I *know* this prep isn’t something you’ve seen in some glossy magazine — because it’s dead cheap. People call it the Tippy Tap.
It’s also very useful for how it handles the intersection of two problems: 1) Getting clean water can take a lot of work if it’s not flowing out of a tap, making it valuable, and 2) Hygiene is perhaps the most underrated aspect of long-term well being, well, ever.
While it’s not the most “elegant” answer, the Tippy Tap will keep you clean.
Did you know the biggest single reason child mortality dropped and lifespans increased when we moved into the modern era was not because of antibiotics or vaccines (which score second and third), but because hygiene improved? This is not a road we want to travel the other direction. The Tippy Tap is a surprisingly effective, simple, and low-cost aid to good hygiene.
What you’ll need to build a Tippy Tap:
A gallon jug such as a milk jug. A hot nail (or an electric drill) to make a hole in said jug. Some rope (I use paracord). A stick or piece of board roughly 16 inches long. Two supports that will hold a rod horizontally between them, about 3.5 ft off the ground (I use a couple of cheap poles meant to hold hummingbird feeders).
The rod, which needs to be about a foot long and thin enough to pass through the handle of the gallon jug (I had an old bit of pipe lying about waiting to be repurposed). A bar of soap and a leg of someone’s cast off tights or a sheer scarf. Water for the jug.
The Tippy Tap in the pictures is the one we use at The Place.
What you do:
Place the supports so they’ll hold up the rod between them. Use the nail or drill to put a hole in the jug on the opposite side of the handle where the straight side starts to angle in to the neck. Tie paracord to the neck of the jug and to one end of the stick or piece of board. The cord needs to be long enough that tied end of the stick is held several inches off the ground. Put the rod through the handle and use it to hang the filled jug between the supports. Put the soap in the scarf or hose and tie it to one support so it’s handy.
How to use it:
Step on the stick to tilt the jug, dispensing a thin stream of water. Rub the soap through the sheer cloth; you’ll get soap and scrubber in one go. Leave the lid on the jug loose so there’s no vacuum keeping the water from streaming out.
Why it’s a better solution:
You use far less water than washing in a basin; and since the water is streaming over your hands you actually rinse the dirt off instead of rinsing it into where your hands are submerged. The scarf ‘dispenser’ minimizes soap waste. You can put a collection basin underneath and use what it collects as ‘gray water’. You don’t touch things with your dirty hands, other than the soap.
What it’s not good at:
Anything but hand washing or rinsing something that can be done with a small stream. Winter use, unless you keep the jug somewhere heated until use.
After two years experience with the Tippy Tap
We’ve had a Tippy Tap in service for over two years at The Place. How’s it working?
The concept is still working beautifully, but we have had to replace the jug. We’ve tried multiple types of jugs, including the typical gallon milk jug, a hard water jug, a tea jug… but we’ve found that the simple milk jug works best and lasts the longest.
The soap dispensers last about a year as well. Be sure to use bio-safe soap in them, since you are dumping the gray water directly onto the ground.
Pro Tip:
If you place the Tippy Tap near your food prep and eating areas, people are more likely to wash their hands before they cook and eat.