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Thursday, May 22, 2025

How Did People Trim and Maintain Their Nails in Medieval Times?

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Changes in Time

There was a huge gap between the culture difference when we compare the ancient period with the early to middle medieval period.

The difference can be seen pretty easily because when Crusaders first came to Constantinople they were amazed by the difference regarding how they lived life.

But as time passed by and Europe left the “dark agea” it began to develop.

Europe started to adapt to a certain lifestyle that included hygiene.

Development in Hygiene

Hygiene is something that should be taken seriously, but how well did hygiene fare in the middle ages?

Well, people didn’t bathe much in the medieval period.

Especially if we compare them to the Byzantine Empire or even the Romans who tended to use baths.

Various diseases could spread caused by this low level of hygiene.

Because people did not take a lot of baths, they had various smells surrounding them and they were hard to get rid of so people got used to it.

Dental hygiene, face grooming or even changing wardrobe was important.

Have you ever thought about nails?

How could people trim their nails back when they lacked the tools we have today.

Growth in Appearance

An average person could care less about appearance because they were focused on surviving and reproducing.

But as prestige grew, so did the desire to look good.

This was mostly in the upper classes of society, the nobles.

Having long fingernails wasn’t an option because it would make you look uncivilized.

So people started to use various fingernails removal methods.

What was Working?

What was the method of removing nails in medieval times?

The first option was cutting your nails with a small knife, but this was considered dangerous because you could hurt yourself, and miss cutting a nail could hurt pretty bad.

You couldn’t rotate your fingers and toes and you had to cut very carefully.

Scissors were invented and were even around during the time of the Babylonian kingdom, but they were for cutting hair and trimming the beard.

Breaking your nails was another alternative, letting them grow in order to break them at a certain point and afterward remove it with your hands or re-cut it with a knife.

Also, sandpaper materials were useful, you could always remove the nail by using sandpaper. This was useful for the toenails.

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