Hey . . We're out of urine !

[Doug]

So, I'm watching TV and a Tide laundry detergent commercial comes on.

 

It says the ancient Romans washed their clothes in heated urine.

 

So I Googled, and sure enough, the commercial laundry used primarily urine and water to clean (!) clothes.

 

They would leave jars around town and folks could 'donate' . The jars were collected and used in the laundry business.

 

Ahh . . The good old days 

[Tortuga]

Ok, you don't want to know what the Romans used sponges for...

[hatcheckgirl]

NOOOOOoooooo!!!!

 

[New World Explorer]

I'll be following this thread closely ..LOL

[tekmantwo]

6 hours ago, Tortuga said:

Ok, you don't want to know what the Romans used sponges for...

Their teeth, right?.....😨

[Brother_Bliss]

That's terrible.

 

I read something similar about the other, more solid, human waste. While God's Law to Israel was to bury it thoroughly, the surrounding nations treated it like soap.

[Loopy]

🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

[hatcheckgirl]

Well, what'd you know!  That urine is mighty useful stuff:

 

Modern Science uses it for:

• As a source of electric power. Urine-eating bacteria can create a strong enough current to power a cell phone.
• Medicines derived from urine can help treat infertility and fight symptoms of menopause.
• Stem cells harvested from urine have been reprogrammed into neurons and even used to grow human teeth.

The Ancients used it for:

• Urea decays into ammonia, which breaks down organic material. Urine-soaked leather makes it soft and was useful in the tanning industry
• Even though early Europeans knew about soap, many launderers preferred to use urine for its ammonia to get tough stains out of cloth.
• Urine not only made your whites cleaner, but your colors brighter, because the ammonia acted like a mordant (helped to develop the color of dyes as well as to bind it to cloth).
• Gunpowder - prior to the 20th century,  makers of gunpowder took advantage of the nitrogen naturally found in pee to make the key ingredient for ballistic firepower.
• Urine gives you a whiter smile, and as a mouthwash - Romans again (urghhhh!) That's the ammonia again.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/from-gunpowder-to-teeth-whitener-the-science-behind-historic-uses-of-urine-442390/

[GeordieGirl]

Where's the eeergh!!! or eeewww!!!!  button when you need it. 

[Tortuga]

9 hours ago, Doug said:

It says the ancient Romans washed their clothes in heated urine.

I remember 'washing' my pants and bed sheets a few times, I don't know why my mom got so upset, I was just helping to do the laundry... 

[hatcheckgirl]

Yes, they do smell ammonia-ish...