Grandma's Remedies and Grandpa's Formulas

2/8/2015

NOTE: It should be remembered that any chemical can be very dangerous when used or handled improperly. For this reason, the seller of these formulas IS NOT responsible for any mishaps associated with these formulas. THEY ARE SOLD AS INFORMATION ONLY!

"Tree" Gasoline Anti-Knock

A little spray of water carbureted into intake manifold of an internal combustion engine will dampen the "ping" nearly as well as tetra-ethyl lead ("ethyl").

Plant to Keep Mosquitos Away

The castor bean plant. Seeds available from any nursery. Plant in pots within the house; replant outdoors. Decorative and they grow like weeds!

Non-Rust Anti-Freeze

Old motor oil thinned with kerosene.

Remove Coffee and Tea Stains

Glycerine. OR ethylene Glycol ("Prestone") OR Diethylene Glycol.

Tooth Powder

Equal parts table salt, borax and baking soda. Ask your dentist.

Break a Dog from Chasing Cars

Attach a stick to the dog's collar to strike at his knees when he runs.

Remove Water Marks from Table Tops

Dissolve paraffin shavings in olive or cooking oil. Rub one way only.

Develop Fingerprints

Place a small wad of cotton, saturated with tincture of iodine, in a glass tube; blow against suspected fingerprints, and they will appear.

Burn Out Carbon in a Motor

Disconnect windshield wiper tube from intake manifold. Substitute another tube leading to a container of hydrogen peroxide. Allow this to be drawn into idling motor. Excess oxygen will burn out the carbon deposits.

Remove Rust Stains from Fabrics

Equal parts alum and tartaric acid, or 10% solution hydrofluoric acid. Rinse!

Remove Chewing Gum from Rugs and Clothing

Turpentine is most effective. Next, Benzene or other hydrocarbon solvents.

Flowers Preserved Indefinitely

Collodion, thinned with ether. Or keep stems in vase of powdered silica gel.

Super Cleaning Cloth

Ounce of oxalic acid in gallon of water. Wring and dry the cloths.

Keep Grass from Growing Near Walks

Saturate the strip with used motor oil. Not new oil.

Make Steel and Iron Tools Rust-Proof

Boil in a solution of ferric phosphate or (better) benzoate of soda.

Nickel Plate Metal

Equal parts of double nickel salts and sal ammoniac dissolved in water. Heat to near boiling and immerse the metal to be nickeled, with a scrap of aluminum or aluminum foil touching it. Rinse well in clear water.

Make Mimeograph Ink

Thin common printer's ink with kerosene to desired consistency.

Liquid Fire, Red, Green, Etc.

Methanol (denatured alcohol) costs less than 65 cents a gallon. To make a "dip" or spray for fireplace logs, add about 1/4 teaspoonful strontium nitrate for RED fire, barium nitrate for brilliant GREEN flames, common table salt for YELLOW, copper sulfate (blue vitriol) for BLUE flames, and copper sulfide for PURPLE flames.

Candles Burn Twice as Long

Dip candles in liquid shellac. The candle wax will burn... not drip.

Camp Stove - Carry in Your Pocket

Fill a can with sand and saturate with gasoline, kerosene, alcohol, etc.

Mosquitos Won't Bite

Four parts glycerine, 4 parts alcohol, 1 part eucalyptus oil. Or make a solution of equal parts of isopropyl alcohol and methyl phthalate.

Appendicitis Attack

NEVER give a laxative. Assist victim to stand on head until doctor comes.

Common Substance to Ink Makes It Waterproof

Add ink to a bit of common glue and allow to dissolve completely.

Deodorize Gasoline

Add about 20 drops of sassafras oil to a gallon of gasoline or solvent.

A Drinker Will Dislike the Taste of Alcohol

A few drops of tincture of ipecac (a word which is sometimes known as ipecacuanha). Consult your pharmacist.

Green Lawn All Winter

In the autumn, scatter Italian rye (or equivalent) grass on the lawn.

Stagnant Water Made Safe to Drink

To a quart of water add about 10 drops tincture of iodine. Let stand.

Beauty Clay from Two Ingredients

Five tsp Fuller's Earth and 3 tsp. lemon juice. Or Bentonite (clay) and water.

