They did wash their hands before Semmelweis. The problem was that water and soap wasn't enough. Semmelweis wanted them to wash their hands in a really nasty c

They did wash their hands before Semmelweis. The problem was that water and soap wasn't enough. Semmelweis wanted them to wash their hands in a really nasty concoction that was bad for the skin. Lister later came up with a different nasty thing for hand washing and sterilization of equipment. Another issue is that Semmelweis' data wasn't anywhere near as clean as later hagiographies make them out to be. They were in fact very noisy -- not because he did anything wrong but because of an epidemic that came and went.