[Avodah] mugmar bkeilim

[Micha Berger]

On Sun, Oct 26, 2025 at 06:07:13AM +0200, Joel Rich via Avodah wrote:
> Does anybody know historically when mugmar was used to perfume clothes, was
> it a one time thing for when they were sold or was it an ongoing thing done
> every so often for people to  perfume their clothes?

Laundering meant hours of banging clothes on rocks at the stream.

(Even as "recently" as 17th cent New Amsterdam. There was a wall at
the north end of the colony, where Wall Street is now. And just outside
was a brook that was a popular spot to send your daughter to do the
laundry -- today's Maiden Lane.)

So, scenting clothes that were getting stale, or that washing didn't
freshen up enough was a way to stretch the time between launderings in
in many cultures.

The Romans would burn incense and hang the clothes over the smoke.
The word "perfume" comes from "per fumum" -- through smoke. Exactly
how Chazal describe mugmar.

I don't know how often they scented their clothes, but according to
https://imperiumromanum.pl/en/roman-society/hygiene-in-ancient-romans/ancient-roman-perfume
"Even an ordinary citizen smeared not only himself but also his horses
and dogs with fragrant oils three times a day on average."

So I would guess that clothing was frequently perfumed. (More often
than I guess when I answered on Facebook, 2 weeks ago.)

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 In the days of our sages, man didn't sin unless
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   he was overcome with a spirit of foolishness.
Author: Widen Your Tent      Today, we don't do a mitzvah unless we receive
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF    a spirit of purity.      - Rav Yisrael Salanter