Bath towels were relatively expensive until the early nineteenth century due to the time consuming methods of creation. The textile industry mechanized the process and reduced costs. Bathing was not seen as an everyday event just a few hundred years ago as it is in modern times. Most 19th century bath towels in existence was probably used behind or on top of the washstand. This stand held the wash basin and a pitcher of water prior to indoor plumbing. Towels were hand-woven, natural linen. It wasn’t until the late 1800s that the soft and absorbent terrycloth replaced plain linen bath towels.