The Weirdest Things People Used to Wash With Before Soap Was Invented

There are days when I’m elbow-deep in oils and fragrances galore, carefully calculating my lye solution, and I stop to smile because we modern soapmakers live in such luxury compared to the poor souls of history. Can you imagine living in a world where real soap did not exist yet? The simple act of lathering up, rinsing off, and feeling clean is something we take for granted. Before soap, people were still very human: dirty, smelly, inventive, and sometimes a little desperate. And the things they tried to wash themselves with will make you appreciate your next shower in ways you never thought possible.

Let’s take a journey together, through history and across cultures, to peek into the washbasins, baths, and rivers of the past. I promise you, some of these methods will make you chuckle, some will make you cringe, and all of them will make you grateful for your next bar of carefully crafted soap.

Dirt to Clean Dirt: Clay, Sand, and Ash

One of the oldest “cleansing agents” in the world was plain dirt. That’s right, people used dirt to clean themselves. In various parts of the world, especially in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, people scrubbed their skin with clay or sand. The gritty texture acted as an abrasive, sloughing off sweat, oil, and grime. You could think of it as history’s first exfoliant. Of course, it left you with more grit than you started with, and no pleasant fragrance to cover up the lingering scent of a long day’s labor.

Ashes were another popular option. Mixed with water, wood ash creates a mild alkaline solution, not unlike lye water. Ancient people discovered that scrubbing themselves with ash helped cut through grease and oils on their bodies. This was messy and not particularly gentle on skin, but it did serve as a precursor to the chemical discovery that would eventually lead to true soapmaking. In a way, every time someone rubbed ash and water on themselves in antiquity, they were standing on the doorstep of soap, without even realizing it.

Oils and Scrapers: The Roman Bathhouse Ritual

If you were wealthy and living in ancient Rome or Greece, you had access to the grand tradition of public baths. But soap, as we know it, was not the star of the show. Instead, bathers covered their bodies in olive oil. Yes, oil to remove dirt and sweat.

Now, before you raise your eyebrows, oil cleansing actually makes sense from a chemical standpoint. Like dissolves like. Oils on the skin bind with the olive oil applied to the body. Then came the strigil, a curved metal scraper. Bathers would scrape the oil off, along with sweat, grime, and dead skin. Imagine a whole room full of people greased like salad bowls, scraping themselves down with bronze tools. I suppose it worked, but I personally would prefer a fluffy lather and some lavender essential oil any day.

Animal Fats, Urine, and Other Oddities

Here’s where things get truly strange. In some ancient cultures, urine was collected and used as a cleanser. Roman launderers used urine to whiten and clean togas, thanks to the ammonia content. It’s also believed to have been used for personal hygiene in desperate times. I’ll let you picture that for a moment. If you’ve ever complained about your handmade soap not being bubbly enough, remember that at least you’re not washing with last night’s chamber pot.

Animal fats were another common choice. Rendered tallow or lard, without lye, can still be used to grease the skin and protect it from harsh elements. Some communities smeared it on themselves like a protective layer, and then scraped it off, similar to the Roman oil ritual. Functionally, it may have offered some cleansing and protection, but I doubt anyone felt especially refreshed afterward.

Herbal Rinses and Fermented Brews

Herbs have always been a part of humanity’s cleansing rituals. Long before lavender sachets were tucked into drawers or rosemary was stirred into soap batches, people boiled herbs in water and used the infusions to rinse their skin and hair. Chamomile, mint, sage, and countless others were believed to purify the body, heal wounds, and ward off odors.

In medieval Europe, people also experimented with fermented concoctions. Imagine washing with beer or wine. Not the enjoyable part, of course, but the idea was that the alcohol and acidity would cut through oils and kill germs. The result was sticky, pungent, and probably less effective than people hoped. Still, it shows how inventive humanity has always been when faced with the challenge of staying clean.

Medieval Europe: Soap’s Cousins

By the Middle Ages, soap was making appearances in some parts of the world, especially in the Middle East. But in much of Europe, people relied on mixtures of lye-rich water and animal fats that were closer to a harsh cleaning paste than a gentle bar. These proto-soaps were highly alkaline and stripped skin of everything, including comfort. They worked, in the sense that they got rid of dirt, but they left skin dry, cracked, and sometimes irritated.

It’s no wonder people bathed infrequently in medieval times. With products like that, I would have been hesitant too. And yet, these rough soaps paved the way for the more refined Castile soap of Spain and the luxury soaps of France and Italy that came later.

Around the World: Cultural Cleansing Practices

Not every culture turned to the same substances. In India, for instance, people used powders made from chickpeas, turmeric, or sandalwood for both cleansing and ritual purposes. These powders had antimicrobial properties and left the skin with a distinctive scent.

In Japan, rice bran water was used to wash hair and skin. Rich in antioxidants, it actually worked quite well to soften and brighten. Indigenous peoples in the Americas often used yucca root, which contains natural saponins, foaming compounds that mimic the action of soap. Imagine stumbling across a plant root that actually lathers in water. That must have felt like magic!

Why Soap Changed Everything

When soap finally became widespread, it wasn’t just a luxury, it was a revolution. Soap allowed people to truly cleanse, not just scrape, rub, or perfume over odors. It gave the world a reliable way to fight disease, prevent infections, and enjoy the comfort of being clean. It changed daily life, improved public health, and even influenced the rise and fall of civilizations.

Next time you lather up, think about the Roman scraping olive oil off with a bronze strigil, the medieval farmer scrubbing with lye paste, or the poor soul rinsing off with yesterday’s chamber pot. Compared to that, even your simplest handmade soap is a treasure.

Closing Thoughts

Soap is such a humble thing, sitting on the sink or shower ledge, waiting to be used. But when you know the history of what people endured before its invention, it becomes something far more profound. It is not just bubbles. It is science, history, comfort, and survival, wrapped in one simple bar.

And as a soapmaker, I feel a deep sense of gratitude to be part of this story. Every batch I make connects me not only to the future, to my students, my readers, and my customers, but also to the long line of humans who tried everything from ashes to beer to stay clean. Soap may be common now, but it is truly extraordinary.