] There's been some talk about pollution and clothes and washing.
] What about bathing? In the 18th century personal hygiene came into fashion again after having been less so in earlier times.

I think that could be one of those modern myths. According to my Tudor Housewife book, being clean and washing your body was as important then as it is now, and there were many recipes for soap and even for washing powder (for clothes) made of wood ash. Apparently, it's quite effective. The oft-repeated quote that Elizabeth 1 had a bath every year 'whether she needed it or not' is apparently referring to a particular bath taken for health reasons and not cleanliness. Certainly even back then, the underclothes of wealthier people were regularly washed and so were their bodies, so I can't believe it was much different by JA's day.

Even without running water, it's perfectly possible to have a good 'strip down' wash without a bath. When I was a little girl living in 19th century housing in Bermondsey (near Tower Bridge, London), we had no bathroom - so 'strip down' washing was what you did. It was quite rare to have a bath, because it was such a hassle, but no one was dirty. In fact, people were scrupulously clean, and took great pride in keeping their houses clean. I have my grandmother's huge jug and bowl,(special name for them - Linden or Caroline will know) used for taking washing water to the bedroom. JA and her contemporaries would have been brought a large jug of warm water in the mornings for 'ablutions', and would have washed in the bowl.

We had a big tin bath that was kept in a shed, and if someone used it, the kitchen was off limits until they'd finished - which was why no one used it much ;-) We did have hot water, but only from an Ascot heater, which is a gas heater fitted above the kitchen sink. In JA's time (and actually not so long before my time), there would have been a large copper in the kitchen for heating water, so they could wash in warm water. I believe that sometimes baths were taken in the washing water, but I might be wrong on that. In P&P2, we do see Mr Darcy taking a bath in a portable bath in an upstairs room. An indication of wealth - he had the servants to carry all that water, and enough space for the bath.

Part of the 'lack of cleanliness' idea of the 18th century comes, I believe, from the fashion for the huge hairstyles. They used some very strange things for keeping the hair and wigs in place - including lard and flour, which went rancid and couldn't have helped to keep clothes clean. By 1800 that fashion had mostly died out, which helped people to be cleaner. Of course they didn't have deodrants like we do, and menstruation can't have been much fun. But they did have soap, water and perfumes. Most country people could have made lavender and rose water.

And I like your mention of the local spa! Even now if you look at the map of Bermondsey, you will see that there is a Spa Road. That's where the spa was. It certainly was a later 19th century building, full of cubicles, each of which contained a bath. By the time I was old enough to visit, the baths had running water but in my parents' time (1930s, the baths were filled from large jugs. One of my Dad's jokes is 'More hot in No. 3" - referring to asking for more hot water in a cubicle.

I never visited the spa for bathing purposes (this was early 1960s), but I did used to go with my aunt to take the family washing there - it was a forerunner of a launderette.

So, to come back to JA's day, I don't think that spas existed then, but I do think that most people (well, people with access to water anyway) were able to keep reasonably clean. Mrs Austen allowed her children to be brought up in their early years by a family presumably poorer than the Austens, and I'm sure she would have wanted them in a clean household.

What does anyone else think?