Urine - medieval uses

Garry Lavin's Science Safari - Making Explosives from Urine > .

How Urine was used to Diagnose Illnesses [Medieval Professions: Pissprophet] > .

Putting the P in Pee - Human Urine & Historic Discovery > .

Explosive Facts About the Invention of Gunpowder - TopT > .

Urine - once useful, now "waste" - anth >> .
Science - Today I Found Out >> .

Nowadays westerners waste gallons of water flushing away of one of the most useful chemicals of the Middle Ages.

Urine.

Urine comprises approximately 95% water, 2.5% urea (the ammonium salt of cyanic acid), and 2.5% other substances—metabolic wastes, excess sugar, minerals, and medications excreted either metabolized or unaltered. With an average NPK ratio of 11-1-2, urine also contains calcium, chloride, sodium, magnesium, sulfates, and phosphates.

A healthy individual produces sterile urine, though subsequent bacterial action releases alkaline ammonia, producing a useful chemical with a pungent odor.

Chief medieval uses of urine:

Leather – hair removal, tanning, softening

Dyeing – mordant

Fulling and laundry – chamber lye cleaning, bleaching

Gunpowder – KNO3 (potassium nitrate, saltpetre) used as oxidizer in combustion process

Agriculture – source of nitrate fertilizer

Diluted urine as fertilizer in (modern) garden > .
https://youtu.be/6DJloHh_ZYc?t=460 .
Urine as fertlizer ..   

    

Urine - once useful, now "waste":

Hennig Brand, 1669
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/05/phosphorus-discovered-trying-turn-human-pee-gold/

Accidental Chemistry (including urine): Historical Laundry > .

A Brief History of Soap > .  

External links:

From Gunpowder to Teeth Whitener: The Science Behind Historic Uses of Urine .

The unusual uses of urine .
History of Laundry .
Can Human Urine Replace Chemical Fertilizers? .
Gee Whiz: Human Urine Is Shown to Be an Effective Agricultural Fertilizer .
How To Use Pee In Your Garden .
How Urine Can Be Used to Make Gunpowder (and Other Interesting Pee Facts) .
Urine 24-hour volume .

? https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=urine+medieval ?

Urine (canine) damage on plant leaves > .