Treatment for Pyorrhea

Chlorine laundry bleach, daily applied with toothpick and cotton "swab".

Make Glass Sparkle

Carbon Tetrachloride, retailed in drug stores as "Carbona".

Keeps Fleas Off Dogs

A little sage. Obtainable in any grocery store in "Seasonings" department.

Open Most Sinks and Drains

Pour in a little kerosene. Let stand overnight. Results not immediate.

Fruits and Flowers Grow Larger

A little iron sulfate (green copperas) in watering fluid. Infrequently.

Fabrics and Labels Adhere to Metal

Add a little glycerine or "Prestone" to the glue or moistening water.

Transparent Paint for Glass

Mix water colors with sodium silicate solution (waterglass).

Eyeglass Cleaner

Mix together 8 oz. ammonia and 32 oz. denatured alcohol.

Mosquito Remedy

Mix oil of citronella in a common vaseline and apply to exposed areas.

Liquid Hand Soap

Dissolve any good powdered soap in boiling water, add one part alcohol to each 4 parts solution. Odor may be added when cool.

Powdered Hand Soap

Put ordinary tri-sodium phosphate in sifter can or mix 7 oz. of same with 3 oz. of fine powdered soap.

Insect and Roach Exterminator

Mix the following: Borax, one pound; powdered sugar, 60 oz.; add one oz. cocoa powder and two oz. sodium fluoride. Mix well and sprinkle around places pests are known to frequent. Keep out of reach of children!

Hydrocotyle Asiatic Teas are a Brain Food

Energizes and preserves the brain and body indefinitely. Noted for making geniuses.

Alopecia

Mullein Solutions Will Grow Hair on Bald Heads! Massage the head by taking two fingers of each hand, put on each side of the spinal cord above the hair line. Now rub up and down for two minutes. (This treatment alone has often given excellent results.) Afterwards apply the mullein and leave on. Garlic oil is also very effective to grow hair.

Dandruff

Coconut oil is most effective for stubborn cases. Superfluous Hair: Use 20 vol. peroxide. This is not the ordinary peroxide but twice as strong. This will in time discourage hair growth.

Gray Hair

Massage sulphur well into the scalp once a week for a few weeks, and partake of sulphur foods whenever possible.

Liquor Cravings

Gold Thread mixed with Golden Seal in teas creates a violent distaste for alcoholic drinks. A few grains of epicae added to liquids nullifies all desire for liquors. Cigarette Habit: Before breakfast take 1/2 teaspoon each rochelle salts and cream of tartar; also chew ginseng root and swallow the juice.

Athletes

Use honey in copious amounts, and drink teas of Alfalfa for litheness, strength and swiftness.

Arthritis

Take 2 tbsp. orange juice thoroughly mixed with 1 tbsp. cod liver oil on an empty stomach just before bedtime at night after several hours have elapsed after the evening meal. Eat no food or drink, no liquid of any kind, for a number of hours after taking the oil. This lapse of time allows the stomach to empty and bile flow to subside. Then when the whole digestive system is resting, the oiled orange juice will pass into the bloodstream and is readily absorbed by the bone structure which comprise the malady. Many folks have tried this and have had no occurrence of arthritis since the after years of being partially crippled.

Influenza

Yarrow herb known as milfoil has been used with good results to stop hemorrhaging of the lungs. If the tea is taken freely at the beginning of a cold, mixed with elderberry blossoms and peppermint, and the patient remains in bed, it will break up a cold and flu within 24 hours. For a bad cold, take a teaspoonful of Arm & Hammer soda in a glass of cold water. If taken 15 minutes or so before a meal for 5 meals, it will banish a cold. If the stomach is empty, the soda passes on through it into the intestines and kills the acid forming there. The soda stops acid formation, which during a cold forms in the intestines, is absorbed into the blood and filters out through the membranes of the nose, throat, eyes and lungs. Cayenne and eyebright teas will dry up a cold quickly. Cream of tartar in a glass of water, one teaspoonful, will quickly banish fevers.

