what did the ancient Romans use as laundry detergent?

Question

an old reading teacher of mine said that they would use urine after it had set out in the bathhouses for a few days. she also said that it would work on any color and any kind of clothing

Answer 1

your teacher wasn't kidding, urine. it contains quite large amounts of ammonia which makes clothes nice and soft. in fact urine was actually used to soften wool.

i'm sure they added something to it to take the smell away though, and just in case you didn't know urine is sterile.

Answer 2

Yuck! Urine? Not surprised though.
Check out this handy web-site: http://www.cleaning101.com/cleaning/history/

Soap got its name, according to an ancient Roman legend, from Mount Sapo, where animals were sacrificed. Rain washed a mixture of melted animal fat, or tallow, and wood ashes down into the clay soil along the Tiber River. Women found that this clay mixture made their wash cleaner with much less effort.
The ancient Germans and Gauls are also credited with discovering a substance called soap, made of tallow and ashes, that they used to tint their hair red

Answer 3

Yes the did use urine.

Answer 4

Maybe, but they were more advanced because they actually had running water and sewers.
They used lye and warm water.

Answer 5

They used stones & water...

They pounded the dirt out of it!

Answer 6

Maybe they used "lava" brand at Pompeii.

Answer 7

I know it does a great job on my pants !

Answer 8

if you boil animal fat you get lye and they have been doing it for thousands of years i dont know why i know this

Answer 9

I think they used soap!

Answer 10

I've red they used ash :)