What did we use before toilet paper?

Before toilet paper was wildly available, there were several alternatives used. Sticks to sponges, and even corn husks were used in bathrooms!

In a full-circle moment, many Brits and Americans were recycling. Shopping catalogues and newspapers were also used in out houses. Although, unlike Feel Good, it wasn’t recycled into a soft, bright, white roll…

Toilet paper wasn’t made commercially available in the west until 1857. American Joseph Gayetty began selling ‘Medicated Paper.’ The paper was treated with aloe, giving it a ‘soothing’ medicated quality. 

The product slogan for the early toilet paper may have been ‘the greatest necessity of the age’ but that wasn’t the general consensus. Gayetty labelled a ‘quack’ by some people in the medical community!

However, it wasn’t all positive – users could still be caught out by a splinter!