Re: Hygiene and body-care

Dear Peter,
Let's talk about your questions but keep in mind that I answer from Italy
which was in same ways completely different than the rest of Europe in the
XV century.

Soap: was widely known. I live in a town in which is very well documented
the establishment of soap makers (one coming from Germany!) in XV century.
Soap industry was often settled on sea coast as ashes from marine plants
were the best to obtain  Soda  for soap making, on the mediterranean seas
also Olive was widespread so an high quality soap can be produced with olive
oil fats. Of course fats were commonly taken from beast spoils.
Soap was not clear but a solid, thick, hard mass of white colour if made
with pork fats, greenish if from olive fats. No parfumes were used until
XVIII century.

Washing up of clothes were not commonly made using soap but ashes. As
certain ashes contains high percentage of soda the clothes to be washed were
put at the bottom of a big barrel on top there were ashes separated by rough
thick cloth and hot water was poured on them so the cleaning agents could
pass to the cloth. Lot of washing was neeeded after to remove soda and rest
of ashes.

Combs: These were mainly in horn and wood. You could find a good selection
of them on the London Museum book "Dress Accessories 1150-1450" by G. Egan &
F. Pritchard, London Hmso 1991 ISBN 0 11 290444 0.
Generally speaking they were double sided with different spaced teeths.
Shapes were common to all Europe.


I've never heard if any specific clothes was used for wash the body, sponges
again in mediterranean areas were in use but not so common. To dry the body
peaces of clothes. (linen or cotton sometimes mixed with other textiles like
canvas) were commonly used, usually rectangular in shapes, short sides were
often decorated with woven stripes of blue  or  fringes were left hanging
from these sides. Sometimes these clothes were quite long and suspended on
the wall sides near a basin with "aquamanile" (container to held water) as
is commonly shown in many flemish paintings (rich houses anyway).

Same brushes as modern ones were in use for melting soap on the face and
folding knives were preferred for shaving, many sources show them and
originals arepreserved.
Folding knives were choosen for shaving as can be held in the hand far more
better than a common knife. Italian wall paintings very often shows these
folding knives connected to saints whose martyrdom was made by taking off
their skin or those who had surgeon activities, as you know surgeons and
doctors were always connected to barbers.
In certain areas and periods shaving was considered very important and
coming to social activities without been shaved sometimes was regarded as on
offence.

Generally speaking parfumes and other obsession to cover what we consider
nasty smells were not used neither care at all. Our modern taste is the
consequence of massive use of parfumes in XVIII century.
People in middle ages had very different tastes and considere nice some
smell we cannot stand nowadays. Consider that even now farmers or people
living in thecountry doesn' care about all the smells coming from beast and
earth. Even town were extremely smelling if you consider that all drains run
open in the streets, deads were buried around the churches, all activities
were carried in town, someone wery smelling like tanning...

Cheers
Bruno Chionetti