Contrary to popular belief, bathing was popular in Medieval Europe. So much so that soap production was an around-the-clock operation in certain countries. Fell out of favor with the Black Death, when pseudoscience said opening pores with bathing had made people more susceptible to disease. Frequent bathing took several centuries to come back. In the 19th century, Queen Victoria boasted of taking a bath once a month even when she did not need to.
What if bathing had never fallen out of favor?