Who Invented the Flush Toilet? The History of Toilets & Wiping

Queen Elizabeth I used the first flush toilet

The flush toilet and toilet paper are essential attributes of modern civilized life. But have you ever wondered how the outdoor outhouse evolved into the modern fixture that does all the dirty work for us? While outhouses were once the global norm and can still be found in remote areas today, it is surprising to learn that the flush toilet was actually described as early as the late 16th century.

A primitive toilet utilizing a constant stream of water appeared 5,000 years ago, and early sanitation systems were used in several ancient civilizations, including the Romans and the Indus Valley cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa [1].

However, the concept of the modern toilet was conceived much earlier than one might think. The first such device was described in 1596 by Sir John Harington, an English courtier and godson of Queen Elizabeth I.

Although Harington's invention was limited by the technology of his time, it was a massive leap forward. His original model featured a 2-foot (0.6 m) deep oval bowl waterproofed with pitch and resin, fed by a water cistern installed above it. Flushing this rudimentary fixture required 7.5 gallons (28 liters) of water, a significant challenge in an era before indoor plumbing existed.

Who invented the flush toilet? Enter Thomas Crapper

Harington described his masterpiece in a satirical pamphlet titled "A New Discourse of a Stale Subject, Called the Metamorphosis of Ajax." The word "Ajax" was a pun on "a jakes," a popular slang term for a toilet at the time.

Queen Elizabeth I was the first to enjoy these palace conveniences, using the flush toilet installed by Harington himself. However, when did flushing toilets become common? It took several more centuries and the Industrial Revolution's advancements in manufacturing and waste disposal for them to see widespread use.

In 1775, Scottish inventor Alexander Cumming was granted the first patent for a flush toilet. His design featured a major improvement: an S-shaped pipe (S-trap) beneath the bowl that prevented sewer gases from entering the room.

The fixture continued to evolve, incorporating new elements until it closely resembled the modern toilet.

So, who invented the flushing toilet in Victorian times? While often mistakenly credited as the sole Crapper toilet inventor, the 19th-century London plumbing impresario Thomas Crapper did not invent it from scratch. But what did Thomas Crapper invent exactly? He significantly improved the tank-filling mechanism, creating a ballcock design that is still used today. Crapper also founded Thomas Crapper & Co, a sanitary equipment company that remains in operation [3].

A toilet brush in a gladiator's suicide story

The history of toilets is incomplete without mentioning toilet paper and how wiping became a daily habit.

Today's store aisles offer an overwhelming variety of toilet paper, allowing shoppers to choose the number of plies, softness, and even scents or printed patterns. Imagine if every trip to the bathroom reminded you of lavender and pink trains.

Early humans, however, did not enjoy such luxury or variety.

In ancient times, people wiped themselves with stones and rinsed with snow or water from local bodies of water. Later, other natural materials came into use. Some cultures, for instance, gathered shells or even animal furs for their personal hygiene [2].

The first toilet brush was essentially invented alongside these early wiping methods. According to Erica Rowan, an environmental archaeologist and lecturer in classical archaeology at the University of London, the resourceful use of early toilet tools is evidenced by a story from the Roman philosopher Seneca. He wrote of a gladiator who devised an unusual method of suicide: he went into a toilet and shoved a stick with a sponge attached to it down his throat [2].

These sponge sticks, known as tersoria, were either single-use or cleaned in a bucket of vinegar and salt water for repeated use.

Greco-Roman populations employed an even more inventive method. They often brought broken pieces of ceramics (ostracons) into the latrine to wipe themselves. These fragments were frequently inscribed with the names of their enemies, a literal way of exacting revenge.

Special edition perfumed toilet paper in the 14th century

Scraps of cloth resembling modern toilet paper fragments were found in the sewers of Herculaneum, an Italian town buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. However, experts doubt these were used for wiping, as cloth was handmade at the time, making it a highly time-consuming and expensive resource.

The first recorded use of paper for hygiene was documented in 6th-century medieval China by the scholar Yen Chih-Thui. Initially, "true" toilet paper was more of a luxury item than a basic hygiene necessity. By the early 14th century, the Chinese were producing roughly 10 million packages containing 1,000 to 10,000 sheets each. The year 1393 marked the dawn of perfumed toilet paper, when thousands of scented sheets were specially manufactured for the family of Emperor Hongwu.

When was the toilet invented in America? Or rather, the modern bathroom tissue to go with it? Commercially available toilet paper appeared in 1857. Joseph Gayetty introduced it in New York, selling it in packs of 500 sheets for 50 cents.

The first toilet paper rolls appeared in 1890, and by 1930, the manufacturing process was improved to produce splinter-free paper.

The American toilet paper industry set a high standard early on, focusing on producing softer, stronger, and more absorbent rolls that shaped modern expectations.

In ancient Rome, public toilets consisted of stone or marble benches with a row of holes. Visitors could forget about privacy—they likely never even expected it—as there were no partitions, and everyone shared the same communal wiping sponge.