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Clean like the Romans :-)

I whish I could:001_tt1:

I believe the tool they used is called a strigil.

Why can't they be found for sale in today's world:confused1:eek:

Like a body shave:biggrin:

:smile:mace
 

Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
right, first you get oiled up, and then use the strigil to scrape off the oil along with any dirt or grime that might be there. All that olive oil must be good for the complexion ...
 
The beauty of the modern world is we don't have to scrape our bodies with seashells or strigils or tree bark. Soap and running water are things I don't think I'd want to live without. Perfumed oils, patchouli, et al don't count as showers. Or clean for that matter.

As a side note - pacthouli is about $800/gal. How the hell do hippies and homeless people afford the stuff? Heh.





p.s. No offense to hippies, homeless people or anyone else that likes the smell of patchouli. I don't like it. All I can think of when I smell it is dirty people. Sorry.
 
The beauty of the modern world is we don't have to scrape our bodies with seashells or strigils or tree bark. Soap and running water are things I don't think I'd want to live without. Perfumed oils, patchouli, et al don't count as showers. Or clean for that matter.

As a side note - pacthouli is about $800/gal. How the hell do hippies and homeless people afford the stuff? Heh.

p.s. No offense to hippies, homeless people or anyone else that likes the smell of patchouli. I don't like it. All I can think of when I smell it is dirty people. Sorry.

+1!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!! I love you, brother!!!!
 
Go to a store that sells horse tack and look for a sweat scraper. It's just a big strigil. But, I wouldn't recommend using the serrated edge unless you're trying to get rid of your winter coat.

Moose
 
The beauty of the modern world is we don't have to scrape our bodies with seashells or strigils or tree bark. Soap and running water are things I don't think I'd want to live without.

Absolutely!! And we can choose to use soap, running water and a strigil:cool:
I like to use a sponge or a brush, but would like to use a strigil as well:001_tt1:


I think it was more of a scraper than a shaver.
Indeed! but in the spirit of......kind'a:rolleyes:

I'll keep-a-looki'n :001_tt2:

/mace

Hmmmm? I guess it wouldn't come with a slave.....Perhaps i should give it a miss then......
 
I was a member of this outfit http://www.erminestreetguard.co.uk/ back when I was a late teen in the early 90s. All armour, weapons and daily accouterments were made by members strictly based on archaeological finds in Britain under Vespasian. We used to "oil and strigil".

Key things I recall:
1) oil needs to be warm
2) one really needs to have just come out of a sauna/turkish bath, or at the very least from a regular bath as hot as one can tolerate
3) one really needs a partner to do the scraping
4) As with the wet shaving rubric of "remove the lather, not the beard" one needs to "remove the oil, not the dirt"

It is (or was-- haven't done it id ca. two decades) amazingly effective.

Don't believe me? Go wash you hands with soap and water. Now take a penknife and scrape the palmar side of any finger, proximally-->distally. I guarantee you will see gunk on your blade.
 
The beauty of the modern world is we don't have to scrape our bodies with seashells or strigils or tree bark. Soap and running water are things I don't think I'd want to live without. Perfumed oils, patchouli, et al don't count as showers. Or clean for that matter.

As a side note - pacthouli is about $800/gal. How the hell do hippies and homeless people afford the stuff? Heh.





p.s. No offense to hippies, homeless people or anyone else that likes the smell of patchouli. I don't like it. All I can think of when I smell it is dirty people. Sorry.
Well Romans didn't live without soap or running water either. The view that people in the past mainly lived in their own filth is a myth.
 
The beauty of the modern world is we don't have to scrape our bodies with seashells or strigils or tree bark. Soap and running water are things I don't think I'd want to live without. Perfumed oils, patchouli, et al don't count as showers. Or clean for that matter.

As a side note - pacthouli is about $800/gal. How the hell do hippies and homeless people afford the stuff? Heh.





p.s. No offense to hippies, homeless people or anyone else that likes the smell of patchouli. I don't like it. All I can think of when I smell it is dirty people. Sorry.

What do you think smells worse - rancid olive oil left over from hundreds of "scrapings" or a patchouli soaked hippie?
 
Yep, they had running water at least 1000 years before we did.
Owen... I have to ask... are any of our members Immortals? Because I don't think any of us were around then... Also the dudes on Crete had running water before the Greeks figured out talking to each other over stabbing each other. Watched a doc about how Crete was part of an empire that was crazy smart... just the capitol was built on a volcano and when it went off everyone had a bad time.... I will have to look it up, it was really good.
 

oc_in_fw

Fridays are Fishtastic!
Owen... I have to ask... are any of our members Immortals? Because I don't think any of us were around then... Also the dudes on Crete had running water before the Greeks figured out talking to each other over stabbing each other. Watched a doc about how Crete was part of an empire that was crazy smart... just the capitol was built on a volcano and when it went off everyone had a bad time.... I will have to look it up, it was really good.

None of us were around then, we know from historical records.
 
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