Thieves Wash - My 14th Century "Hand Sanitizer"
Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2019 11:05 pm
As we all know, cleanliness while ranging is key to ensuring that we are all fighting fit. Though it often gets forgotten as an important component for our kits. Less so for day tripping with your gear, but especially when camping for an extended period of time. Even if it is only a one night camp, if you don't take care of your basic hygiene a fun outing or overnight could become a nightmare. Often time the big issues can be solved by a bar of soap and whatever body of water you may be camped near. But what happens if you are on the trail, or are forced to camp far from an abundant source of water? I certainly wouldn't waste the drinking water I was carrying. Most times people in our group of rangers rely on those little bottles of hand sanitizer, but those really aren't period in any way.
So I was doing some research into various Medieval concoctions (i.e. perfumes and toiletries) that I could make to sell at one of our fall events. It was more of a Medieval event, but it involved various battles and we rangers formed a corps of archers. Part of the event was an expanded market village scenario with vendors and medieval street food, music, bonfires, and later on cramming into a small tavern building to enjoy some good ale and wine. I wanted to make a little extra silver (yes we also use reproduction currency as well as modern for our transactions ) so I decided to do some research and make a few concoctions.
So back to the point! In my research I came across a reference to thieves during the Black Death that would wash their hands, faces, and the jewelry they stole from plague victims with this combination of spices and alcohol. Rumour has it that the thieves had actually been perfume and spice merchants before they went out of business (due to the Plague) who then turned to crime. It was documented that their wash included expensive spices such as cloves and cinnamon bark. So after finding this I decided to make my own version of it.
So I got some whole cloves, some bark cinnamon that I broke up into smaller pieces, and I took a few big pieces of lemon peel off a lemon with a potato peeler. I combined all of these in a mason jar and then filled them with alcohol. For the alcohol I used to different kinds so I had two different batches. The first I used was a cheap brandy, very historically accurate. The second I used was vodka. Vodka is less accurate to Medieval Europe, but considering that 'tater's exist in Middle Earth - at the very least in the Shire and I believe Bree - there is some plausibility in the existence of a vodka-like alcohol. I then let the jar sit, shaking it whenever I remembered to, for about 3 weeks. Then I strained a bottled it.
In terms of my choice of ingredients, they were largely based on the evidence I found...but in doing further research I found they have amazing health benefits perfect for this type of use. I also played around with the ingredients, namely adding the lemon peel.
Alcohol:
Alcohol, rather obviously, kills bacteria. Thus why modern hand sanitizers are alcohol based. The alcohol is also very good at extracting the beneficial oils and nutrients from the spices.
Bark Cinnamon:
Not only does it smell amazing and give off a rich brown colour when infused, but it also has antibacterial, antifungal, and antiseptic properties.
Whole Cloves:
Much like cinnamon, clove has the same sort of antibacterial, antifungal, and antiseptic properties, but can also help with acne and in pain relief. I've also heard of clove being good as a mosquito repellent, but I need to test that next spring/summer
Lemon Peel:
The lemon peel I added mostly for the scent, and because I had some spare lemons. But I find it actually helps if you have any kind of discomfort with your hands (i.e. dry skin, sores, etc.).
So a secondary benefit to making something like this from scratch with all good ingredients is that it is also 100% safe to drink. I found it was sort of like having and instant hot toddy - just add it to tea! It smells of autumn and winter and there is no reason you couldn't also use it in cooking.
All in all it was a successful endeavor. Perhaps the ingredients are not so very ME, but I would argue a certain amount of plausibility in terms of trade with the east. And this is a much more appropriate kit item than a plastic bottle of hand sanitizing gel. It works beautifully, smells excellent and I'll be carrying a bottle of this around with me whenever I range through woodlands or wastelands.
So I was doing some research into various Medieval concoctions (i.e. perfumes and toiletries) that I could make to sell at one of our fall events. It was more of a Medieval event, but it involved various battles and we rangers formed a corps of archers. Part of the event was an expanded market village scenario with vendors and medieval street food, music, bonfires, and later on cramming into a small tavern building to enjoy some good ale and wine. I wanted to make a little extra silver (yes we also use reproduction currency as well as modern for our transactions ) so I decided to do some research and make a few concoctions.
So back to the point! In my research I came across a reference to thieves during the Black Death that would wash their hands, faces, and the jewelry they stole from plague victims with this combination of spices and alcohol. Rumour has it that the thieves had actually been perfume and spice merchants before they went out of business (due to the Plague) who then turned to crime. It was documented that their wash included expensive spices such as cloves and cinnamon bark. So after finding this I decided to make my own version of it.
So I got some whole cloves, some bark cinnamon that I broke up into smaller pieces, and I took a few big pieces of lemon peel off a lemon with a potato peeler. I combined all of these in a mason jar and then filled them with alcohol. For the alcohol I used to different kinds so I had two different batches. The first I used was a cheap brandy, very historically accurate. The second I used was vodka. Vodka is less accurate to Medieval Europe, but considering that 'tater's exist in Middle Earth - at the very least in the Shire and I believe Bree - there is some plausibility in the existence of a vodka-like alcohol. I then let the jar sit, shaking it whenever I remembered to, for about 3 weeks. Then I strained a bottled it.
In terms of my choice of ingredients, they were largely based on the evidence I found...but in doing further research I found they have amazing health benefits perfect for this type of use. I also played around with the ingredients, namely adding the lemon peel.
Alcohol:
Alcohol, rather obviously, kills bacteria. Thus why modern hand sanitizers are alcohol based. The alcohol is also very good at extracting the beneficial oils and nutrients from the spices.
Bark Cinnamon:
Not only does it smell amazing and give off a rich brown colour when infused, but it also has antibacterial, antifungal, and antiseptic properties.
Whole Cloves:
Much like cinnamon, clove has the same sort of antibacterial, antifungal, and antiseptic properties, but can also help with acne and in pain relief. I've also heard of clove being good as a mosquito repellent, but I need to test that next spring/summer
Lemon Peel:
The lemon peel I added mostly for the scent, and because I had some spare lemons. But I find it actually helps if you have any kind of discomfort with your hands (i.e. dry skin, sores, etc.).
So a secondary benefit to making something like this from scratch with all good ingredients is that it is also 100% safe to drink. I found it was sort of like having and instant hot toddy - just add it to tea! It smells of autumn and winter and there is no reason you couldn't also use it in cooking.
All in all it was a successful endeavor. Perhaps the ingredients are not so very ME, but I would argue a certain amount of plausibility in terms of trade with the east. And this is a much more appropriate kit item than a plastic bottle of hand sanitizing gel. It works beautifully, smells excellent and I'll be carrying a bottle of this around with me whenever I range through woodlands or wastelands.