In cold weather, well, they did what I do now and heated a much smaller amount of water and used a cloth and soap to wash themselves indoors.
-
Show this thread
-
NB my mom didn't have indoor plumbing until she was 16 and in the summer as a kid would run outside naked with soap. She told me she even did it after they got indoor plumbing because it seemed so much easier than fussing with the shower in the house unless it was cold outside.
4 replies 3 retweets 191 likesShow this thread -
Yes, I come from a long line of southern poor white trash, why do you ask?
3 replies 1 retweet 170 likesShow this thread -
Your average person did laundry the same way, with the added step of laying linen out to dry in the sun, which is a very fine disinfectant. Generally you tried to have as many underthings as you could afford, so that you could wear a clean one.
1 reply 0 retweets 178 likesShow this thread -
Keeping hair clean must have been a bitch in winter - there's more than one reason I just said "fuck it" and more or less shaved my head.
9 replies 0 retweets 152 likesShow this thread -
But I cordially invite anyone getting judgey about how early and pre modern people kept themselves clean to try hauling 40ish gallons of water and then cutting and splitting enough firewood to heat that water to a point you want to bathe in it.
3 replies 7 retweets 243 likesShow this thread -
Water weighs roughly 8lbs per gallon, by the way. So you'll be moving at least 320lbs of water in total to take your bath.
3 replies 2 retweets 168 likesShow this thread -
And when you're done you'll have to haul it out and dump it. Have fun.
7 replies 1 retweet 159 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @NeolithicSheep
The medieval people not bathing thing drives me bananas.
1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes -
Replying to @AdmiralHip
Seriously. The places that had public baths or sauna etc etc had cultures where communal nudity was OK. That... Was not really medieval Britain. Medieval Britain wasn't really down with communal nudity. That doesn't mean people didn't clean themselves!
2 replies 0 retweets 9 likes
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.