Meals in the Middle Ages began and ended with handwashing in both the households of nobility and in monastic refectories. Diners would wash their hands away from the table; the prince washed his fingers at the table.
Medieval folks loved a bath, though it was a little more work than it is today with the marvels of modern plumbing. Laborers, who made up most of the population, probably used ewers and shallow washbasins. Castle dwellers might have access to a wooden tub, with water heated by a fire.
In the Middle Ages, cleanliness was not considered to be as important as it is today and people often lived in unsanitary conditions. Despite this, there were some cleaning and hygiene practices that were followed to prevent the spread of disease and keep communities healthy.
There are historical accounts of soapmakers in medieval Italy working as part of guilds. One example comes from 8th century Northern Italy, in which King Ildebrand of the Lombards promised to provide 30 pounds of soap each year to the bishop of Piacenza that would be used to bathe the poor.
Medieval towns were unhealthy places. Public health was not high on the agenda of most town councils. Towns did not have sewage systems or supplies of fresh water, and probably smelled quite awful as garbage and human waste were thrown into the streets.
Contrary to the popular belief that people in the Middle Ages were disgustingly smelly and dirty, medieval people frequently washed their hands, usually on rising and before and after meals. This was not just a case of good manners; they were well aware of the link between dirt and illness.
Diners would wash their hands away from the table; the prince washed his fingers at the table. Manuscripts from the 1400s depict guests washing and drying their hands just prior to sitting down at banquet tables.
How did medieval people brush their teeth? They would rub their teeth and gums with a rough linen. Recipes have been discovered for pastes and powders they might have applied to the cloth to clean and whiten teeth, as well as to freshen breath. Some pastes were made from ground sage mixed with salt crystals.
The oldest accountable daily ritual of bathing can be traced to the ancient Indians. They used elaborate practices for personal hygiene with three daily baths and washing. These are recorded in the works called grihya sutras which date back to 500 BCE and are in practice today in some communities.
Medieval castles in Europe were fitted with private toilets known as 'garderobes' (example pictured above), typically featuring stone seats above tall holes draining into moats. Communal latrines with many seats were installed in medieval British abbeys.
Wiping in the Medieval Times
Before toilet paper was even a concept, people just used whatever was available to wipe. This included items such as hay, wood shavings, corn cobs, and even iron cables.
Based on the writings of Herodotus, Ancient Egyptians used many healthy hygiene habits, such as washing, and laundry. They also knew to use mint to make their breath fresh. According to Ancient History Online Encyclopedia, Ancient Egyptians always tried to make their bodies clean.
Answer and Explanation: People bathed about once a week in the Middle Ages. Private bathing rooms were a luxurious rarity, but most towns had at least one public bathhouse. If someone needed to bathe but did not have bathhouse access, they utilized the river for self cleaning.
And though sticks have been popular for cleaning the anus throughout history, ancient people wiped with many other materials, such as water, leaves, grass, stones, animal furs and seashells. In the Middle Ages, Morrison added, people also used moss, sedge, hay, straw and pieces of tapestry.
In the medieval period luxury castles were built with indoor toilets known as 'garderobes', and the waste dropped into a pit below.
Although medieval people didn't bathe in the morning, they used an ewer and basin to wash their hands and face when they woke up. The same equipment was used for handwashing throughout the day.
Showering daily is not necessarily "unhealthy," but you may not need to. For many people, a full-body shower every other day or even every third day is enough. That said, just because you don't shower daily does not mean you want to skip out on personal care.
Fast forward to 1767, when the first patent for a shower was granted to William Feetham, a stove maker from Ludgate Hill in London. These early modern-day showers were powered by a hand pump and used less water than baths.
Here is a look a few bathing habits by country, including baths versus showers and considerations like frequency. From the most showered country in the world (Brazil) to the most commonly bathed country (the UK), we all have our preferences.
Contrary to the depiction of medieval peasants with blackened and rotting teeth, the average person in the Middle Ages had teeth that were in very good condition. This is substantially due to one factor—the rarity of sugar in the diet.
Medieval (12th-14th century) medical literature suggests that care of the teeth was largely limited to non-invasive treatment. Cures, mainly for toothache and "tooth worm" were based on herbal remedies, charms and amulets. Bloodletting was advised for certain types of toothache.
Many Vikings used picks to clean the gaps between their teeth, and some historian believes they may have also used fibrous hazel twigs and similar tools as a kind of brush. The Viking skeletons discovered over the decades have usually had relatively strong teeth too.
The predominant reasoning lies within religious texts—Jesus was crucified at 3PM, and the inverse of that would be 3AM, making it an hour of demonic activity, according to folklore.
Washing Clothes and Bodies.
When the fabric was thought to be washable, it appears that peasants washed their clothing every week at most. Linen was one fabric that was washed in water using lye; then it was laid in the sun on a rock or the grass to dry. (Clothespins are another modern invention.)
So yes, medieval people, even regular old peasants were pretty clean types of people. In fact, they were so clean that for them bathing constituted a leisure activity. So the average person would likely wash daily at home, but once a week or so they would treat themselves to a bath at the communal bath house.