I’ve sponge-bathed most of my body with paper towels and room temperature water in public restrooms at the end of a dance weekend, when I’ve already checked out of my hotel room and I’m sweaty enough that i want to freshen up and change before sitting on an airplane for hours. It’s much better with real towels/sponges, which aren’t recent inventions.
I think there was a period when parts of Europe considered bathing to be a sensual pleasure (and thus immoral), but they felt the same about food, nice clothing, and sex, and many people indulged in those things, too.