- 31 minutes ago
Before toilet paper, people got creative—and sometimes alarmingly practical. This illustrated history explores nine bizarre toilet paper alternatives, from shared wooden sticks and Roman sponge-on-a-stick cleaners to corn cobs, coconut shells, snow, and broken pottery shards. Each example reveals how people used the materials around them to handle an everyday necessity long before modern bathroom supplies.
The tour also covers water and the left hand, luxury wipes made from wool or lace, and pages torn from books, newspapers, and catalogs. Blending historical facts with relaxed humor, this educational video is a curious look at ancient hygiene, outhouse routines, and the strange history of personal cleanliness. A good pick for listeners and viewers searching for unusual history, fascinating everyday inventions, toilet paper history, and low-stress educational entertainment.
The tour also covers water and the left hand, luxury wipes made from wool or lace, and pages torn from books, newspapers, and catalogs. Blending historical facts with relaxed humor, this educational video is a curious look at ancient hygiene, outhouse routines, and the strange history of personal cleanliness. A good pick for listeners and viewers searching for unusual history, fascinating everyday inventions, toilet paper history, and low-stress educational entertainment.
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LearningTranscript
00:00So, let's start.
00:01Number 9. A stick.
00:03Just a stick. A.K.A. the bamboo spatula.
00:06In ancient China and Japan, the go-to tool for post-bathroom cleanup wasn't a cloth or a leaf.
00:13It was a smooth wooden stick called a chugi.
00:16Imagine a flat-tongue depressor, but for your butt.
00:19It was practical, reusable, and, unfortunately, communal.
00:24These spatulas were neatly arranged in public toilets, like an oddly specific cutlery set.
00:30After doing your business, you'd give the stick a rinse in water, if available,
00:35use it to scrape clean, and then put it back in its holder for the next person.
00:40Because sharing is caring, even when it really, really shouldn't be.
00:44In some areas, these sticks were even polished smooth over time from decades of,
00:49let's call it, enthusiastic use, adding a whole new meaning to the phrase, well-worn.
00:56Public hygiene wasn't a huge concern back then.
00:58Germs weren't a known thing.
01:00And, apparently, neither were personal boundaries.
01:02Now, in fairness, this was centuries before Charmin or plumbing.
01:08You had to make do with what you had.
01:09And if what you had was a stick and a nearby bucket,
01:13then that stick became the MVP of the hygiene world.
01:16It was durable, biodegradable, and refreshingly low-tech.
01:20Just deeply unsettling.
01:22Imagine today's public restroom experience if everyone just passed around one single wooden scraper.
01:28Modern society would collapse.
01:30Yet, back then, this was innovation.
01:32It's a reminder that sometimes historical efficiency comes at the price of collective discomfort
01:38and a strong immune system.
01:40Number eight.
01:41Roman sponge on a stick, aka the extreme loofah.
01:44The Romans, known for engineering marvels and wild parties,
01:48also gave us one of the most awkward bathroom tools ever, the tersorium.
01:53It was a sponge tied to a stick, dunked in salt water or vinegar, and reused in public toilets.
01:59Basically, the ancient version of flushable, wet wipes, minus the flushable part.
02:05Or the sanitary part.
02:06If you were lucky, the sponge was still damp from the vinegar.
02:09If you weren't, well, you just hoped the last guy was neat.
02:13When you were done doing your Roman business, you'd reach for the tersorium, give it a rinse,
02:17maybe, and clean yourself up.
02:19Then you'd return it to its communal vinegar bucket like a polite citizen.
02:24Sometimes, those buckets sat in the corner, collecting a suspicious mix of liquid that was
02:29mostly vinegar, but also carried other aromas.
02:33It was the original clean, reuse, repeat method.
02:37Except, instead of being sustainable, it was mostly just gross.
02:41The idea of communal sponge sticks today feels like a punishment.
02:45But the Romans prided themselves on shared civic spaces, and bathrooms were no exception.
02:51Public latrines had rows of these sponges lined up like some horrific loofah buffet.
02:57You sat, chatted, and wiped, often with a tool someone else had just used.
03:03And because Romans loved efficiency, these latrines were often directly above flowing
03:08water channels, which in theory carried waste away, but in practice could splash unpleasant
03:13surprises back up at you.
03:15We owe them a lot.
03:16Roads, aqueducts, calendars, but let's not forget they also normalize the shared butt sponge.
03:22It's the kind of thing that makes you retroactively grateful for even the weakest single-ply toilet
03:28paper.
