Not washing was fashionable in medieval Europe, and the church also made statements prohibiting it. Even then, bathing was considered immoral.
To Bathe or Not to Bathe
In fact, westerners of his era believed bathing was downright dangerous. They feared that if they submerged themselves in water, they risked toxins infiltrating the body through its pores. Instead, they changed their shirts frequently and took “dry baths,” wiping themselves down with cloth.
Granted, bathing like many 21st century people do — a daily bath or shower with modern conveniences and lots of hot water and soap — was almost unknown until indoor plumbing was perfected in the early 20th century. But people bathed and washed as often as they could in past centuries.
Humans have probably been bathing since the Stone Age, not least because the vast majority of European caves that contain Palaeolithic art are short distances from natural springs. By the Bronze Age, beginning around 5,000 years ago, washing had become very important.
They were so successful that after the war, schools and gymnasiums also began to utilize shower technology. But showers were still not commonly found in homes until later. In the late 1940's or so, western culture was still highly in favor of the bath as the optimum mode of cleaning.
It wasn't until the early 1980's that showering as we know it became popular with the masses. Shower manufacturers could now offer a wide range of different types of shower enclosures, showerheads, body jets and LED lights.
Though even wealthy families did not take a full bath daily, they were not unclean. It was the custom for most people to wash themselves in the morning, usually a sponge bath with a large washbasin and a pitcher of water on their bedroom washstands. Women might have added perfume to the water.
According to an article from JStor, it wasn't until the early 20th century when Americans began to take daily baths due to concerns about germs. More Americans were moving into cities, which tended to be dirtier, so folks felt as if they needed to wash more often.
In the 1700s, most people in the upper class seldom, if ever, bathed. They occasionally washed their faces and hands, and kept themselves “clean” by changing the white linens under their clothing. “The idea about cleanliness focused on their clothing, especially the clothes worn next to the skin,” Ward said.
Atlantic journalist James Hamblin did the full calculation and found that if the average person spends 20 minutes a day washing themselves this adds up to over 12,000 hours over a lifetime.
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. Ancient Romans used a sponge soaked in salt water that was shared by everyone.
The medical community in medieval Europe believed that water was harmful to health, as it opened pores and left the body more vulnerable to disease. Because of this, people would not wash. Full body baths were rare.
The Himba people live in one of the most extreme environments on earth with the harsh desert climate and the unavailability of potable water. However, their lack of bathing has not resulted into lack of personal hygiene.
A Medieval clean wasn't half bad
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.
As most people ate meals without knives, forks or spoons, it was also a common convention to wash hands before and after eating. Soap was sometimes used and hair was washed using an alkaline solution such as the one obtained from mixing lime and salt.
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. And yes, they used soap—in fact, soap was often made at home and widely available as a trade good as early as the 9th century in Europe.
people would wash their hands and faces upon rising, before meals, at the end of the day, or arriving at a house after a long journey. The idea that medieval people were continually grubby and had poor hygiene is a myth. Hands and faces were usually washed with water before meals and after.
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.
While there is no ideal frequency, experts suggest that showering several times per week is plenty for most people (unless you are grimy, sweaty, or have other reasons to shower more often). Short showers (lasting three or four minutes) with a focus on the armpits and groin may suffice.
There's no magic number for when the shower stage should begin, but a good rule of thumb is age six to seven, says Dr. Shook. At that point, kiddos are in early elementary school and should be interested in showering on their own and understanding how to cleanse their entire body by themselves.
Women were advised to dilute pure ammonia in warm water and then massage it through the scalp and hair, like modern shampoo. Men were also counseled to take great care when selecting a lifelong mate.
Most Brits (62%) bathe or shower at least once a day, and in the shower Brits spend on average between 7-8 minutes – but there's more than just washing going on while we're in there.
In the homes of the wealthy they bathed in copper tubs lined with linen. The poorer if they had a wooden barrel would bathe in them. Earlier in the nineteenth century the hands, feet and face were regularly washed as in previous centuries, and the rest of your body every few weeks or longer.