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Living on a deserted island for 39 days, it is natural for the clothes of Survivor castaways to get ripped, stained, weathered, sandy, muddy, and (you guessed it) smelly during their time on the hit competition show.
Because of this, viewers have dozens of questions when it comes to what the contestants wear on the beloved competition series — Do they get to pick their outfits? Do they get to bring multiple outfits? Do they get replacement outfits?
Most importantly, competing in Immunity and Reward Challenges that often require them to trudge through mud, sludge, or sand, do Survivor castaways ever get to clean their clothes, and if so, how do they do it?
Keep scrolling for the truth, as told by Malcom Freberg of Survivor: Philippines, Survivor: Caramoan, and Survivor: Game Changers, Tyson Apostol of Survivor: Tocantins, Survivor: Heroes vs Villains, Survivor: Blood vs Water, and Survivor Winners at War, and Lauren-Ashley Beck of Survivor: Island of the Idols in an exclusive interview with Business Insider.
While there is no laundry detergent or washing machines on the beach (obviously), based on the responses from these three contestants, there appears to be a few different techniques by which the Survivor castaways attempt to clean their clothes: Using boiled water, using the sun, and using hand sanitizer.
Malcom Freberg admitted that some competitors tried to clean their clothes by boiling them during his time on the hit competition show, detailing one of the three techniques that were covered in said interview.
“All you do is boil it. Just toss it in the pot you cook with, which is just disgusting now that I’m thinking about it,” Freberg shared about his personal experience with attempting to clean his clothes on Survivor.
While he was rather proud of his method, Tyson Apostol admitted that Survivor castaways boiling their clothes is nothing but “a waste of time.”
“It’s one of those survival techniques where they’re like, ‘You should boil your clothes and keep them clean.’ You’re like, ‘Okay, but I got to boil my water, I got to boil my clothes, I got to cook my food, and there’s only one pot.’ You don’t have time to do it all,” Apostol admitted.
Instead, the four-time Survivor castaway dished that he would scrub his clothes, and then he would leave them in the sun to dry, all in an attempt to kill off “pretty much everything.”
Last but certainly not least, Lauren-Ashley Beck used hand sanitizer to wash her clothes (which was given to the contestants in a medical box), creating arguably the most foolproof way to get rid of those tough germs.
“I would take my dress, put a ton of hand sanitizer in it, take it to the ocean, rub it, and then I’d take my water from my water bottle and rinse it off and hang-dry it,” Beck gushed.
To see these castaways and sooo many more try their luck at one million dollars and the title of “Sole Survivor,” Survivor superfans can stream all 45 seasons of the beloved competition series on Paramount Plus now.