03:29Truly, progress is measured in layers.
03:32Number seven, corn cobs.
03:34Yes, the actual corn cob.
03:36In 19th century rural America, corn wasn't just food.
03:40It was also hygiene.
03:42After harvesting, families would save the empty cobs to use as toilet paper.
03:46Why?
03:47Because they were absorbent, biodegradable, and, if you believe old-timey grandpas, surprisingly
03:53gentle.
03:54Which raises a lot of questions.
03:56Like, who did the testing?
03:58Corn cobs were usually stored in a bucket next to the outhouse.
04:02Used ones sometimes got rinsed and reused, which sounds both economical and slightly horrifying.
04:08They were nature's toilet brush.
04:10Firm, but flexible.
04:11Plus, they came in bulk.
04:13You didn't just grow corn for dinner, you were harvesting your next month's TP, too.
04:18In the winter, frozen cobs added a whole new level of motivation to get it over with
04:23quickly.
04:24And if someone was feeling fancy, they'd even smooth the edges for comfort.
04:28DIY hygiene at its finest.
04:30You gotta respect the grit, even if you wouldn't want to experience it firsthand.
04:34Let's be honest.
04:35After learning this, you'll never look at a cornfield the same way again.
04:39Every barbecue from here on out is going to have a new layer of horror.
04:43It's one of those weird historical facts that lives in your brain rent-free forever.
04:50Number six.
04:51Coconut shells.
04:52In tropical regions like India, the Philippines, and Indonesia, coconut shells weren't just
04:57kitchen waste.
04:58They doubled as bathroom tools and not the soft outer husk either.
05:02We're talking about the hard, scraped-out inner shell.
05:06So basically, wiping with a chunk of a tree nut, bold move, the edge of the shell could
05:12be used to scoop or scrape.
05:14It wasn't exactly comfortable, but it was effective.
05:17Coconut shells were everywhere.
05:19They didn't cost anything.
05:20And they didn't clog up rivers or drains from an ecological standpoint.
05:2510 out of 10.
05:26From a comfort standpoint, it was somewhere between sandpaper and medieval torture.
05:30This method was all about resourcefulness.
05:32People used what was around, but using a brittle, jagged half-shell required real technique,
05:38or a high tolerance for risk.
05:41Slip-ups could leave lasting impressions, both emotionally and physically.
05:45Still, there's something oddly admirable about the sheer practicality.
05:50It's like the survivalist's choice of toilet paper.
05:53If Bear Grylls had lived in 15th century Malaysia, this would have been his go-to.
05:57Brutal, sustainable, and weirdly respectable.
06:01Number five.
06:02Snow.
06:03The nature's icy bidet.
06:05In colder climates, think Arctic tribes or alpine dwellers, snow wasn't just a scenic backdrop.
06:11It was the go-to method for cleaning up after nature called.
06:15You'd grab a handful, brace for impact, and wipe.
06:19It was fast, free, and so cold it probably closed your pores forever.
06:24Some people didn't just improvise.
06:26They made snowballs.
06:27Dedicated to wiping snowballs.
06:30It added structure and maybe some psychological comfort.
06:33Just don't ask too many questions about the reusability or labeling system.
06:38A case of mistaken snowball identity could lead to problems.
06:43Cold as it was, snow had its upsides.
06:45It was soft, left no residue, and melted away without a trace.
06:49From a sanitation point of view, it's kind of genius.
06:53From a body temperature point of view, it's like giving your rear end a frostbite handshake.
06:58Still, you've got to admire the logic.
07:00When there's no toilet paper for miles, and trees are buried under snowdrifts, you adapt.
07:05Sure, it's horrifying to think about, but also kind of impressive.
07:10Humans.
07:10The species that looked at a snowstorm and said, that'll do.
07:14Number four.
07:15The left hand.
07:16In many parts of the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa, toilet paper wasn't, and still
07:22often isn't, the go-to method for cleaning up.
07:25Instead, people traditionally used water and their left hand.
07:29It might sound crude, but it was actually a lot more hygienic than many other methods on
07:34this list.
07:34If you're imagining chaos, keep in mind, there was usually a water jug, lota involved,
07:39and a whole technique that was passed down generations.
07:43Because of this, the left hand took on a symbolic role in many cultures.
07:47It was the designated bathroom hand.
07:50That's why eating, greeting, or handing things to others with your left is still considered
07:54disrespectful in these regions.
07:56It wasn't just social etiquette.
07:58It was sanitation logic.
08:00Don't shake with the wipe hand.
