I came across this rather splendid web page, and thought it very interesting - however, the link doesn't necessarily work as intended. When I tried to link it for the Pepys Diary webgroup's email list it came up with something that looked rather pornographic and made me blush at having provided the link. Hence, I am copying it here as well as providing the link, which may or may not work.
The Practical Uses of Pee
While most of us think of pee as something to get rid of, some people -- both in modern and historical times -- have thought of pee as something to acquire, that is, as a useful and valuable substance which can be put to such uses as:
Tanning Hides
In the first century AD, the Roman's so valued the use of urine in the tanning industry that they imposed a tax upon it (the Roman Pee Tax. Most cultures never went that far in acclaiming it's worth. However vast numbers of cultures did discover the value of urine in tanning animal skins. Some merely sprinkled (tinkled?) urine on the toughest part of the hide, to soften it for working, while others actually soaked the hide directly in a container of pee.
One of the tasks acomplished through pee soaking was to dissolve fatty tissues and flesh that had remained on the hide after skinning. Once soaked in urine, the tissues semi-dissolved and could be scraped off much more easily. (Flesh left on the hide will stiffen and rot.) In a later phase of the tanning process, urine is rubbed onto the outside of the skin to remove any unwanted hair as well as the out layer of skin. Mixed with quicklime and wood ash, the urine loosens the hair, allowing it to be scraped off.
Color Dying
Urine has a variety of uses in the dying industry. First, it acts as a cleansing agent, removing oils and dirt -- especially important in preparing wool for dying. Reportedly, the resultant wool, once dried, is not only much cleaner, but also extraordinarily soft to the touch.
The second use for urine is as an extracting agent. Specifically, certain natural substances, when soaked in stale urine, will yield up a highly valued and highly useable pigmentation. For example, fermenting the lichen orchil in old pee will yield a lovely purple coloration that can then be used to die wool and cotton.
Finally, urine may be used as a dying medium and fixative. Add your coloring agent to the urine, toss in your wool or cotton, let soak, and voila. Interestingly enough, some who've experimented with the process say that fresh urine is better for this part of the process -- as rotten pee leaves in the fabric a rotton pee odor.
Naturally, if one thinks about the quantity of fabric necessary to make a large item of clothing (such as a dress or cloak), one cannot help but ponder the fact that a large quantity of fabric would require a large volume of liquid in which to be soaked for dying. The obvious question therefore is, "Where is all this urine coming from?"
And the answer is that most folks save up their own or their family's urine for the process. However, urban legend in remote parts of the U.K. would have it that some dyers used to leave a tub out for the lads to fill on their way home from the pub. Certainly there would be a value in having such ready contributors of fresh urine (such as a better smelling and more hygenic dye), but there is no proof that this practice really took place.
A more peculiar piece of folk history claims that some dyers would only use the fresh urine of nursing infants. The urine, which was obtained by squeezing out the diapers, then made from dried moss (in Britain at least), was saved until there was enough for a batch of dye. While this practice may seem a bit peculiar, as though harking back to witchcraft and superstitions, it is worth noting that breast fed babies do not have the same nasty odors in their sweat, urine, and poop as do adults and children eating solid food (especially meat).
Bleaching
While zillions of products marketed in the supermarket and online profess to clean away urine stains, giving the sense that urine is a powerful soiling agent only, urine itself has actually been used as a bleaching agent for centuries -- perhaps millenia. This fact may make more sense when you consider that both bleach and urine are strongly alkali and that both have the ability to dissolve or disintegrate biological material (seen Tanning, above. Nonetheless, most modern folks balk at adding fresh urine to the laundry machine ("But won't it make the clothes stinky?"), although they are quite confident about pouring nasty smelling, caustic bleach in with the wash.
But of course it is not the stink that makes urine a good bleach. It's the ammonia. (Don't believe me? Check the ingredients on a bottle of Mr.Clean.)
Curing Tobacco
While it's hard to tell how extensive this practice really was, it is documented that at least some folks found that hanging their tobacco in the outhouse mellowed it and, oddly enough, lessened the stink it created when burned (as in a gentleman's after dinner cigar). Go figure.
Information about the origin of this practice is sketchy. But it is intriguing to note that the 1771 edition of Encyclop
Actually, Maurie, you should check the Discovery Channel and Mythbuster's research on the fallacy of urine helping a jellyfish sting.
It does not help. The jellyfish's excreted organelles in your skin will continue to fire venom again and again if they are exposed to liquid that is different from saltwater. Freshwater rinses, urine, they were all found to exascerbate the problem.
Urine is an excellent preventive/cure for athlete's foot. It is also helpful for "jock itch."
Peeing on the feet in the shower, or soaking with a urine saturated cloth are two ways to handle the feet. The saturated cloth is the best way to handle the fungal infection known as jock itch.
