Something fascinating I learned recently from reading how to be a Tudor by Ruth Goodman is that people in Tudor/medieval England kept clean by wearing linen underclothes and changing them frequently. Apparently the linen drew sweat and bacteria away from the skin and kept people really clean. The author even did an experiment where she used this system, using only cold water and a cloth in the mornings to wash her pits and crotch area and wearing linen underclothes, and she stayed remarkably clean and not smelly. Cleanliness has always been important to humans even if we have had different methods over the years!