Washing Bodies
The material culture of washing bodies is not as rich as that for clean linens. Chapter 11 uses a range of evidence to examine how widely it was practised by looking for basins, kettles, and towels which are ubiquitous but multi-purpose in inventories and household accounts. The consumables are more reliable; recipes for wash balls (soap explicitly for the skin), washing, and bath waters appear in household manuals and personal collections. These products were also sold by apothecaries, country mercers, and chapmen. The Old Bailey proceedings reveal a range of cleanliness practices—how frequently people washed themselves and sometimes exactly what parts—as well as standards and expectations. New literature on the early modern urban provision of water suggests it was widely available for washing bodies and clothes in all but the poorest neighbourhoods.