Usually when we think of toilet water is will automatically remind us of how unclean and unpleasant smelling it can be. That is, if you are thinking about the water that is in bathroom commodes. There is another type of toilet water that was very popular in the past, only did not smell bad at all. It was a cheaper version of perfume that people used, especially women. Toilet water was a diluted type of perfume that came in various scents. The most popular of these scents were lavender, rose, and jasmine.

These fragrances got name of the toilet water because the entire bathing process was referred to toilet. The toilet process might include a bath in a tub or just a washing off so to speak. It would also include combing the hair and dressing. Washing in scented water while bathing or just dabbing some on after or between baths was part of the toilet. It sounds a little funny, but that is what it was called.

The perfumes and colognes that we use today probably smell considerably stronger than the ones of previous years. Today they are made with many more chemical additives where in the past more natural ingredients were more frequently used. The toilet water of the past and the perfumes of today are all meant to give the same end result, a better smelling body.

Toilet water was important in past history for many society folks because full body baths were indulged in less frequently and underarm deodorant was not yet used. It is common knowledge that during the 1700 and 1800's people might not always smell that pleasant because in some cases it was hard to get a full bath. When you think of how many buckets of water it required to fill up even a small wash tub, it could be a laborious process to have a bath this way. If you were lucky enough to have servants during those times, a tub bath was easier to get because someone else would prepare it for you, but the average person did not have that luxury.

Today we do not mind paying some pretty elaborate prices for our powerful smelling toilet waters. Celebrity scents are all the rage right now. It seems that almost as soon as a celebrity reaches a certain level of fame, the next thing you know they have a clothing line and a signature perfume. We must like them because we buy their bottles by the millions. The only thing is they would probably never call their scents toilet water.