Never done an outdoor mud scene but OH is getting curious about having a go. Got a few tidal rivers locally which I'm expecting will have some good spots on the river banks but going to go for a few walks in spring to check out possible places for playing in summer.

Getting muddy is the easy bit, so naturally my thoughts have turned to clean up as no doubt it will be my car interior at risk if we get it wrong. So does anyone have any tips or tricks for clean up, or any other kit we should think about taking with us? Current thought is a bucket for collecting up some river water for final bit of wash off, some towels we don't mind getting a bit dirty some warm clothes for afterwards and a roll of bin bags.

I fully expect this has been discussed before, but can't find the right combination of words to search that don't hit zero posts or nearly all of them.

Use the cover of darkness unless it's very secluded. If the river is tidal then you should always have some flow at low tide to wash the most off and then you'll just need some water or towels to clean your lower legs as you get out. If you can find a a smaller stream that flows into the river this is usualy a good place to get in or out as the ground is a tad firmer. Stroll on summer!! Worst case take some old clothes to put on and wash off at home.

Most of the tidal areas I know with good mud, while it's possible to rough wash off the worst in the water, you'll get well covered again clambering back up to dry land afterwards.

We have a well developed system for our shoots but it relies on us having a van, not a car, and access to hot water hoses and several huge water cooler bottles, so won't assume you have the same.

You've not specified if you're going in clothed or not, clothed makes it easier as most of the mud will come off with the clothes. Here's how I'd do it, for personal play:

1. Go to B&Q and get several buckets. If they'll fit in your car, get some of the bigger "builders tubs" plus a bucket. Also get two pairs of their basic wellies.

2. Pop to Tesco and get a couple of their big 5 litre bottles of drinking water, and some dark coloured towels.

3. Pop to a workwear shop (or on-line) and buy a couple of waterproof two-piece rainsuits. Get them slightly large.

4. Take a roll of bin bags.

When you come out of the mud, strip off any clothes.
Use the bottled water and bucket to wash your hands and forearms thoroughly. The biggest risk to your car interior will be if you have muddy hands, so you need to be able to wash those completely.
Wash as much of the rest of yourselves as you feel up to, given cold water and cold winds.
Rub down with towels.
Dress in the waterproofs and wellies. Tuck the jacket inside the trousers and the trousers into the wellies. The idea is to keep the mud and muddy water inside, and ensure any flow is kept inside the waterproofs and inside the boots. Put the hoods up to keep your muddy hair inside and away from your car headrests.
Put the mucky clothes (if any) in one of the buckets / tubs, lower that into one of the bin bags, carefully, and place it in the car such that it can't fall over. When we carry our big water bottles, we always put them on the left hand side of the van against the wall, so they are less likely to fall over when going round roundabouts.
Pick up anything else left and put in another bin bag, then put that in a bucket. Bin bags otten leak, buckets are more fluid-secure.
Wash your hands again as they'll have got a bit mucky. This is why you want several big bottles of clean water.
You should now be OK to get in the car and drive home. On arrival, go straight into the shower with the waterproofs still on, start the shower in them, strip off and wash yourselves and the outfits at the same time, so they're ready for another go.

Mud actually washes out of clothes really easily, but to protect your washing machine I'd suggest bringing the bucket of mucky stuff in, and rinsing it thoroughly in the bath/shower first, then put it through the machine. I usually do two washes with gunged or muddy outfits, the first one I turn the spin off, so it just washes and leaves them wet, then I throw in a second lot of detergent and do a full second wash with spin. Also use double the detergent of a normal wash, we use Ariel Liquitabs, 1 for a normal wash, 2 for a WAM wash.

Having said all that, personally unless your OH is really into being freezing cold and shivering, I'd hold off till the air temperature in the weather forecasts goes over 21 degrees. You can get **very** cold doing mud, and while most of us who are into it will be cool with that for the sake of getting turned on (I did solo mud in the middle of winter in my youth), your OH will enjoy much more if their over-riding memory isn't "arrghh, bastard freezing cold, never again"

Good luck!

Thanks, there is a load of useful stuff there which we'll make use of.

Hoping to get the results on film so darkness probably isn't an option. Secluded is probably possible, there are some fairly rural areas nearby and the rivers tend to have flood banks around here. We'll tackle a boat going past if it becomes a problem.

I had wondered about renting a van (changing room) but I suspect most will have been paneled out so might not be an option.