08:02And honestly, when done properly with soap and water, it's cleaner than dry paper.
08:07Think about it.
08:08If you got something gross on your arm, would you wipe it with a dry napkin and call it
08:12a day?
08:13Nope.
08:14You'd wash it.
08:15That's the thinking here.
08:16Except it's been ingrained in entire societies for centuries.
08:19So while modern Westerners might recoil at the thought, the left hand method was way ahead
08:25of its time.
08:26It's efficient, water-based, and doesn't rely on destroying trees.
08:30It just really requires remembering which hand does what, especially at dinner parties.
08:35Number three.
08:36Wool, lace, and other luxury wipes.
08:39Toilet paper has always had a class divide, but in 16th century Europe, the wealthy weren't
08:45wiping with leaves or shells.
08:47Oh no, they used lace, and silk, and wool.
08:50If your family had titles, your tush did too.
08:53These weren't just rags.
08:54They were handcrafted textiles fit for royalty's most awkward moments.
08:59French aristocrats famously used fine lace cloths that were sometimes embroidered.
09:03Yes, embroidered.
09:05Imagine hiring a tailor to stitch delicate floral patterns onto something meant to wipe
09:10your backside.
09:11That's either the height of luxury or an early warning sign of a collapsing empire.
09:16It wasn't just about comfort, it was status.
09:19The rich weren't just wiping better than everyone else, they were doing it fashionably.
09:23Some even had personal attendants dedicated to post-bathroom cleanup because nothing says
09:28nobility like outsourcing your hygiene.
09:30But let's be honest, even if you're sitting on gold furniture, there's something deeply
09:34hilarious about choosing lace for this particular job.
09:38One accidental misfire, and you're scrubbing silk like it's laundry day at Versailles.
09:42You know you're rich when even your bathroom routine has a designer label.
09:46Number two, broken pottery shards.
09:49The ancient Greek nightmare.
09:51Ancient Greece gave us democracy, philosophy, and butt-scraping shards of pottery.
09:56These were called ostraca, and while they were mostly used to cast votes or exile people,
10:02they doubled as personal hygiene tools in public toilets.
10:06Yes, you hear that correctly.
10:08Wiping with sharp-edged broken ceramics.
10:10The cradle of civilization had splinters in weird places.
10:14To be fair, they tried to smooth the edges, but let's not pretend this was comfortable.
10:19Greeks believed in clean habits, but toilet paper hadn't been invented, so they worked with
10:23what they had, and apparently what they had was pottery, lots and lots of it.
10:28It was cheap, everywhere, and didn't decompose quickly, perfect for reuse.
10:32What's even weirder?
10:33Some ostraca had names carved into them, often political rivals.
10:38So yes, some citizens were symbolically wiping with the name of someone they hated.
10:42Imagine going to the restroom and grabbing a shard that says,
10:45Socrates, that's a level of pettiness so high it's almost inspiring.
10:50Still, for all their intellectual achievements, this remains a major
10:53what-were-they-thinking moment in Greek history.
10:57It's hard to focus on Plato's theories when your cleanup routine includes potential ceramic injury.
11:03Wisdom may be eternal, but pottery chafes are not.
11:06Number one.
11:07Pages from books and catalogs, Gutenberg's final revenge.
11:11By the 19th century, paper became common, but toilet paper still wasn't.
11:15So people did what humans always do when desperate, they got creative.
11:19In rural America, books, newspapers, and catalogs were repurposed for the outhouse.
11:25The most famous of all?
11:26The Sears Roebuck catalog, the Amazon of its day, and also conveniently your bathroom supply.
11:32The catalog was long, soft, and hung conveniently by a nail in the outhouse.
11:37You'd flip to a clean page, tear, and wipe.
11:39It was the original read-it-and-wipe method.
11:43Educational?
11:44Yes.
11:44Mostly a little inky sometimes, but in a world before two-ply, beggars couldn't be choosers.
11:51Old phone books and newspapers were also popular.
11:54Even Bibles were reportedly used in dire straits, especially pages from the Old Testament.
11:59Blasphemous and practical.
12:01It turned the act of wiping into a sort of paper-based roulette.
12:05You might clean up with a sermon, a shopping list, or the weather forecast.
12:09It's wild to think we went from sacred texts to Charmin Ultrasoft in just over a century.
12:15But in a way, these book-based methods were the final poetic act of print culture,
12:21literally leaving their mark in history.
12:24Gutenberg probably didn't see this coming.
12:26Thank you for watching and sticking till the end.
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