Panaglinis na Agagamil na Totoon Daan
(Social Practices)
Cleanliness is viewed as next to godliness, that is why turning to traditional cleaning practices is second nature to locals. Unclean members are looked upon with contempt, as proven by many negative words associated with the unhygienic (dugyot, burayen, dadarayet, etc.). The synonyms of dirty include marutak, maringot/maringdingot, amoringot, amoringis, and kandingot. More nuanced terms the indicate excessive dirt include atibatib, mannelnab, mandetdelpet, manpikat, manpikkat, beryutak, atingapol, and makagi-kagit. Amoyanggo is used to describe the disheveled hair of someone who just got out of bed, and its synonyms include asaganet, amurakday, and atili-tili (hair that got entangled in a very messy way). Words for disorganized include atalangkab, mantataligabuan, asiwaklat, akitungilang, manuusilan, magulo-gulo, makalat, and mantatabugis.
Cleaning is therefore a routine act -- whether cleaning the body, the day-to-day objects used, the house, the farm and farm animals, or when a major occasion like the New Year is fast approaching.
Panaglinis na agagamil na totoon daan refers to traditional cleaning practices of our ancestors using natural, non-pollutive agents, long before the availability of commercial cleansers or cleaning agents and cleaning tools.
In Brgy. Bani, for example, Eduardo Macaraeg Villanueva, 79, and Pacita Santiago Villanueva, 78, attest that fellow residents traditionally made use of common materials for purposes of hygiene and house cleaning: hay as shampoo, stone as skin-cleansing tool, guava shoots and stem with salt as toothbrush, wood ash and/or sand as soot remover, and candle or banana leaves as floor polisher, among other things.
Panaglinis na buwek gamit so dayami
Dayami or hay from rice is used as an effective hair shampoo called usang. Hay is ground using mortar and pestle and then burnt to ashes. The ashes are soaked in water, producing a black paste. This material is touted to make one's hair darker, thicker, shinier, and silkier.
Panaglinis na laman gamit so igor tan 'tae'
A rough, hand-sized stone is used to remove grime from the body during bath time. With gentle scrubbing, the stone, called igor, also exfoliates the skin, improving its appearance and stimulating blood circulation.
A blue-green bar commonly called 'tae' was used as body soap. This was also used alternately as dish-washing soap and laundry soap back in the day when it was the only available soap that could be purchased in the market.
Calamansi juice and tawas (alum) are traditionally used as underarm deodorant.
Panangpesak
In laundering clothes, the original batya or wash tub was made of hollowed out hardwood. The tabig or palo-palo was, of course, also made of wood.
Panaglinis na ngipen gamit so ulnos na bayawas tan asin
The ulnos na bayawas (guava shoots) are collected from the tree for use as toothbrush. These are folded and used to scrub the tooth’s surface until it gets smooth.
The little stem of the guava is skinned and the thinner end is flattened into a brush and used as toothbrush. The stem may also be improvised as toothpick.
Rock salt may also be used as scrub to keep teeth and gums healthy, as salt has antibacterial property. The index finger is used as the brush using a small amount of salt.
Panaglinis na pinanlutuan gamit so dapol tan buwer
In this practice, a damp cloth or bunot (skinned coconut husk) with dapol or wood ash is used to clean kitchen utensils, especially stainless pots and kettles as well as utensils made of aluminum. Wood ash is an effective rub against sooty surfaces.
Buwer or sand may be used in combination with, or in lieu of, dapol.
Dapol may also be used as toothpaste, laundry detergent, and to get rid of slime in freshwater fish prior to cooking.
Panaglinis na datal gamit so gas tan kandila o epas na bulong na ponti
Candle is melted over fire and mixed with gasoline, and the mixture is allowed to cool until ready to use. To start waxing, a piece of cloth is dipped in the hand-made floor wax.
Likewise, the succulent midrib of banana leaves has a natural substance to make the floor waxy. The stalk is used to scrub the surface of the floor until it shines.
Panag-gisigis na anto ka man ya marutak
Long before sponges and steel wool can be readily bought in stores, the abrasive leaves of the oplas tree was used as scrubbing pad, to clean anything that needs an abrasive cleaner. Oplas is also called is-is (Ficus ulmifolia), a local fig tree species.
Panaglinis na abong (House cleaning in general)
Today's vacuum cleaners and tornado mops are a far cry from cleaning tools of old. There were the native brooms, panis tambo, panis tingting, and panagtapa. Panis tambo is a broom made of tambo grass, while panis tingting is a broom made of coconut or kaong sticks fashioned from the leaves -- it may have a long handle (broomstick) or not. Panagtapa is a cobweb broom whose very long pole is made of a young thin bamboo stem (kawayan bolo) and whose end is made of fibers from the smashed hardy part of coconut frond (palapa).
Dustpan is, of course, used as a partner of these brooms to collect all the dirt and dust.
A local belief that survives to this day is that sweeping the floor or yard at night brings bad luck, so night cleaning is considered taboo. So is sweeping the floor or yard during wakes, so as not invite another death or bad luck. Panis tingting is also related to witches locally, but in a reverse way, not as a witch's ride up in the air: It is said that whenever an alleged witch visits one's house, one must place an upturned panis tingting by the door, so the witch will be dissuaded from entering the house. Another practice that employs the panis other than for cleaning is to shake the broom in the face of an oncoming inclement sky to stave off bad weather before the day of an important event or activity.
Retazos or scraps from old clothes are repurposed as lupot (rag) or panagpunas or punas (wipe), to wipe away dirt or to dry the hands. Chicken feather dusters are also popular as dusters.
A traditional toilet bowl brush is made of coconut coir material.
***
Because of the availability of assorted commercial cleaning tools, implements and agents, the above practices are now either gone or rarely resorted to -- except for the house brooms. These traditional cleansers and cleaning implements, however, can be considered today as environment-friendly alternatives.
NAME OF PROFILERS/MAPPERS: Mrs. Rowena Delos Reyes, Ms. Jamilla S. Karim, Kirsten Gail G. Duque, Mica Pontaoe, Mikka Dianne Soriano, Rochelle Verseles, Jan Ivy Taluban
DATE PROFILED: June 8, 2019
SCHOOL: Bayambang National High School
ADVISER: Mr. Christopher Q. Gozum
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