[photoptimist]

Had to look up Dettol -- interesting stuff but toxic to cats, cane toads, and fish.

Note: the active ingredient (chloroxylenol) is NOT effective against human corona viruses (The action of three antiseptics/disinfectants against enveloped and non-enveloped viruses. - PubMed - NCBI) although I'd would vaguely guess that the soap, isopropyl alcohol, pine oil, and castor oil would likely damage the membrane capsule of COVID-19.

[robtcorl]

When we went camping my mom used to say "A little clean dirt never hurt anyone."

[Flanoman]

Had to look up Dettol -- interesting stuff but toxic to cats, cane toads, and fish.

Note: the active ingredient (chloroxylenol) is NOT effective against human corona viruses (The action of three antiseptics/disinfectants against enveloped and non-enveloped viruses. - PubMed - NCBI) although I'd would vaguely guess that the soap, isopropyl alcohol, pine oil, and castor oil would likely damage the membrane capsule of COVID-19.

It’s the clear Dettol that is more effective at killing Coronaviruson on surfaces , so I’ve heard from medical staff here in Ireland and I have grown up with Dettol and it’s many uses.

[Unregistered User 8]

Your mom was right Rob, it is ALWAYS the dirty dirt that will get ya.

[MarkJerling]

I certainly wear fresh smalls......

Do you have a support group for that?

[BigMackCam]

Do you have a support group for that?

My smalls offer perfectly adequate support as it is, thanks very much

[BigMackCam]

Nowadays, my personal opinion is once-per-week bathing is antiquated and not very hygienic. Back when I was a kid, though, the practice was common and had its roots in the housing conditions and economics of the not-so-distant past.

Much pre-war housing in the UK had no means of heating water en masse... it had to be boiled on the stove, which required fuel, which cost money. Up here in the North East - and in much of England, frankly - that was hard to come by. So, once a week, multiple kettles of water would be heated on the stove and poured into a big tin bath. The kids would then be bathed... followed by the matriarch, and any elderly family members in the household, and lastly the patriarch who would probably still be filthy from his day working in the coal mines or in heavy industry. This was certainly the case in my Mum's family, and to a lesser extent in parts of my Dad's family to. The same thing applied to laundry days... they were once a week because a large quantity of water had to be heated up for washing and then rinsing. Since many families didn't own enough clothes, they'd wear the same shirts and tops two, three or more days in a row.

When I was a kid, it was purely an economical thing. Our heating was either by coal or coke fire. We had an electric boiler for hot water, but running it cost money, so you only boiled what you needed. To keep the electricity bills down, that meant a weekly bath... and though we weren't a poor family, we weren't well off either, so I didn't have lots of school clothes. I seem to recall I had three school shirts, and I used to wear the same shirt on two consecutive days - and would be lightly scolded if I got it dirty Come to think of it, I wore the same underwear and socks a couple of days in a row, too...

I had an interesting conversation with my Mum earlier today about the current toilet roll shortage during this coronavirus pandemic. She was telling me that in the immediate post-war years, and for some considerable time, her family never had toilet paper. They, like everyone else in their neighbourhood, tore up squares of old newspapers and hung them in the netty (the outside toilet at the end of the garden). Imagine the kids of today having to wipe their bums on yesterday's Daily Mail... although I tend to think that's a pretty fit use for it

We have it better now, thankfully... but for some, I guess, old habits (and the habits of our parents) die hard. Not me, though. I shower thoroughly every morning, and if I do anything strenuous and break a sweat, I might occasionally have another shower or a bath in the evening. I wear a fresh shirt or top most days. I certainly wear fresh smalls and socks each day. Same with my Mum and Dad. These seem like basic necessities, but when you think of it, we (and most others in economically developed countries) are incredibly fortunate...

I should have added, although my childhood bathing was weekly, daily (or more) washing of feet, hands, face and (for some reason I've never quite figured out) behind the ears was expected and enforced. This was with regular soap and cold water, or the remains of the hot water after its main use had been satisfied...

[MarkJerling]

Nowadays, my personal opinion is once-per-week bathing is antiquated and not very hygienic. Back when I was a kid, though, the practice was common and had its roots in the housing conditions and economics of the not-so-distant past.

