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.
Before the advent of modern toilet paper many different materials were used for the same purposes. Different materials were used depending upon the country, weather conditions, social customs and status. People used leaves, grass, ferns, corn cobs, maize, fruit skins, seashells, stone, sand, moss, snow and water.
Designed mainly with function in mind, the medieval toilet was otherwise known as a garderobe or privy chamber and was often located on several floors of most castles and no bigger than the restroom of a modern-day coffee shop.
In very ancient times, wiping with stones and other natural materials and rinsing with water or snow was common. Some cultures opted for seashells and animal furs.
Smaller residences made do with a bucket or “close stool” over a basin, either of which was emptied daily. They were usually carried to one of the streams that emptied into the nearest river and emptied into the water.
Most medieval people probably were dirty, and perhaps even smelly, by our standards – however hard you try, it must be nearly impossible to make a cold, muddy river work as well as a power shower and a washing machine. But only a tiny number of medieval people were truly filthy. Even fewer actually wanted to be dirty.
Handwashing was a wide spread occurence int he middle ages. 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.
Romans used what is called a “Tersorium” – a sea sponge stuck on the end of a stick that was kept in either a bucket of salt water or vinegar. The general population used a communal latrine in Roman times, which consisted of several holes cut in a slab of marble. Picture the hole you sit on in an outhouse.
As per the salors and vikings, the way of wiping butt is using old or damaged anchor chords or cables as the toilet paper, which is similar to the ancient French did. But the viking used the shellfish to wipe their butts, which is so similar to what the people in ancient UK did.
If you relieved yourself in a public latrine in ancient Rome, you may have used a tersorium to wipe. These ancient devices consisted of a stick with a vinegar- or salt water-soaked sponge attached.
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.
Wiping in the Medieval Times
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 wealthier families would use lace, doilies, and other more quality fabrics.
Within their own properties, there were rooms specifically for their own private use. The Close Stool or Privy was the Medieval and 16th-century versions of the modern toilet. Mostly they worked in a similar way to a modern composting toilet except that the contents of the toilet would be removed by the night soil men.
Before that, they used whatever was handy -- sticks, leaves, corn cobs, bits of cloth, their hands.
Paper itself is said to have contributed to a Golden Age in China, with the pulp making process attributed to a chap called Ts'ai Lun (pictured right), a Chinese court official who mixed mulberry bark, hemp, and rags with water.
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.
The Viking reputation for being well-groomed comes from Christian accounts condemning such behavior as vain posturing. Vikings were Scandinavians (though not all Scandinavians were Vikings), and their emphasis on being well-groomed and dressed reflected the value of the larger culture.
Vikings were known for their excellent hygiene.
Vikings also bathed at least once a week—much more frequently than other Europeans of their day—and enjoyed dips in natural hot springs.
Vikings worked long hours, carrying, and using heavy equipment which contributed to the formation of muscles, even from an early age. Another reason for the significant strength of the Vikings was their diet.
Although there were many sewers, public latrines, baths and other sanitation infrastructure, disease was still rampant. Most dwellings were not connected to street drains or sewers. Some apartment buildings (insulae) might have had a latrine and a fountain on the ground floor.
Access to Hygiene Facilities for the Poor
Throughout the countryside, Romans, including women and enslaved people, would wash every day and would have a thorough bath on every feast day if not more often. In Rome itself, baths were taken daily.
This is odd, given that human beings have been using what amounts to unisex facilities since the first humans walked upright. Public baths and toilets, many “gender neutral," were the norm in ancient Rome.
The Evolution of Hygiene
Neanderthals would use seashell tweezers to remove hair, and early paintings from caves depict beardless males. This suggests that even way back then, the Neanderthals understood hygiene and probably enjoyed it. Another one of the earliest signs of personal hygiene awareness was in 3000 BC.
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.
They used rough linen cloths to clean their teeth, often accompanied with a variety of pastes and powders used to whiten teeth and preserve fresh breath. The ingredients in these were far from the fluoride we know today. Herbs such as sage, rosemary, pepper and cinnamon were commonplace, as well as mint and salt.