What was the personal hygiene of Europeans like in the 18th century (9 photos)

Despite the fact that in the 18th century Europe was experiencing the Age of Enlightenment, the majority of the people remained rather “dark”. This is clearly confirmed by the then ideas about the rules of personal hygiene, which we will introduce you to later.

Oral hygiene

The poor could only afford toothpicks and a cloth to clean their gums. The rich bought toothpaste, which the Italian company Marvis began producing at the very beginning of the century.

A London dentist extracts a patient's tooth.

Personal hygiene

Having your own bath was a luxury item. Ordinary people even believed that staying in hot water was fraught with various infectious diseases. Only wealthy people enjoyed private baths, which they took in their underwear. They did this until the end of the 19th century.

Bathroom of King Louis XVI

Deodorant

Until 1880, there was no deodorant of any kind in Europe. They fought the smell of sweat with the help of perfume, but this did not always work. The first attempts to introduce deodorant for the armpit area belonged to a certain Ziryab, who lived in the 9th century in the southern part of modern Europe in Moorish Iberia. The idea of this man was not to the liking of the Europeans of that time.

The first underarm deodorant.

Depilation

Women began to remove body hair only in the 20s of the 20th century.

Ladies' table in an old French castle.

Toilets

The lack of sewerage and running water forced people to use pots. They relieved themselves right in the rooms, after which the contents of the pots were thrown out the window. The smell of sewage often lingered in the houses.

18th century duck with the inscription "I see you, little naughty boy".

Toilet paper

There was no toilet paper until the end of the 19th century, so they used improvised means. Wealthy people used strips of cloth, while poor people used leaves, moss and old rags.

Public toilet for ladies. Drawing from 1788.

Bedbugs

Everyone, rich and poor, suffered from bedbugs. Perhaps this was due to the rare change of bed linen. The beds were wiped down with kerosene to kill the animals.

Dirty streets

On city streets one could find a layer of manure, human excrement and grass. The gentlemen walked closer to the edge of the road, shielding their ladies from the splashes of passing carriages and carts.

Old England

Mercury as a hygiene product

They preferred to get rid of lice using mercury. It was rubbed into the scalp.