Ancient Romans would take their dirty tunics to fullers, who would wash the garments in tubs of water by stomping on them like they were grapes. For highly soiled garments, urine collected from the public restrooms would be substituted for the water.
The fuller business was often the largest commercial enterprise in a Roman town. Because most of the robes were white and easily showed the dirt, there was a lot of the liquid gold consumed in these laundries. Emperor Vespasian, in the true spirit of a bloated governments everywhere, imposed a tax on the urine so used.
For more information on fullers, please click here.
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