Hygiene and Healthcare

Low-Tech: Grooming

Comb (TL0). Often made from wood or bone, combs were frequently left in the hair, used for adornment as well as grooming. $3, 0.2 lb.

Razor (TL0). Stone blades were used for cutting hair by 30,000 B.C. Metal blades for shaving, often half-moonshaped or oval, appeared around 3000 B.C. $18, 0.2 lb.

Bathtub (TL1). The earliest Minoan portable bathtubs were small, similar to early modern hip baths. Earthenware tub: $160, 60 lbs. Metal tub: $1,600, 80 lbs.

Brush (TL1). The earliest Egyptian hairbrushes used reed bristles, like a modern broom. Use of stiff animal hair developed later. $6, 0.5 lb.

Strigil (TL1). This tool resembles a dull knife with a badly bent blade. Before the advent of soap, a bather was covered with oil, which was scraped off using the strigil, carrying dirt with it. While usually thought of as a Greco-Roman tool, examples go back to around 3000 B.C. Some strigils come in sets of different sizes to clean different body parts, connected like keys on a ring. Each strigil: $6, 0.5 lb.

Tweezers (TL1). Originated around 2000 B.C., probably to remove body hair. $5, neg.

Soap (TL2). The first soaps, possibly appearing in the first century A.D., were semi-liquid and harsh, made by mixing lye (see Other Chemicals, p. 26) with oils. At TL3, as early as the ninth century, Mediterranean soap-makers processed liquid soap with salt water, separating the solid soap – which was pressed into bars – from the harsher impurities. Pint of liquid soap: $20, 1 lb. Bar of solid soap: $27, 1 lb.

High-Tech: Hygiene and Healthcare

Several day-to-day measures can prevent health problems – especially in hostile environments.

Soap (TL5). Daily use gives at least +1 to HT rolls for Contagion and Infection . Month’s supply: $1, 0.25 lb. LC4.

Grooming Kit (TL5). A leather Gladstone, vanity, or toilet bag holding comb, hairbrush, razor, toothbrush, soap, aftershave, shoepolish kit, etc. $25, 0.5 lb. LC4.

Foot Powder (TL6). Gives +2 to resist fungal infection of the feet: "trench foot," "jungle rot," etc. Week's supply: $4, 0.5 lb. LC4.

Insect Repellant (TL6). Gives +3 to resist insect-borne diseases. A 10-use bottle of "mosquito dope": $2, 0.25 lb. LC4.

Salt Tablets (TL6). Prevent dehydration, giving +1 to HT rolls to avoid FP loss due to heat (see Heat). Each tablet treats a quart of water. Bottle of 50 tablets: $1, 0.1 lb. LC4.

Sunscreen (TL6). Provides DR 2 vs. sunburn (see Heat) for 2-4 hours. Four-use bottle: $2, 0.25 lb. LC4.

Vitamin Pills (TL7). Compensate for poor diets, allowing subsistence on nutritionally inadequate food. Month's supply: $3, 0.1 lb. LC4.

Hand Sanitizer Gel (TL8). Kills most germs in seconds and then evaporates. Regular use gives at least +1 to HT rolls for Contagion. Week's supply: $1, 0.01 lb. LC4.

Ultra-Tech: Grooming and Style (TL9-10)

Cleaning Gel (TL9): A quick-hardening gel that the user applies, then peels off along with any dirt. Using it is akin to the ancient technique of applying olive oil and scraping it off. Bottle with seven applications: $7, 1.5 lbs.

Smart Brush (TL9): A motorized micro-brush and vacuum cleaner used to remove dirt without water, often used in the field, on desert planets, or on spacecraft. $50, 0.5 lbs., B/24 hr.

Depilatory Cream (TL10): Painlessly removes hair, and prevents growth for long periods (different brands do so for a month, a year, or permanently). Comes in bottles good for several topical or one whole-body application. $10, 0.1 lb.

Digital Shampoo (TL10): Often included with shampoos and soaps, these electrostatic films assemble when exposed to water and bind to hair, turning it into a programmable video screen. Hair-care products can break down the hair films or reinforce them, acting as high-tech styling gels and conditioners. Most become useless after a month, but weekly applications are common. $10/application.

Smart Hairspray (TL10): This hair coating is based on slipspray or buzzfabric technology. When applied, the hair automatically sheds dirt and maintains flexibility. $2/application (lasts 1 week).

Grooming Spray (TL10)

This device looks like a deodorant stick with a small control at the base. It is an applicator-programmer that releases a swarm of microscopic machines ("groomers"). The user sets the groomer to "mark," then sprays out boundary-marker machines that delineate the area to be groomed; the spray nozzle adjusts to cover an area from a square inch to a square foot. Then the user resets to one of a dozen "groom" settings and releases groomers into the bounded area, which they won’t leave.

The groomers trim body, facial or head hair or fur down to the setting-specified minimum length in millimeters (a setting of zero will depilate). They also can be set to remove dirt or dandruff, or to apply dye. The job takes about 30 seconds. Used ‘bots self-destruct within an hour or two: they are non-toxic and will degrade harmlessly if exposed to ultraviolet light or intestinal flora. Grooming spray is $10, 0.1 lb. (30 uses). LC4.