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Throughout history, men, women and children have built places to live in and created homes. As lifestyles, materials and technologies have changed, so have houses, and the methods we use to keep them clean.
The average Tudor house was created out of a timber frame, filled in with a material called daub. Daub is a mixture of cow dung, clay, chopped straw and lime. This made the walls quite dusty to touch. The roof was thatched with straw, and dust from the straw would drift into the living spaces. The main living room was called the hall; it had an earth floor with an open fire burning in the centre of the room. Smoke rose from the fire, and was drawn towards the ceiling by a hole in the roof. In larger houses the fire was set in a fireplace in the wall. The fireplace had a closed tunnel called a chimney to remove smoke from the room. The floor was covered with rushes to keep down the dirt. When these got too dirty, they were swept out and burned, and replaced by new ones. Sometimes herbs were strewn on the floor to create a good smell.
Many Tudors used their homes as business premises, to make products, to sell and to buy, so workshops and visiting customers would be considered a normal part of life. There were no taps and sinks. Water was hauled up from a well.
A Tudor house quickly got dirty and, as there was no electricity, all cleaning had to be done by hand. Bedding, linen and clothes were washed twice a year. Rooms were swept out, and dust kept down by sprinkled water and rushes. Standards of cleanliness were not as high as they are today, as living conditions were more challenging. Tudor men and women had to spend more time growing and preparing food, making clothes and domestic products, and looking after animals. They had little spare time for leisure, and time spent on cleaning was not a priority.
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