While we can't say for certain how often Vikings washed their hair, it seems to have been a common practice. After all, Vikings generally washed their entire bodies on a weekly basis, and created a special name for “Saturday”, when most people would bathe.
The Viking males were apparently clean and pleasant smelling, as they took a bath on Saturdays, combed their hair and were well dressed.
Vikings were known for their excellent hygiene.
Excavations of Viking sites have turned up tweezers, razors, combs and ear cleaners made from animal bones and antlers. Vikings also bathed at least once a week—much more frequently than other Europeans of their day—and enjoyed dips in natural hot springs.
According to historical records, Vikings would bathe at least once a week. This may not sound like a lot by today's standards, but it was actually quite impressive for the time period. Keep in mind that many people in medieval Europe did not bathe at all, or only did so once or twice a year.
Vikings were extremely clean and regularly bathed and groomed themselves. They were known to bathe weekly, which was more frequently than most people, particularly Europeans, at the time. Their grooming tools were often made of animal bones and included items such as combs, razors, and ear cleaners.
According to Egypt Today, “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.
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 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.
As noted above, Vikings didn't have shampoo as we know it today, but they did have their own home-made lye-based soap. This soap was frequently used for all forms of bathing.
In Viking society, certain physical traits were considered attractive in both men and women. These features included light-colored eyes, fair skin, and blonde or light brown hair. A strong, healthy, and fit physique was also highly valued, as it was an indicator of good health, strength, and fertility.
These two episodes (and many others) suggest that linen underwear was worn to bed. It's been suggested that very poor men did not use underclothing and thus may have slept naked.
Interesting enough, according to the BBC Primary History site, there were no bathrooms in the Viking home. Most people probably washed in a wooden bucket or the nearest stream. Instead of toilets, people used cesspits, which are holes dug outside for toilet waste.
Although the popular image of the people of the Viking Age is one of wild-haired, dirty savages, this is a false perception. In reality, the Vikings took care with their personal grooming, bathing, and hairstyling.
“From picture sources we know that the Vikings had well-groomed beards and hair. The men had long fringes and short hair on the back of the head," she says, adding that the beard could be short or long, but it was always well-groomed. Further down on the neck, the skin was shaved.
They have been described as “strange marks on the teeth, as if someone had carved or cut horizontal grooves in them with a knife.” Were the Vikings really filing their own teeth? Since then over 130 examples have been found in the Norse world of filed teeth, nearly all of them in Sweden.
Vikings valued their appearance and cleanliness, they spent time, effort, and wealth on it, and they were about as clean as they practically could be during that time. Vikings equated daily combing, grooming and cleanliness with self-respect ...and personal presentation with honor and self-worth.
The Vikings, known for their fearsome image, may have filed their teeth to appear more menacing. Gareth Williams, curator of the British Museum exhibition that will feature the burial, noted: '[it is] one of the most dramatic Viking finds of recent years.
Those aromas featured in the aptly named "Norse Power" scent range from the relatively pleasant (fresh pine, seawater, fruits and nuts) to the unabashedly gross (blood and gore, mud, smoke from burning settlements).
Vikings soothed their skin with mixtures of wool-wax, butter and oils to moisturise. They washed their hands, face and feet every day and brushed their teeth with twigs and chalk. Make-up: There is evidence that the Vikings took good care of their selves and had the best hygiene of all the Europeans in the Middle Ages.
A Viking family would typically eat two meals per day. Dagmal was the morning meal in which the adults would eat leftover stew from the night before with bread and fruit. The children would usually have porridge and dried fruit or, on occasion, buttermilk and bread.
Vikings and other Medieval peoples even drank alcohol for breakfast, but they did not imbibe so much because they were more indolent or more decadent than modern people (quite the reverse, actually) but because alcohol solved several food supply and contamination problems.
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.
Viking warriors filed deep grooves in their teeth, and they probably had to smile broadly to show them off, according to new finds in four major Viking Age cemeteries in Sweden.
Excavated Viking skeletons that date from AD 800 – 1050 showed deep, horizontal grooves filed into the front teeth. It is speculated tooth carvings were pigmented red in order to intimidate foes in battle. The reasons for the tooth filing is not certain, but may have been a symbol of achievement.
The research showed that caries was almost non-existent, but the subjects had lost about ten percent of their teeth before death. The remaining teeth showed signs of extreme wear from the mostly unprocessed and coarse diet.