Food Drink

Place one heaping tablespoon of malt (not chocolate) in a cup. Add 1/4 cup of milk. Mix until smooth, then add 1-1/2 cups of milk, 2 fresh eggs and 3 spoonfuls of honey. Now place in a quart jar and shake. Drink at once after mixing as the vitamins will escape within a few minutes after being mixed. Drink four times a day. This is equal to a full meal but one will gain or lose weight. Do not add sweetening of any kind.

Doubled Crops

To double your crops, lervuilinic acid dusted on or soaking seeds with acid increases the yield of oats, corn, beets, soybeans and cotton as much as 100%. Costs only $3.00 per acre.

All Purpose Cleaner

Simply mix one ounce Trisodium Phosphate with one gallon of water; makes the whitest washings, an excellent cleaner for all surfaces; also car radiators, etc.

Corns

Cut a small piece of lemon rind with a little of the pulp and bind to corn. Deep-seated corns will no doubt take longer.

Facial

Scrub face and neck with soap in warm water, dry, spread milk of magnesia over face and neck. Relax until it dries thoroughly. Spread another layer of magnesia to dissolve the first layer, remove with a damp towel. Now heat some olive oil and apply; let this remain for five minutes; use ice cold witch hazel, which removes the excess oil, leaving skin fresh. This magically erases frown lines, re-awakens and preserves face and neck indefinitely. Use twice a week; after a few treatments you will be amazed at the transformation.

Magical Fish Bait Gets the Big Ones

Use oil of Rhodium, 1 ounce, mixed with 1/2 ounce of oil of anise. Put on bait.

Never Fail to Get Your Deer

Take along a bottle of oil of anise and dab some of it on your cap, face, hands and coat collars. Do this at intervals throughout the day. Ones who do this never fail to get their deer every year. The anise kills the human scent. This is an odor that deers like and will attract them. When in thick growth simply give a loud shrill whistle. A good percentage of the time the deer's curiosity will get the best of his judgement, he stops, and you've got your deer.

Diabetes

The little-known secret is corn silk, soaked in water overnight and drunk twice a day, is said to vanish diabetes.

All Purpose Cleaner

Mix 1 ounce TSP with one gallon of water. For cleaning rugs, woodwork, linoleums, porcelain, painted surfaces, glass, etc.

Wood Furniture Restorer

Mix 3 parts linseed oil with one part turpentine. Rub on furniture with woolen cloth, let dry, rub with a dry woolen cloth.

Falling Hair

Mix one part of oil of lemon to 10 parts water. Apply daily.

Deodorant and Moth Blocks

Mix together 3 parts colorome and 100 parts paradichlorbenzine. Melt and pour into molds.

Felt and Suede Cleaner

Carbon tetrachloride.

Eye Lotion

Dissolve 6 ounces sodium tetraborate into one gallon of water.

Silvering Compound

Mix together one part nitrate of silver with 3 parts cyanide of potassium; add water to make thick paste. Rub on copper, brass, etc., with cloth.

Auto Radiator Cleaner

Sodium bisulphate. Pour 12 ounces in radiator and run car for two hours. Drain and flush well.

Fly Killer

Dissolve 1-1/2 ounces formalin, 6 ounces sugar, and 100 ounces water.

Air Freshener

Mix 4 parts water soluble perfume oil in 124 parts plain water.

Valve Grinding Compound

Mix fine powdered pumice with petroleum jelly.

Poison Ivy Remedy

Two ounces potassium permanganate with 40 ounces water.

Bath Oil

Mix 98 parts sulfonated olive oil with 2 parts perfume oil.

Moth Paper

Melt together 4 parts naphthalene and 8 parts paraffin wax. Paint on paper while still warm.

Bed Bug Killer

Mix equal parts wood alcohol and creosote.

Aluminum Cleaner and Polish

Two ounces borax in 1 pint water.

Cuticle Remover

Thirty ounces potassium hydroxide, 5 gallons water, 100 ounces glycerine.

Soapless Oil Shampoo

Mix 100 parts sulfonated castor oil and 1 part perfume oil.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner

Potassium acid sulphate.

Concrete Cleaner

Dissolve 3 pounds metasilicate in 1 gallon hot water. Use with broom.

Type Cleaner

Mix half pint naphtha in 1 quart of carbon tetrachloride.

Auto Dry Cleaning Spray

Mix 1 pint paraffin oil and 1 quart cleaner's naphtha.

