New release: Henrician hygiene

By day five without shampoo, I didn’t dare take off my hat for fear of frightening children with horrible hair. Despite its awfulness, my itchy week on a Tudor personal hygiene regime was as good an argument as any for experimental archaeology, or ‘trying things out’. It was all part of the research for my book If Walls Could Talk, published tomorrow by Faber & Faber.
     
I wanted to know how the Tudors managed before the invention of the bathroom, why they knew about but ignored the flushing toilet, and why they were afraid of bathing.  My week taught me lots of things:
 
1. If you don’t have to use the washbasin, you don’t have to queue for the bathroom: big advantage.
2. Ideally, your maid brings a basin of hot water to your bedroom, and takes away the full chamber pot.
3. If you don’t have a maid, it’s simplest to wash your face in the kitchen.