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Medieval Toilets: The awful truth!


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Back when I was first learning how to make gunpowder, I came across directions that indicated the powder should be mixed with the 'urine of a man who had much wine to drink' and then pressed into cakes for drying.

And as to living in cities, there's a reason why men had wide brimmed hats and walked street-ward of their lady.
 






The use of urine for various things was unsurprising. Not that I knew about it, but there aren't a lot of sources of organic chemicals in the pre-petroleum world. We still use urea to treat diesel emissions, though we make it out of petroleum instead of piss now.
 

The use of urine for various things was unsurprising. Not that I knew about it, but there aren't a lot of sources of organic chemicals in the pre-petroleum world. We still use urea to treat diesel emissions, though we make it out of petroleum instead of piss now.

Urine had all sorts of uses in the ancient/medieval world.

Tanners also had a reputation for stench.
 

Urine had all sorts of uses in the ancient/medieval world.

Tanners also had a reputation for stench.
Not just medieval world, back in the 50’s and 60’s it was still being used for stain removal and as a mild disinfectant for wounds.
Even today there are medicines derived from Urine used to treat menopause and a pill of dried feces is used to restore gut biome after stomach infections. Theres even been incidents of stem cells being drawn from Urine and used to grow teeth.

One of the more unsavory uses of urine by Romans was as a mouthwash to whiten teeth.
 
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