleaning your rear end.

Immediately dip your dirty sponges into the special bucket that contains a few ounces of soapy water. Clean the sponges while you are still wearing your latex gloves.

When your sponges are clean, rinse the soapy water out of your sponges with some clean water, squeeze the clean water out of the sponges, and then put your sponges on the special sponge drying tray that sits on top of the rear tank of the toilet stool.

Pour the dirty soapy water from the sponge cleaning bucket into the toilet stool.

Rinse out the sponge cleaning bucket with a little clean water and pour that water into the toilet stool. Then flush the toilet stool.

Be considerate. Put some clean soapy water into the sponge cleaning bucket for the next person.

Wash your gloves while you are still wearing them the same way you would normally wash your hands with soap and water. You should have one bar of soap that is only used for this one purpose and that bar of soap should always be returned to its own special soap dish.

Remove your gloves and hang them on the glove drying rack beside the toilet stool. The glove drying rack could be an 18-inch long plastic towel bar that you install on the wall beside your toilet stool. (Do not use a wood towel bar because wood will absorb stuff that plastic will not absorb. Do not use a metal towel bar because the metal will rust.)

At least once per week boil the sponges for a few seconds in clean water to kill bacteria.

If you don't have any sponges then you could use old scraps of cloth instead. Just wash the cloths between uses the same way you would wash a dirty cloth baby diaper.

If you don't have sponges or cloth then you could simply use lots and lots of water and your latex gloves. Wash your latex gloves carefully after each use.