From what we've discussed so far think first time out will be a swimsuit so I suspect there will still be a lot of muddy skin.

From that list we've already got a fair bit of the kit. Got a stack of quid builders buckets and a flexi-tub. We've got water carriers in various sizes so might be able to do the water that way. Already got a set of dark towels from last time switched our "best" ones out. We've had requests to try rainwear out in the gunge tank so that might serve two purposes.

Makes sense to put a waterproof layer on to contain. Had thought about a boiler suit but suspected it wouldn't handle wet so well. So thank for the rain suit tip.

Temperature is actually something we have to be really careful with for reasons I'll not go in to. Picked up from somewhere that over 20 degrees was the magic number, so will be waiting for probably early summer at least before we try this, but thinking about it now to have our ducks in a row when an opportunity arises. Hoping this might not be a one time thing so want to not mess it up and leave a sour taste if avoidable.

Got a big bag of clay powder waiting for the air temperature in our house to be a bit higher too so we can try out an indoor mud pit for a weekend, but no idea how close that is to outdoor mud.

Get yourself buckets or dips, dry clean cloths, a rubber swim cap, towls, a rag/cloth and a swiper like this:

https://shurhold.com/products/flexible-water-blade

It is always fascinating how much dirt you can rinse with a relatively small amount if water.

So I guess you are mudding at night and or the place where you park your car is a hidden one.
If you escape from the mud strip down to naked, then use the swipe to get rid of as much mud as possible, then fill the water to the bucket and use the rag to further clean yourself.
finally cover your hair with a rubber swm cap (here is explained how to put it on)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5Q49lNeWsQ

And yourself in new clean cloth or if you are to dirty in a chemical protection overal:
https://www.hygi.de/tychem-chemikalienschutzanzug-2000c-overall-kapuze-gelb-1-stueck-groesse-m-psa-kategorie-3-pd-124619?mcid=5&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpPOKnen4_AIVTAKLCh3E5gzlEAQYBiABEgL5UfD_BwE

And last but not least.
Mud is drying of on the skin quite quick is it is not too thick.
So at one point you can just rub the dirt off your skin, O.K. you have to be partitioned for that.

Finaly you can prepare your car with a protection kit like this one:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000538038421.html

Have fun!

Would be good to see the set up pics, if you are wearing the suits for actual protection as well as for a photo shoot?

I did just this a few months ago - went to tidal mud and enjoyed it. The challenge is washing up, as if the tide is down, there's little water. I agree with the squeegee to scrape off what you can. I prefer to use a large bucket about half full of water and a towel in the bucket. With the wet towel, you can scrub down skin quite effectively, then put the towel back in the water, swish, and repeat. Don't "pour" water as you might with a hose, as that wastes a lot of water. The water is there to get the towel cleaned enough for another scrub. I also then go the boilersuit route instead of the waterproof, as I prefer the chance to dry out a bit as I drive rather than keeping it wet. I put cotton balls in my ears for much easier ear unclogging.

I would also recommend a practice run if you have a place where you can get muddy where there is a hose. See how the cleanup works, then you'll learn what else you might need. Over the years, I've gotten it down to a boilersuit, a few bottles of water, 2 large buckets, 2 towels, - one half-full of water with a towel in it, and the other for the muddy clothes and shoes, then the bottles for last face, hands, mouth cleaning. A few large trashbags help in case something goes wrong.

I've never been lucky enough to enjoy tidal mud but with river/parkland mud I find a dip in the pond gets me clean enough along with a change of clothes and blanket for the car seat.

Personally I used a portable shower and car seat covers for my last outdoor mud clean up and the shower really worked amazingly well. The car seat covers a bit less as they were cheap quality but they showed potential. But yeah definitely would try to go to a secluded spot or later at night might be hard to film at night but is better than being fully spotted

Awesome. Thanks for all of your replies. Lots to consider there. I'm sure there'll be an update as to what we get up to. And will keep in mind the request for some set-up photos. Like anything, I'm sure we'll start with these suggestions then slightly refine it until we find what works for us (assuming this becomes a semi-regular thing).

I made a video last summer showing what I do for cleanup in forest mud where there's limited water accessible, it's on my profile. I've done similar in tidal mud too. Scooping standing water with a jug makes a big difference compared to putting yourself in the water, as you can use a couple of inches of water over mud to rinse with without stirring it up.