Hygiene and Toiletries Checklist for Deployment

Shampoo

Bring enough for the whole deployment or accept whatever the ship's store carries by month three. Travel bottles refilled from a big one save locker space.

Conditioner

Ship water, salt air and short showers are hard on hair. Conditioner is the item people skip and then regret.

Body Wash

Bar soap in a shared shower is a losing proposition. A body wash with tea tree or antifungal properties helps with the skin problems that come from communal heads.

Deodorant

Berthing air, engine rooms and flight decks. Bring more sticks than you think you need; your shipmates will thank you.

Face Wash

Grease, sweat and recycled air will do a number on your skin. A gentle cleanser at night keeps deployment breakouts under control.

Foot Cream

Fourteen hours a day in boots leaves feet cracked and sore. A heavy foot cream at night is cheap maintenance on the one body part you cannot work without.

Cologne or Perfume

For port calls and for feeling like a person again after a long stretch underway. A small bottle is plenty.

Hydrating Face Lotion

Ship air is dry and the sun topside is relentless. A daily lotion with SPF covers both.

Toothbrush Container

Your toothbrush travels to and from a shared head every day. A ventilated case keeps it off surfaces you do not want to think about.

Toothpaste

Buy a multipack before you leave. It is the item everyone runs out of at the same time, and the ship's store knows it.

Mouthwash

Coffee, watch schedules and not always making it to the head before quarters. A travel bottle in your rack covers the mornings that get away from you.

Shaving Cream

Grooming standards do not relax underway. A concentrated cream lasts longer than foam and takes up a fraction of the space.

Dental Floss

The dentist is on the pier, not on the ship. Floss is the cheapest way to avoid a problem that cannot be fixed until the next port.

Whitening Strips

Seven months of galley coffee and energy drinks show. Strips are an easy fix before homecoming photos.

Boot and Foot Powder

Sweaty boots on a hot ship are how athlete's foot starts. Powder in the boots every morning keeps them dry and keeps you out of medical.

Hair Gel and Oil

Whatever your routine is at home, the ship will not have the products for it. Bring your own so you can keep it up.

Razor

Make sure to buy extra blades!

Blades dull fast in ship water and the store's selection is grim. A full deployment of cartridges takes up almost no space.

Toothbrush

Make sure to have more than one in case you drop one on that scary bathroom floor.

A multipack means you replace it every couple of months like you are supposed to, and you have a spare the day one hits the deck of the head.

Loofah

Body wash needs something to go on. Buy a pack, because a loofah in a humid head needs replacing more often than you would at home.

Nail Clippers

Grooming inspections do not stop at sea. A decent set that clips clean beats borrowing the shop's pair.

Tweezers

Splinters, wire strands and stray hairs. A precision pair earns its spot in the kit.

Nail File and Buffer

Nails break on hatches and dogging wrenches. A file keeps a broken nail from turning into a torn one.

Reusable Cotton Swab

One swab that washes clean replaces a box you would run out of. Less to pack and less to throw away in a space where trash is a real problem.

Cotton Balls

Cheap, light and useful for everything from skincare to cleaning a small cut. Keep a bag in the toiletry kit.

Comb

A comb fits in a coverall pocket for a quick fix before quarters or an inspection. Get one that detangles without pulling.

Feminine Hygiene Products

The ship's store stocks a limited selection and runs out. Bring a full deployment's supply of what you actually use, in the most compact form you can find.

Hair Ties, Clips and Pins

Regulation hair takes a lot of elastics and pins, and they vanish underway. A big pack costs nothing and saves the morning scramble.

Dryer Sheets

Ship laundry comes back stiff and smelling like the ship. A dryer sheet in the load, or tucked in your locker, makes your clothes smell like home.

Hair Cap

A satin bonnet protects your hair overnight on a rough pillowcase and keeps it managed between wash days when the showers are short.

Shower Shoes

The ship “head” is a public bathroom. To avoid a foot infection you need a barrier between your foot and floor.

This is not optional. Every corpsman on the ship will tell you the same thing, and a pair of slides is the cheapest medical prevention on this list.

Toiletry Bag

Having a carrying case for your toiletries makes life much easier transiting to and from the bathroom. Make sure you can hang it!

There is no counter space in a ship's head. A bag with a hook hangs off the stall or a pipe and keeps your stuff off the deck.

Two Towels

Two towels is preferred because you can use one for the shower and the other for port calls when you hit the beach or pool. Also if it is laundry day or you drop your towel on the “head” (bathroom) floor having a spare is a life saver.

Quick-dry towels are worth the money on a ship, because a cotton towel that never dries turns into a mildew problem in your locker.

Body Wipes

THROW AWAY! DO NOT FLUSH! Sometimes you will be working outside all day and you don’t have time to shower so body wipes will help you stay fresh.

Water hours, secured showers and eighteen-hour days happen. Wipes are the shower you take when there is no shower to take.

Laundry Pods

Pods vs liquid is more compact, portable and easy to carry when transiting to laundry.

A jug of liquid detergent is a spill waiting to happen in a moving locker. Pods in a zip bag take up a fraction of the space and carry to the laundry in one hand.

Laundry Backpack

This will make carrying laundry to and from your rack much easier!

Laundry is several ladders and passageways away, and you need both hands on a ship. A drawstring laundry backpack solves that and doubles as storage.

Tide To Go Stick

Spilled something on your favorite shirt? Use one of these bad boys.

Laundry day is a week away and your uniform has to pass inspection tomorrow. The stain pen buys you the time.

“Battle Roll” (Toilet Paper)

If berthing cleaners forgets to restock the toilet paper or the only available stall doesn’t have any......you can thank me later. Remember to only use single ply so the VCHT (ships plumbing) does not go down.

Every experienced sailor keeps a personal roll in their rack. The single-ply rule is not a joke; a clogged vacuum system takes down heads for the whole compartment.

Air Freshener or Odor Absorber

These are great to put in your rack so things don’t start to smell.

Boots, laundry and a closed curtain add up fast. An odor absorber in the locker and a small freshener in the rack keep your six feet of space livable.