Much pre-war housing in the UK had no means of heating water en masse... it had to be boiled on the stove, which required fuel, which cost money. Up here in the North East - and in much of England, frankly - that was hard to come by. So, once a week, multiple kettles of water would be heated on the stove and poured into a big tin bath. The kids would then be bathed... followed by the matriarch, and any elderly family members in the household, and lastly the patriarch who would probably still be filthy from his day working in the coal mines or in heavy industry. This was certainly the case in my Mum's family, and to a lesser extent in parts of my Dad's family to. The same thing applied to laundry days... they were once a week because a large quantity of water had to be heated up for washing and then rinsing. Since many families didn't own enough clothes, they'd wear the same shirts and tops two, three or more days in a row.

When I was a kid, it was purely an economical thing. Our heating was either by coal or coke fire. We had an electric boiler for hot water, but running it cost money, so you only boiled what you needed. To keep the electricity bills down, that meant a weekly bath... and though we weren't a poor family, we weren't well off either, so I didn't have lots of school clothes. I seem to recall I had three school shirts, and I used to wear the same shirt on two consecutive days - and would be lightly scolded if I got it dirty Come to think of it, I wore the same underwear and socks a couple of days in a row, too...

I had an interesting conversation with my Mum earlier today about the current toilet roll shortage during this coronavirus pandemic. She was telling me that in the immediate post-war years, and for some considerable time, her family never had toilet paper. They, like everyone else in their neighbourhood, tore up squares of old newspapers and hung them in the netty (the outside toilet at the end of the garden). Imagine the kids of today having to wipe their bums on yesterday's Daily Mail... although I tend to think that's a pretty fit use for it

We have it better now, thankfully... but for some, I guess, old habits (and the habits of our parents) die hard. Not me, though. I shower thoroughly every morning, and if I do anything strenuous and break a sweat, I might occasionally have another shower or a bath in the evening. I wear a fresh shirt or top most days. I certainly wear fresh smalls and socks each day. Same with my Mum and Dad. These seem like basic necessities, but when you think of it, we (and most others in economically developed countries) are incredibly fortunate...

That's interesting. While we had an old house (1920's) almost all houses had a hot water cylinder when I was growing up. Heating and cooling was by means of air-conditioning and various electrical heaters. I suppose we had quite a nice house even though it was old. Mind you, I still have a love for old houses with high ceilings, 14-15ft.

The exception was my dad's uncle's house on the farm which still used a wood fired boiler for hot water and they cooked on an Aga and made their own electricity with a Lister single cylinder stationary engine with a great big flywheel.

With all the sport we play showering is a twice daily occurrence most days. I'd hate to think how that would work with weekly baths!

[Flanoman]

That's interesting. While we had an old house (1920's) almost all houses had a hot water cylinder when I was growing up. Heating and cooling was by means of air-conditioning and various electrical heaters. I suppose we had quite a nice house even though it was old. Mind you, I still have a love for old houses with high ceilings, 14-15ft.

The exception was my dad's uncle's house on the farm which still used a wood fired boiler for hot water and they cooked on an Aga and made their own electricity with a Lister single cylinder stationary engine with a great big flywheel.

With all the sport we play showering is a twice daily occurrence most days. I'd hate to think how that would work with weekly baths!

Well our sports playing days usually ended in a cold shower 🥶 so maybe thinking about it I had more than one bathing experience per week😇

[Parallax]

Our reactions are far worse than the situation.
To quote Pogo: We have met the enemy, and he is us".

[MarkJerling]

I should have added, although my childhood bathing was weekly, daily (or more) washing of feet, hands, face and (for some reason I've never quite figured out) behind the ears was expected and enforced. This was with regular soap and cold water, or the remains of the hot water after its main use had been satisfied...

Yes! What was it with the obsession with washing ears? I would have thought 'butt' would be far more sensible than 'ears'.

[robtcorl]

Coal oil was the cuts and scrapes remedy when I was a kid.
Looks like it was used for other things as well:
What Are the Medical Uses of Coal Oil? (with pictures)

[BigMackCam]

When we went camping my mom used to say "A little clean dirt never hurt anyone."

