detergents, what were people washing their clothes with?? backtrack some 2000 yrs ago?
2006-06-15 22:26:18 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Etiquette
soap comes from a plant - check out wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_plant
but there were also lots of people who didn't wash their clothes and others who used urine (because of the ammonia - used for bleach) or other plants.
The common romans used bay leaves to wash their togas because they smelt nice. the aristocratic romans used rose petals and other stuff - more expensive than bay leaves so an indicator of status.
2006-06-15 23:45:44 · answer #1 · answered by stufetta 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Before detergents there were simply homemade soaps (made from the lye found in ash and fats). I would assume that people used these for washing clothes or just rinsed them out.
2006-06-15 22:30:45 · answer #2 · answered by Natasha 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was washed in the river or canal, rinsed, then pounded on a stone, and, bleached in the sun.
Ancient peoples cleaned their clothes by pounding them on rocks or rubbing them with abrasive sands; and washing the dirt away in local streams. Evidence of ancient washing soap was found at Sapo Hill in Rome, where the ashes containing the fat of sacrificial animals was used as a soap.
2006-06-15 22:32:12 · answer #3 · answered by Hawk996 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A soap-like material found in clay cylinders during the excavation of ancient Babylon is evidence that soapmaking was known as early as 2800 B.C. Inscriptions on the cylinders say that fats were boiled with ashes, which is a method of making soap, but do not refer to the purpose of the "soap." Such materials were later used as hair styling aids.
2006-06-15 22:31:53 · answer #4 · answered by rdpi4 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mostly they just wet their garments in river water and then beat them against rocks to dry them, Lye soap has been around for a long time though I think.
2006-06-15 22:31:16 · answer #5 · answered by eggman 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
there were clothes 2000 years ago?
2006-06-15 22:42:34 · answer #6 · answered by leadbelly 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
SOME USED JUST A RIVER WITH A FLAT ROCK AN LET THE RIVER CURRENT DO THE JOB SURVIVAL 101
2006-06-15 22:31:57 · answer #7 · answered by waltonwayaugusta 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They scrubbed them in water. But soap is pretty old... although I don’t know exactly how old.
I checked it and there were soaps in the 3rd millennium BC!
2006-06-15 22:30:16 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They probably just soaked their clothes and rubbed them with rocks.
2006-06-15 22:30:26 · answer #9 · answered by dh1977 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Soap.
and before that lye.
2006-06-15 22:31:43 · answer #10 · answered by CrazyCat 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