Roman society was never a single biological people but a cultural world shaped by Romanitas, shared ideology, values and expectations. Articles on this site examine how identity, status, sexuality, slavery and everyday life operated within that cultural system, using ancient sources to understand how Romans expressed power, negotiated belonging and made sense of their world. This article explains how Romans washed their clothes, focusing on the work done in fullonicae, the professional laundries found across the empire, including the well preserved example at Pompeii. It outlines why stale urine was used as a cleaning agent, how ammonia helped remove grease from wool and what methods fullers used, such as treading the cloth in vats.
How did Romans wash their clothes
“The achievements of the textile industry in Roman Britain are often underestimated as a result of the meagreness of our available evidence. The Edit on maximum prices issued by Diocletian in A.D. 301 shows British capes (byrri) commanded high prices on the markets of the Empire and that in the late third century A.D. British rugs (tapetia) were some of the best in the world”
Wild, J. P. “Soft-Finished Textiles in Roman Britain.” The Classical Quarterly, vol. 17, no. 1, 1967, pp. 133–35. JSTOR
Roman laundry was a serious craft, not a domestic afterthought in daily Roman life and as we can see from the discussion on British textiles, not all fine fabrics originated in the Mediterranean basin.
Most Romans, especially in towns, relied on professional fullers working in fullonicae, like the well preserved, Fullonica of Stephanus at Pompeii on the Via dell’Abbondanza. Clothes, often heavy white wool, were soaked in vats filled with a mixture of stale urine and water, then trodden underfoot by workers to drive the liquid through the fibres.
Urine was collected because it was cheap and chemically useful. As it decomposes, urea breaks down into ammonia, an alkaline substance that helps dissolve grease and lifts dirt from cloth. Experimental reconstructions show that stale urine can clean wool as effectively as mild soap and, once rinsed and dried, the fabric need not retain a noticeable smell.
The question of odour is important. Literary sources and modern research suggest that fullonicae stank, and Pompeian laundries seem to have used architecture to manage this: open courtyards, wide doorways and windows helped vent fumes, protecting customers more than the workers who spent their days in the vats.
After treading, garments were thoroughly rinsed in fresh water, sometimes treated with sulphur, brushed and dried on racks, which would further reduce any lingering urine smell on the cloth itself, even if the workshop air remained pungent.
This labour was often done by slaves. Their bodies were literally part of the machinery, stomping in cold, foul liquid for hours. Linking laundry practices to slave labour reminds us that Roman cleanliness rested on invisible, exploited labour, moving through noisy, smelly backstreet spaces that rarely appear in elite narratives.
Limentinus is a non‑commercial digital micro‑publication exploring life through liminality, power, sexuality, ancient slavery, identity, and everyday behaviour, written with academic responsibility and structured as a digital‑humanities project. It carries no advertising and generates no income. Images from public collections are credited to their institutions and used under their stated public‑domain or non‑commercial terms, with gratitude for the work these institutions make accessible. Rights holders with concerns may contact limentinus@duck.com for prompt resolution.
Further Reading
- Slave Meta Hub A structured gateway into Rome’s systems of ownership, coercion and domestic brutality.
- Roman Religion: Meta Hub Explores the rituals, household cults and civic expectations that shaped Roman identity and behaviour.
- Rome: Daily Life Meta Hub A survey of ordinary routines, labour, domestic authority and the social pressures that governed everyday life.
- The Roman World A wider contextual hub covering politics, culture, geography and the shifting ideals of Romanitas across the empire.
- Roman Sex and Sexuality: Meta Hub
- Granger-Taylor, Hero. “The Emperor’s Clothes: The Fold Lines.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, vol. 74, no. 3, 1987, pp. 114–23. JSTOR. Accessed 11 Sept. 2026.
- Flohr, Miko. 2016. “Beyond Smell.” In The Fullonicae of Pompeii: Investigating Roman Textile Production, edited by Miko Flohr, 63–82. London: Routledge.
FAQ
Elite Romans didn’t wash clothes at home. They took them to a fullonica, a professional laundry workshop. Clothes were soaked in tubs filled with water, clay, and stale urine, then stamped by workers who trod on them with their feet to loosen dirt. After rinsing, garments were rinsed, brushed, stretched, and hung to dry.
Yes. Urine was collected in public jars and used because its ammonia content acted as a natural cleaning agent. Fullers mixed urine with water and clay to create a powerful detergent. It wasn’t considered disgusting, it was simply part of the urban economy of cleaning.
Fullonicae were staffed by slaves, and poor labourers. Laundry work was physically demanding: stamping tubs, hauling water, wringing cloth, and brushing garments. Some fullers specialised in whitening, dyeing, or finishing garments, making the fullonica a key part of Rome’s textile industry.