By extension, one would think that a douche, washing the vagina and vulva with fresh urine might help with vaginal itch as well.
About vaginitis: It is possible for a woman to have all the signs of vaginal itching and burning caused by a fungal infection, but not be infected and get no relief from the usual treatments, including urine. In this case, the next question (actually the first question the Doc should ask,) is "Are you on the pill?"
Most birth control medicines, especially Orthonovum and it's relatives, work by fooling a woman's body into believing she's already pregnant. Pregnant women have a very high vaginal pH, meaning the vagina becomes acid. I assume this is Un'chi Maha's (Grandmother Earth's) way of killing off bugs and undesired sperm from subsequent sexual activity after a woman becomes pregnant. One diagnostic differential here is whether or not the woman's sex partner has the problem as well. If so, look for the elevated pH. Too much of a good thing. The remedy is a weaker dosage of the birth control medicine, or a different medicine.
Most traditional American Indians believe that Great Spirit did not give us anything we don't need. All we have to do is stay open and see the rich environment we have around us in a positive way. How can urine be bad?
"The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth."
I can't offer informed judgment of any of Mr. Lock's medical assertions (perhaps some of our physician readers can), but my confidence in them is not enhanced by his equating high pH with acidity. The reverse is the case - the lower the pH, the more acid the substance.
I have heard that Urine can turn hair into a red colour. Is it true? In the tudor times, many women dyed their hair with urine to have hair like Queen Elizabeth I and their hair became read, or so i have read. Is it true that urine can turn your hair red or is this another myth?
Well I've experimented with Urine Therapy for many years off and on. I"m more intensely on* at this time: drinking alot and bathing in older urine as well. The importance of a clean diet is a big factor. The urine is clear, pretty nuch tasteless. This time after reading a book "The Golden Fountain", I read about urine as laundry soap and i've been using it with great results. Clothes clean and fresh, and no smell. Yesterday's laudry experience: Two stains, one blueberry mess and one turmeric, came clean with one wash. I was thrilled! My hair hasn't turned red but it is less frizzy and more lustrous. My skin is soft and smooth. I've definitly become much more discriminating about what I put in my mouth. Too bad if this freaks you out ;)
9 Annotations
First Reading
Jenny Doughty • Link
I came across this rather splendid web page, and thought it very interesting - however, the link doesn't necessarily work as intended. When I tried to link it for the Pepys Diary webgroup's email list it came up with something that looked rather pornographic and made me blush at having provided the link. Hence, I am copying it here as well as providing the link, which may or may not work.
The Practical Uses of Pee
While most of us think of pee as something to get rid of, some people -- both in modern and historical times -- have thought of pee as something to acquire, that is, as a useful and valuable substance which can be put to such uses as:
Tanning Hides
In the first century AD, the Roman's so valued the use of urine in the tanning industry that they imposed a tax upon it (the Roman Pee Tax. Most cultures never went that far in acclaiming it's worth. However vast numbers of cultures did discover the value of urine in tanning animal skins. Some merely sprinkled (tinkled?) urine on the toughest part of the hide, to soften it for working, while others actually soaked the hide directly in a container of pee.
One of the tasks acomplished through pee soaking was to dissolve fatty tissues and flesh that had remained on the hide after skinning. Once soaked in urine, the tissues semi-dissolved and could be scraped off much more easily. (Flesh left on the hide will stiffen and rot.) In a later phase of the tanning process, urine is rubbed onto the outside of the skin to remove any unwanted hair as well as the out layer of skin. Mixed with quicklime and wood ash, the urine loosens the hair, allowing it to be scraped off.
Color Dying
Urine has a variety of uses in the dying industry. First, it acts as a cleansing agent, removing oils and dirt -- especially important in preparing wool for dying. Reportedly, the resultant wool, once dried, is not only much cleaner, but also extraordinarily soft to the touch.
The second use for urine is as an extracting agent. Specifically, certain natural substances, when soaked in stale urine, will yield up a highly valued and highly useable pigmentation. For example, fermenting the lichen orchil in old pee will yield a lovely purple coloration that can then be used to die wool and cotton.
Finally, urine may be used as a dying medium and fixative. Add your coloring agent to the urine, toss in your wool or cotton, let soak, and voila. Interestingly enough, some who've experimented with the process say that fresh urine is better for this part of the process -- as rotten pee leaves in the fabric a rotton pee odor.
Naturally, if one thinks about the quantity of fabric necessary to make a large item of clothing (such as a dress or cloak), one cannot help but ponder the fact that a large quantity of fabric would require a large volume of liquid in which to be soaked for dying. The obvious question therefore is, "Where is all this urine coming from?"
And the answer is that most folks save up their own or their family's urine for the process. However, urban legend in remote parts of the U.K. would have it that some dyers used to leave a tub out for the lads to fill on their way home from the pub. Certainly there would be a value in having such ready contributors of fresh urine (such as a better smelling and more hygenic dye), but there is no proof that this practice really took place.
