What was hygiene like in the 1500's?

Answer 1

hygiene was severly poor, due to the poor hygiene diseases like cholera and influenza spread very quickly and consequnetly killed 1 in 20 british people in the 1500's.

sewage often flowed down the streets with people having to walk through it.

it was said that more people married in may and June as these were the times when the poor had their yearly baths!

Answer 2

During the 1500s in Europe, male hygiene was fairly atrocious by today's standards. Hot water was a luxury for the extremely wealthy (and "hot" generally meant "above air temperature"), so bathing was extremely rare and may only have taken place once or twice a year - people were cleaned more often by working in the rain than deliberately cleaning their bodies. Soap was generally a caustic lye, so washing the face, arms or clothes meant causing damage to the skin or cloth and was done infrequently - possibly once a week or so. Oral hygiene (brushing teeth, flossing, etc) was unheard of, and cavities and tooth abscesses were common. Hair was generally brushed when possible, although most serfs and peasants couldn't afford a brush or comb.