Bathrooms were very rare in
Tudor houses. On average Tudors
took a full bath about twice
a year. Rich Tudors probably
washed quite often using a bowl
of water, soap and a cloth -
there are lots of recipes for
soaps of various sorts! A poor
Tudor who could not get clean
water probably hardly ever washed!
Ugh!
Water for washing at Blakesley
Hall was brought in from the
well, heated over the kitchen
fire and carried upstairs to
the bedchambers and poured into
a bowl. A full bath would be
a lot of work!
There are lots of recipes for
powders to clean teeth. Most
people used soot from the chimney
to rub over their teeth, then
chalk or salt as a whitener.
There are some strange recipes
for tooth powders though! Here
is one - but do not try it at
home!
Mouse Head Tooth Powder - for
squeaky clean teeth!
First catch some mice. Cut off
their heads. Cook them in a pan
until they are burned. Pound
them up to a gritty powder. Then
use the powder to clean your
teeth.
