What Did Ancient Civilisations Use Before Toilet Paper?

Before toilet paper became an everyday product, ancient civilisations relied on water, sponges, pottery fragments, cloth and materials gathered from nature. Their choices were shaped by climate, available resources and social status, resulting in hygiene practices very different from those familiar today.

What did Romans use in public toilets?

In Roman latrines, the best-known item was the tersorium: a sponge fixed to the end of a stick. Some accounts suggest it was rinsed in salt water or vinegar and used again, although researchers still debate whether it was used directly for personal hygiene or to clean seats and drainage channels.

Roman public toilets featured rows of seats alongside channels carrying flowing water. Depending on what was available and on each person's financial position, leaves, moss and pieces of cloth may also have been used.

• Sea sponge attached to a wooden handle;
• Flowing water in channels beside the seats;
• Leaves and moss gathered nearby;
• Small cloths used by those who could afford them;
• Containers of water for rinsing the implements.

How did Greeks maintain hygiene without paper?

In Ancient Greece, some people used pessoi, rounded fragments of pottery or smooth stones. These objects were easy to find and could be reused, illustrating how hygiene relied on accessible materials, even though they were far less comfortable than modern products.

When did the Chinese begin using paper?

China provides one of the earliest known records of paper being used for personal hygiene. A sixth-century text states that certain papers bearing the names of sages and important passages should not be used in this way, suggesting that less valued sheets were already serving this purpose.

Before paper became widespread, people also used wooden or bamboo sticks with cloth wound around one end. Examples recovered from ancient Silk Road latrines retained traces confirming their sanitary use. This development included:

• Thin wooden or bamboo sticks;
• Pieces of cloth fixed to one end;
• Water used alongside the implement;
• Paper sheets available to privileged groups;
• Scented papers made for the imperial court.

Which natural materials were used in other regions?

People living near rivers used water, jugs and containers for cleaning, whereas communities far from plentiful water sources turned to leaves, sand, snow, smooth stones, straw, hay and corn cobs. The range of items used before modern toilet paper was created shows that no single method was shared by every society.

Ancient hygiene reflected each society's resources

The habits of ancient civilisations cannot be judged solely by modern standards. Clean water, soft cloth and paper were costly or difficult-to-access resources, so each community used what it could gather from its surroundings or produce in sufficient quantities.

Commercial toilet paper only emerged in the nineteenth century, taking decades to become common in homes. Until then, water, reusable implements and natural materials performed the same basic role, demonstrating that intimate practices also changed alongside technology, sanitation and the production of everyday goods.