A bit off on the time frame...but, still interesting:
Captain Cook is famous for his contribution to the health of men at sea. Part of his strategy included fresh air, ventilation and cleanliness in the crew’s quarters, regular washing of clothes and the sailors themselves, and protective clothing when it was cold and damp. Doing the laundry and taking a bath was no simple matter at sea. Fresh water was limited, so salt water was used to clean clothing, which was then sometimes towed behind the ship to dry. But clothes washed this way never completely dried,
because the salt absorbed moisture and kept the clothes damp. So rainwater was sometimes collected for washing clothes. The crew was made to wash themselves at least once a week, which the sailors thought was very strange – they much preferred to keep ‘the body’s natural oils’, which they believed were essential for protection. They used buckets of water and sponges to bathe themselves, and there was no soap – it wasn’t introduced until 1796.
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