What Was Used Before Paper and Toilet Rolls Were Invented?

Its amazing what comes to you while tarrying awhile in the small room, isn't it? I;m all for a natural product myself, so some of the suggestions of leaves and things sound good to me! Hmm, lets see, can we come up with a top ten possibilities? 1. Next doors toilet paper. If you run out -we're all friends here! Don't be afraid to pop round next door - don't trip up now, remember yer pants are round yer ankles - and say, I'm sorry, but could I just trouble you for a sheet or two? Most will oblige, if only to get rid of you... 1. Paper towels (otherwise known as kitchen paper) Not the cheap stuff, mind - you'll get no absorbency there. On the other hand, beware the type that is a good two inches thick, it'll never flush and you'll be plunging til midnight bringing up all manner of previous doings. 3. An item of your partners clothing. Face it ladies, he leaves socks, shirts, goodness knows what, scrunched in a gross damp little ball after he takes it off, then later he picks it up and puts it back on. Really, is he going to notice a bit of extra dirt? 4. The bath towel. The pure white clean fluffy bath towel. Take it down, do what you need to and be sure to hang it up again the other way round. Out of sight, out of mind, am I right?! 5. Postcards from the fridge. I have several stuck to my fridge with magnets....the great thing with this one is you won't need the magnets to stick them back on afterwards, and can use them for something else less...um...sticky.... 6. A stuffed toy. Go on, admit it, you still have that one you've had since you were a kid. Its been YEARS since you last threw up on it and had to have your mum wash it. It feels unwanted, unloved, without a purpose in life. Make its day... 7. What did you THINK you had hands for? 8. Now you have a use for all those pointless coupons and receipts you never use from the supermarket. Keep them in a box by the toilet for those days when you're running low. 9. Ah, who says we need to wipe? Make like the medievals, it'll all work its way loose eventually - spray a bit of perfume, 'nuff said! 10. I love my cat, she is VERY clean and always washing herself. Pick her up, make use of her and watch the ultimate self cleaning toilet product get to work! I hope this is helpful. I wouldn't want any of us to be stuck without anything to use....

I do not know really know what is being used during the stone age of the cavemen, but they manage to populate the world with the modern homosapien. I guess they use water to wash their lower organs and have a big leaves uses as a wiper. Your ideas is a little fine during those days..and even you were born in those times you get to accept the normal practices and have no right to be choosy..They only use whatever are the available means to make their life comfortable using crude technology..

Strangely enough I went to Lunt Fort recently, an old Roman fort near here and there was a sponge on a stick that the Romans used to use. Can't tell you about any others though but probably something similar. It didn't say whether they washed the sponges or threw them away.

I'm gonna bet that royalty had people to do their wiping for them. Yech, what a job! Other than that, different cultures probably had different solutions from leaves to cloth to water. This definitely goes on my list of reasons why I'm happy not to live in an earlier age without modern conveniences!

Hey there wolfie34 What a lovely discussion . Well I think maybe people used large leaves or something. Actually in middle eastern countries they don't use toilet rolls or tissues at all so my answer to this would be plain old water and yur hand I'm afraid. I know this from first hand experience my friend. You kind of wash you bits and pieces at the same time washing your hands if that makes sense. Knowing this you would never want to shake my hand if ever we were to meet would you? LOL

Hi wolfie, this is an interesting discussion! I think that I will go as far back as the common caveman! I'm wondering what the poor chap did back then? I dread to think! I'm thinking that perhaps he used some of that famous dinasour skin! It's a subject that doesn't bear thinking about for too long! Moving forward to modern times once more though I'm thinking that the splashing of water certainly makes a lot of sense. I don't know if this applies but I remember that old tracing paper that used to be used during my school years! Well, I'm just grateful that everything has changed and we have some really decent toilet paper nowadays! Andrew

In most places, you didn't use anything. You used the wiper God gave ya. If you were lucky enough to have old newspapers, or catalogues, you used that. Or corn cobs.....ewwww.

Interesting discussion wolfie! I don't know what royalty used, but we humble pleasants used newspaper - yes, scratchy, inky newspaper! I remember it was our job as kids in the family, to cut up the paper into squares and string it together to hang up in a convenient place! A bidet would have been nice, but we didn't have that luxury! I don't know what they used before paper - the mind boggles!

Hello wolfie. I think that it was by using water or dried straw to make it clean after using the toilet or bathroom in the very old days. I find it hard for me to imagine what else to use for it. Thank you for the discussion, wolfie. Good day.

Hey! Ah, I would say they used rags and then would hand wash them in the creek with water and a homemade soap. If you wanna go further back then I would say they used grass and leaves and a hole . I think at the times they always made do and figured them out . I am sure they thought it was a great idea when the rags came along . Who knows what they will be using in a 100 years from now . I think TP works though LOL . Happy lotting!

I believe I read somewhere on the net that rags were used back in the midieval days. I forget. That's an interestng question. Before paper, people wrote on papyrus that was soaked for a long time and then flattened out to write on. That's where we get the word 'paper'. Purrs, Catwoman=^..^= & Mija

Interesting question lol. Since I love history, from what I've learned, people have used pages from books, corn cobs (ouch!!), wads of grass or leaves, and whatever else got the job done lol. I could just plain kiss whomever finally "invented" TP. Karen

There are many countries where toilet rolls are not used, instead water is used. Don't worry, you don't have to get water from a bucket or something like that, there will be specifically designed long taps made of plastic, rubber or steel for the purpose.

I would have to say it was leave's. Native american's used leave's, and small piece's of leftover hide. I can say that water most likely was not used, because in many place's people drank from stream's so they would not wash their back side's in the stream's. In fact My grandfather said when they were out in the wood's in the Winter time they used snow.

I thought like your sister right away rags, plenty of uses for old sackcloth imagine if the children ever got a feel of Mom's silk??? Or maybe it was time for new drapes when they no longer covered the windows... Strips of fabric hanging all around and why the scarcity of washing? Who gets to carry in the water? Then to heat it up or bathe cold? There are a lot of things to consider about the 'old days'... Good times I don't remember...

That's interesting. i'm not sure about 'paper' depend on when paper invented. Before that I'm thinking water, and use rag or towel to dry it.

Aahhmmmm... For all the amusement this topic evoked in me, my brain can only come up with one answer... Leaves. I figure in the days before there was a proper method of disposing of oneself (even before the advent of the outhouse), people used to releive themselves in the bushes and just reach up and use the means provided by nature to clean up themselves. Thats my take on the pre-toilet paper issue. Other than that I can only think of stones. Ouch... Must have been smooth stones.

rags....just like what women used before the invention of sanitary napkins and tampons....YOU ASKED! LOL

Hi Wolfie, I must ask about that in the cafenion as it's only been within the last fifty years or so that somplaces in this area actually had toilets, so presumbely used the olive groves. I hasten to add this is a rural location. So I would have thought that leaves of some description would have been the answer, or possibly old bits of olive sacks.

That's quite an interesting topic. To be honest, I do not really know with what people used to clean themselves. I would guess that they would use buckets of water to clean themselves. I would not be surprised if there were some people who would just dip themselves into a lake/river to clean themselves.