Medieval Parent Magazine - Bathing

 

I came across this picture somewhere in cyber-land and thought it would be a hoot to actually write articles on the various subjects mentioned on the cover of the magazine as if you could purchase it at the checkout line. So this is going to be a long series of blogs, but I hope you will enjoy them as much I did when researching and writing. I’ve always been fascinated about medieval times and what life might have been like for the ordinary citizen. Times were hard, even if you were wealthy, but if you were among the ‘common folk’ it could be brutal. About the best you could hope for was an easy death.

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Article – Bathing: Yea or Nay?

 

The first thing that comes to mind about this time period is how people smelled, and contrary to what some might think, they did bathe. About once a week. It was pretty time consuming, since they had to draw the water, then heat it up. Bathtubs were not the norm. It was more like a sponge bath with a shallow basin. And while soap was used, it was homemade from animal fat and ashes and MAYBE scented with herbs. It was often a communal thing within the family. Some towns had a communal bathhouse, but there was often a bordello on the side as well. And if you really didn’t have any other way to get clean, there was always a river or stream.

 

There was one thing people were warned about: Bathing too often. If the pores were continually open, that was a portal for all the bad stuff floating around and could make you very ill.