Your mom was right Rob, it is ALWAYS the dirty dirt that will get ya.

I realise I'm taking this thread even further off topic, but... ah, what the heck. These are strange times, and threads like these could use a bit of light-hearted discussion... so I'm cutting myself a little slack

So, talking about my childhood bathing regimen had me thinking about cleanliness standards in general back then ("then" being the 1970s - I was born in '69).

For my earlier childhood we lived in a house that was part of a single, solitary row of mildly-updated miner's "two up, two down" cottages, miles from anywhere, in the middle of the countryside. I think there were maybe ten or twelve of them in total, plus the old pit manager's cottage which was separate. Obviously there were no parks or playgrounds nearby, so the country lanes and many, many fields were our play areas... and, this being a relatively wet part of the northern European region, it was quite typical for the ground to be muddy except in mid-summer (sometimes then, too ). Hence, frequently - especially at weekends - we kids used to spend hours playing in, and making crude models from, "clarts" (our regional word for rather wet mud). Looking back, said "clarts" would almost certainly have contained insects, wild animal waste, and all manner of bacterial horrors - which were caked on our hands, under our finger-nails, certainly got smeared on our clothes and faces, in our hair, and occasionally in our mouths. Frequent (but not obsessive) washing enforced by our mums probably kept us reasonably clean externally, but I've no doubt our bodies ingested or were otherwise invaded by all sorts of germs. We lived... and I suspect we built up some degree of immunity to a number of those germs.

I mention this not in relation to COVID-19, which is clearly a virus and a different sort of thing altogether... but our unsavoury playing habits and weekly baths didn't seem to do us any harm, or put us at any disadvantage compared to today's ultra-clean, ultra-hygienic society... of which I am, admittedly, an unapologetic member...

[MarkJerling]

I realise I'm taking this thread even further off topic, but... ah, what the heck. These are strange times, and threads like these could use a bit of light-hearted discussion... so I'm cutting myself a little slack

So, talking about my childhood bathing regimen had me thinking about cleanliness standards in general back then ("then" being the 1970s - I was born in '69).

For my earlier childhood we lived in a house that was part of a single, solitary row of mildly-updated miner's "two up, two down" cottages, miles from anywhere, in the middle of the countryside. I think there were maybe ten or twelve of them in total, plus the old pit manager's cottage which was separate. Obviously there were no parks or playgrounds nearby, so the country lanes and many, many fields were our play areas... and, this being a relatively wet part of the northern European region, it was quite typical for the ground to be muddy except in mid-summer (sometimes then, too ). Hence, frequently - especially at weekends - we kids used to spend hours playing in, and making crude models from, "clarts" (our regional word for rather wet mud). Looking back, said "clarts" would almost certainly have contained insects, wild animal waste, and all manner of bacterial horrors - which were caked on our hands, under our finger-nails, certainly got smeared on our clothes and faces, in our hair, and occasionally in our mouths. Frequent (but not obsessive) washing enforced by our mums probably kept us reasonably clean externally, but I've no doubt our bodies ingested or were otherwise invaded by all sorts of germs. We lived... and I suspect we built up some degree of immunity to a number of those germs.

I mention this not in relation to COVID-19, which is clearly a virus and a different sort of thing altogether... but our unsavoury playing habits and weekly baths didn't seem to do us any harm, or put us at any disadvantage compared to today's ultra-clean, ultra-hygienic society... of which I am, admittedly, an unapologetic member...

Come to think of it, "clarts" as you call it, or wet mud was a favourite plaything of mine too! Being Africa, we had to concern ourselves with Anthrax, Malaria, Bilharzia, African tick bite fever and Tuberculosis. Not to mention drinking water that may not have been that clean.
I'm sure all that mud was good for our immune systems!

COVID-19 as caused by SARS-CoV-2, is closely related to the first SARS virus, both these likely originate from bats. Hopefully I'll have some immunity from exploring caves when younger. Or not.

[noelpolar]

Finally something I can understand....

Youtu.be

Youtu.be