People living in the North Carolina colony 300 years ago had very different standards of cleanliness and hygiene than we do today. People did not take baths very often; in fact they believed that it was unhealthy to do so. Of course, there was no running water then, so taking a hot bath was a lot more work than it is today. Water would have to be hauled from the well or the river, and heated over open fires in large pots. there were no bathtubs, so the colonists would have to take sponge baths.

      there were no flush toilets then either. People had to relieve themselves outside, or, if they could afford it, they could purchase a pottery container called a chamber pot. Sometimes these pots fit into chairs that served as toilets, but other times, people just squatted over the pottery bowl. These bowls would later be emptied outside on the ground or into a hole dug for household trash. Archaeologists found an undecorated delftware chamber pot at the Eden House site. This type of chamber pot was common in the period between 1680 and 1735.