A more peculiar piece of folk history claims that some dyers would only use the fresh urine of nursing infants. The urine, which was obtained by squeezing out the diapers, then made from dried moss (in Britain at least), was saved until there was enough for a batch of dye. While this practice may seem a bit peculiar, as though harking back to witchcraft and superstitions, it is worth noting that breast fed babies do not have the same nasty odors in their sweat, urine, and poop as do adults and children eating solid food (especially meat).
Bleaching
While zillions of products marketed in the supermarket and online profess to clean away urine stains, giving the sense that urine is a powerful soiling agent only, urine itself has actually been used as a bleaching agent for centuries -- perhaps millenia. This fact may make more sense when you consider that both bleach and urine are strongly alkali and that both have the ability to dissolve or disintegrate biological material (seen Tanning, above. Nonetheless, most modern folks balk at adding fresh urine to the laundry machine ("But won't it make the clothes stinky?"), although they are quite confident about pouring nasty smelling, caustic bleach in with the wash.
But of course it is not the stink that makes urine a good bleach. It's the ammonia. (Don't believe me? Check the ingredients on a bottle of Mr.Clean.)
Curing Tobacco
While it's hard to tell how extensive this practice really was, it is documented that at least some folks found that hanging their tobacco in the outhouse mellowed it and, oddly enough, lessened the stink it created when burned (as in a gentleman's after dinner cigar). Go figure.
Information about the origin of this practice is sketchy. But it is intriguing to note that the 1771 edition of Encyclop
Ding Kalis • Link
I've also heard of atheletes peeing on their toes (in the shower, one presumes)to stave off athelete's foot.
Maurie Beck • Link
The nitrogen in urine also counteracts the venom from some jellyfish.
daphne • Link
Actually, Maurie, you should check the Discovery Channel and Mythbuster's research on the fallacy of urine helping a jellyfish sting.
It does not help. The jellyfish's
excreted organelles in your skin will continue to fire venom again and again if they are exposed to liquid that is different from saltwater. Freshwater rinses, urine, they were all found to exascerbate the problem.
Carl H. Lock • Link
Urine is an excellent preventive/cure for athlete's foot. It is also helpful for "jock itch."
Peeing on the feet in the shower, or soaking with a urine saturated cloth are two ways to handle the feet. The saturated cloth is the best way to handle the fungal infection known as jock itch.
By extension, one would think that a douche, washing the vagina and vulva with fresh urine might help with vaginal itch as well.
About vaginitis: It is possible for a woman to have all the signs of vaginal itching and burning caused by a fungal infection, but not be infected and get no relief from the usual treatments, including urine. In this case, the next question (actually the first question the Doc should ask,) is "Are you on the pill?"
Most birth control medicines, especially Orthonovum and it's relatives, work by fooling a woman's body into believing she's already pregnant. Pregnant women have a very high vaginal pH, meaning the vagina becomes acid. I assume this is Un'chi Maha's (Grandmother Earth's) way of killing off bugs and undesired sperm from subsequent sexual activity after a woman becomes pregnant. One diagnostic differential here is whether or not the woman's sex partner has the problem as well. If so, look for the elevated pH. Too much of a good thing. The remedy is a weaker dosage of the birth control medicine, or a different medicine.
Most traditional American Indians believe that Great Spirit did not give us anything we don't need. All we have to do is stay open and see the rich environment we have around us in a positive way. How can urine be bad?
"The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth."
Paul Chapin • Link
elevated pH
I can't offer informed judgment of any of Mr. Lock's medical assertions (perhaps some of our physician readers can), but my confidence in them is not enhanced by his equating high pH with acidity. The reverse is the case - the lower the pH, the more acid the substance.
pauline donovan • Link
I have heard that Urine can turn hair into a red colour. Is it true? In the tudor times, many women dyed their hair with urine to have hair like
Queen Elizabeth I and their hair became read, or so i have read. Is it true that urine can turn your hair red or is this another myth?
micha • Link
Well I've experimented with Urine Therapy for many years off and on. I"m more intensely on* at this time: drinking alot and bathing in older urine as well. The importance of a clean diet is a big factor. The urine is clear, pretty nuch tasteless. This time after reading a book "The Golden Fountain", I read about urine as laundry soap and i've been using it with great results. Clothes clean and fresh, and no smell. Yesterday's laudry experience: Two stains, one blueberry mess and one turmeric, came clean with one wash. I was thrilled! My hair hasn't turned red but it is less frizzy and more lustrous. My skin is soft and smooth. I've definitly become much more discriminating about what I put in my mouth. Too bad if this freaks you out ;)
Janna Hilbrink • Link
I was amazed to find that the spelling of the word for colouring was without an e. Surely it is "dyeing" and cloth has been "dyed", not died!