Field Report

Field Report
All-Terrain Wonder Wash All Purpose Soap
January 3, 2006

Tester Name: Colleen Porter
Gender: female
Age: 30
Height: 5'8"/1.73 m
Weight: 140 lb/64 kg
Email address: tarbubble at yahoo dot com
Location: Orange County, CA

Backpacking History: I’ve been backpacking for 10 years, usually with my husband. We used to be heavyweights, but having children forced us to go light, and now on my own my 3-season base weight hovers around 13 lb/6 kg. On family trips the weight usually doubles. I make some of our gear myself. Our 3-season backpacking haunts are the San Gabriel and Santa Ana mountains, the Sierra Nevada, and the Grand Canyon, and winters find us in the Mojave and Colorado deserts.

Manufacturer: All-Terrain
Manufacturer URL: http://www.allterrainco.com/
MSRP: $3.49 US
Listed Weight: N/A
Tested Weight: 5 oz/142 g

Product Description: An all-natural, peppermint-scented liquid soap. I am testing it in a 4 oz/118 ml plastic squeeze bottle with a "press to open" style lid. Ingredients are purified water, sodium coco sulphate, coco betaine, coco amide, peppermint oil, vegetable glycerine, sodium chloride (sea salt), olive oil, citric acid, tea tree oil and food-grade caramel colorant. It is slightly amber-tinted.

Field Conditions: I've taken the Wonder Wash along with me on one backpacking trip and two car-camping trips. However, the backpacking trip was a dry overnighter (packed in all my water), so I elected not to waste drinking water on washing up. The two car-camping trips were in cold, windy, damp weather and so I elected to save the washing for home. Therefore, all of my use of the Wonder Wash has either been at rest stops, public bathroom sinks on the way home, or at home. Temperatures have ranged from about 40 F/5 C to around 85 F/30 C. Weather has ranged from cold & wet, to cold & dry, to warm & dry.

Performance: I like the Wonder Wash. I like the way it smells, I like the way it doesn't lather up into foam, I like the way it leaves my hair feeling when I have chosen to use it as a shampoo. When I have used it to wash my face, my skin doesn't feel like all skin oils have been stripped, it just feels clean. My children like it, too. I've used it to wash both my almost four-year-old and my 6-month-old, and my kids get WAY dirtier than I do on hikes and campouts, although I do get a lot smellier. Wonder Wash conquers even my smelliest body parts - my incredibly acrid armpits and my stinky feet. I just soap them up and let the Wonder Wash stay on for a minute or so, rinse, and I don't stink anymore. Too bad I eventually have to get out of the bath and go get smelly again.

Wonder Wash works for washing dishes. It cuts grease, and leaves no soapy residue or taste after being rinsed off thoroughly. I occasionally used it to do an emergency wash in a bathroom sink when my infant son's diaper would, um, overflow into his clothing. It's no miracle stain remover, but works much better than standard hand soap. And again that sweet peppermint smell was a big bonus when washing something especially stinky.

In the spirit of adventure, I used Wonder Wash as a toothpaste. This resulted in two interesting discoveries - that it really foamed up quite a bit when used this way, and that it didn't taste nearly as bad as I had feared it would. However, after I rinsed out my mouth with water there was an unpleasant aftertaste. Please be advised that All Terrain makes no claim that Wonder Wash could (or should) be used as a toothpaste. But the bottle does say "Great for washing anything, anywhere, anytime." I also tasted the soap by dabbing a tiny bit on the tip of my tongue. The initial taste is salty, quickly followed by an unpleasant but not gag-inducing soapy taste. So if it accidentally gets into my mouth while I'm washing up, I won't spit and sputter and be utterly disgusted. It'll just taste bad.

Good Things

mild and very pleasant, sweet scent
effective at breaking up grease
doesn't cloud up in cold water or cold temperatures
Leaves no detectable residual peppermint smell

Neutral Things

A very mild soap - for really dirty, greasy skin, hair, or dishes much more is needed
Paper label comes off easily if gotten damp or wet
not a good bubble bath - doesn't foam or lather well

Thanks to BGT and All Terrain for the chance to test this product.

Read more reviews of All Terrain gear
Read more gear reviews by Colleen Porter

Reviews > Personal Hygiene > Toiletries > All Terrain Hikers Wonder Wash > Colleen Porter > Field Report

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