In the Middle Ages, people source ingenious ingredients to tackle stubborn stains. Henry VIII’s laundry risks causing a scandal. The Ancient Romans use questionable substances to clean their clothes. And the first washing machines revolutionise life in the home… A Noiser production, written by Nicole Edmunds. For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started with a 7-day free trial. Or, if you’re on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It's around 1600 BC and we're in Egypt, on the banks of the River Nile.
The sky is painted a deep navy blue, the water like a dark spill of ink across the landscape.
Slowly, a woman emerges from the river and climbs onto the grassy bank.
Though her naked body is illuminated by the fading moonlight, she doesn't mind.
There's no one around to see her at this pre dawn hour.
Sliding her wet feet into her sandals, she slips a robe over her skin before bending forward and plucking a fistful of rushes from the bank.
She loads them into a basket before heading home.
When she reaches her house, she enters the kitchen and starts rummaging through various boxes and baskets.
First she selects a pot of salt and sprinkles the grains over the rushes.
Next, she pulls out a long curved stick of ivory from a locked drawer.
It's covered with intricate carvings of wild creatures and gods with the heads of animals.
She carefully places this on the low table in the middle of the room.
The woman continues to move through her kitchen as though in a trance, juggling pots of honey and milk and miniature figurines of goddesses, until her table is piled high with an assortment of curiosities.
You see, this woman is a midwife.
Like most ancient Egyptians, she believes in performing magic to aid a birth.
Today she'll pray to the gods to protect a first time mother during the dangerous hours of her labor.
And the spell she has in mind must be performed.
At dawn, with all her ingredients collected, the woman trots into the garden and hurries towards an Egyptian lavender bush.
A fresh white linen dress is laid carefully over it.
She rinsed it in the waters of the Nile yesterday before leaving it outside to dry in the sun.