27 Shocking Hygiene Practices From The Past. Whoa!

By | July 10, 2016

Human hygiene has come a really long way since the dark ages. And to show you exactly how far we’ve come, here are some examples of horrible hygiene practices from the past.

1. Instead of getting up at night, people used to pee or defecate in pots like this and then store them under the bed for the night.
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2. If your tooth started to ache, they’d just yank that sucker right out.
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3. Someone used to be paid to wipe the king’s butt. In fact, it was considered a prestigious position to hold.
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4. Leaves used to be the only toilet paper.
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5. People hardly ever changed their clothes. Most only had about 4 outfits — one for each season.
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6. Wigs were commonly infested with lice.
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7. Poultices of eagle dung were used during childbirth to ease the pain.
Royal 16 G.VIII, f.32

8. Feminine products were made from napkins wrapped around moss.
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9. It was thought that a mixture of potassium and chicken poop would cure baldness.
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10. In Elizabethan times, the wealthy would wear masks of Ceruse lead powder, which was poisonous.
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11. People used to rub sulfur on freckles to try and remove them.
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12. Everyone took baths together.
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13. The toilets were festering pits of disease and filth.
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14. Red hot metal was used to cauterize wounds.
L0033418 Thigh Cauterisation

15. Given the absence of proper gels, wigs were styled with animal fat and were extremely flammable.
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16. The water tanks that did exist were often coated with toxic lead.
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17. Toothpaste was commonly made with burnt herbs like rosemary and mint. Wine was the only “mouthwash.”
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18. Mouse skin was placed carefully on women’s eyebrows to shape them.
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19. The rush floors that many people had in their homes were full of disease-riddled mice, fleas, and ticks.
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20. Bouquets of flowers were carried to ward off body odor.
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21. The most common antiseptics were wine and urine.
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22. Poisonous mercury was used to treat sexually transmitted diseases.
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23. Beds were usually also covered in germs and sometimes even bird poop.
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24. Human waste was usually just dumped into a hole.
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25. When people did wash their clothes, it often was done using a mixture of urine and lye.
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26. Nobody used utensils.
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27. Perhaps worst of all, surgery equipment was always filthy.
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