By this point cleanliness was generally considered important in Europe, though the degree and actions taken to achieve it vary from region to region. You'll regularly hear that they "bathed" only a few times a year, which is technically true. However, bathing specifically refers to submerging the body in water and makes no reference to how often they washed. Daily washing was done from a basin of water, which is much easier to move about, heat, and keep clean than an entire tub. A clean body also depends heavily on clean clothing. The shirt, shift, or smock that is worn against the skin is made from white linen and would be changed (at least) daily and could be scoured and bleached to get it clean if need be. This was termed "dry washing" and since most of our bodies sweat and dirt comes off in our clothing, rather than in the shower or bath, it is actually fairly successful. In addition to how the overall body was cleaned, most notations refer to regularly washing the face with clean water and always washing the hands before meals. Also, weirdly enough, lice do not like dirty bodies. They prefer clean heads with no hair product (or clean bodies). The use of pomade and powder as an early form of dry shampoo and leave-in conditioner not only put off lice from infesting the head, but the pomade often contained oils which act as an insect repellent. While the methods of cleaning were different for Europeans compared to the Japanese, it was often because of practical limitations like water access. Other methods were developed and were generally successful if followed, though as we know today not everyone keeps up with personal hygiene no matter how easy it may be. You might be interested in listening to our Podcast on the subject of cleanliness.