This guide explains how to stay clean and prevent illness when soap, water, and toilets are limited after a disaster. It includes practical ways to wash your hands, clean your body safely, and manage periods with limited supplies — even without running water.
Good hygiene protects you and others from serious infections like diarrhoea, skin diseases, and respiratory illness — even in the hardest conditions.
When & Why To Wash Your Hands
Washing your hands properly is one of the easiest and most effective ways to prevent the spread of illness — especially after a disaster.
Germs that cause diarrhoea, respiratory infections, and skin problems can spread quickly in crowded places and through contaminated water, food, or surfaces.
Wash your hands:
- After using the toilet or cleaning up human or animal waste
- Before eating or handling food
- Before preparing food or feeding someone
- After touching garbage, waste, or dirty surfaces
- After cleaning or helping someone who is ill
- After changing a baby’s nappy or helping a child go to the toilet
- After touching blood, vomit, or menstrual materials
Washing your hands helps protect you, your family, and your community from disease.
Soap & Water Alternatives
If you don’t have access to running water and soap, these are alternatives.
Water Alternatives:
- Water from cooked rice
- River or sea water (if not polluted)
- Used water from laundry, dishes, or boiled vegetables
Soap Alternatives:
- Ash or sand
- Salt
- Coffee grounds
- Natural materials like leaves, bark, or coconut husk
Handwashing Without Running Water
Handwashing Steps:
- Wet hands with available water
- Rub with soap or an alternative (ash, sand, etc.)
- Scrub all parts of hands for 20 seconds
- Rinse with cleanest water you have
- Dry with a clean cloth or let air dry
Cleaning Your Body
Even if water is not safe to drink, it may still be safe for washing — but only in certain cases. Follow these tips to avoid getting sick:
Safe Ways to Wash:
- Use rainwater, clean-looking water, or water that has been boiled earlier and cooled
- Do not swallow the water, and avoid getting it in your eyes, mouth, or wounds
- If available, use soap, ash, sand, or salt water to scrub gently
- If you can’t bathe fully, wipe your body with a wet cloth, piece of clean clothing, or small amount of water in a cup or bottle. Focus on these key areas:
- Face, hands, armpits, groin, feet, and under breasts
Do Not Bathe In:
- Flood water, or water that may be mixed with sewage, trash, or chemicals
- Rivers, lakes, or ponds near villages, markets, toilets, or animal areas — they may be contaminated
- Water that smells bad, has a strange colour, or feels oily or dirty
Menstrual (Period) Hygiene
Even without modern bathrooms, you can manage your period safely and stay clean:
- Wash your genitals with clean water at least twice a day (morning and evening).
- Use soap if available, but do not wash inside the vagina — only the outside.
- Always wipe front to back after using the toilet.
- Wash your hands before and after changing any pad or cloth.
- Dry reusable cloths fully in the sun, or hang near warm air or embers if sun isn’t available.
- Keep clean pads or cloths wrapped in tissue or a bag.
- Never reuse dirty or damp cloths, and never share menstrual cloths with others.
If you don’t have regular supplies, use safe alternatives like toilet paper, clean cotton, or cloth, but change them often and dispose of them properly.
For more detailed advice on managing your period in an emergency — including safe materials, how to clean and dispose of them, visit the Menstruation (Period) During Emergencies Guide.