Nail Polish Remover

Mix 6 parts acetone with 4 parts ethyl acetate.

Brilliantine

Mix 99 parts light white mineral oil and 1 part perfume oil. Let stand 48 hours, then filter.

Varnish for Maps

Add 2 ounces castor oil to 2 quarts collodion.

Fluid for Writing on Blueprints

Mix 12 ounces TSP in 1 gallon of water.

Almond Flavor

Mix 1 part oil of bitter almond to 49 parts sherry wine.

Banana Flavor

Mix 8 ounces banana flavor with 1 gallon of edible corn oil.

Hydraulic Brake Fluid

Mix equal parts castor oil and denatured alcohol.

Pine Oil Disinfectant

Mix 1 part rosoap and 6 parts pine oil.

Ribbon and Pad Ink

Mix glycerine and small amount of aniline black. Apply one drop on each inch of ribbon, rewind and let set for several days.

Silk Hosiery Saver

Mix 1 ounce powdered alum into a quart of water. Soak hosiery in solution 15 minutes and dry. Rinse in water several times and dry.

Meat Tenderizer

Mix 17 ounces papaya juice into 1 gallon of water. Sprinkle on meat, pound lightly, let stand 30 minutes.

Drain Pipe Cleaner

Sodium hydroxide.

Liquid Cement

Mix 1 gallon of waterglass with 2 quarts of water. Heat and gradually add 1 pound of shellac, stirring until completely dissolved. Use on cardboard, wood, crocker, glass, etc.

Cockroach Killer

Mix equal parts Plaster of Paris and oatmeal.

Sprinkle on roach trails.

Itch Ointment

Mix thoroughly one part ointment of nitrate of mercury and 4 parts of balm oil.

Mosquito Repellent

Ethyl hexanediol sprinkled around breeding areas.

Writing Ink

Pulverize and mix 16 ounces nut gals with 7 ounces of gum arabic. Mix into 6 quarts of warm water. Keep in airtight bottles.

Plastic Wood

Mix powdered wood flour with enough acetone to make a stiff paste.

Sweet Pea Toilet Water

Dissolve 72 ounces of oil of sweet pea into 27 gallons of alcohol and add 11 gallons of water.

Face Powder

One part powdered French chalk and 3 parts talcum powder.

Astringent

Mix 2 ounces aquaresin G.M.C. in 1 gallon of water.

Let stand overnight.

French Bubble Bath

Mix 4 parts snowflake crystals with 1 part virifoam-A. Add perfume oil to scent.

Wave Set

Soak 2 pounds gum jauri in 20 gallons of water overnight, dissolve, add perfume and color to suit.

Perfume Extract

Dissolve 1 part perfume oil in 10 parts alcohol. Allow to stand several days in tightly corked bottle, then filter.

Renew Auto Batteries

Dissolve 1 ounce epsom salts in warm water for each cell.

Spark Plug Cleaner

Use household ammonia.

Motor Oil Reclaimer! Boil 4 gallons used oil, add 1 pint silicate of soda and stir 10 to 15 minutes. Let settle 5 to 7 days.

Gun Oil

Clear mineral oil.

Home Brew

You will need a 5-gallon crock, one quart of red top malt, 2 cakes of yeast, 5 pounds of sugar and 4 gallons of water.

First heat 2 gallons of water in the crock pot. Next stir in the malt and 5 pounds of sugar. When dissolved, cool down with other 2 gallons of water. Then add 2 cakes of yeast. Keep crock in warm place for 3 to 4 days - till foam settles - then bottle.

Beef Jerky

5 lbs. or more of lean, long grain meat, flank steak, cut 1/4" x 1"
Liquid Smoke
Lawry's Seasoned Salt
Garlic Salt
Table Salt
Coarse Black Pepper
Sugar

Generously apply liquid smoke with pastry brush on pieces laid out flat on large surface. Sprinkle on remaining ingredients generously but sugar sparingly. Marinate in covered bowl 8 hours. Place on oven rack flat and touching. Gas oven: have on pilot and oven light only. Electric: set at 100 to 125 degrees. Dry for 18 to 36 hours. Prop oven door open with knife.

All content provided on this website is for general informational purposes only. No warranty is expressed or implied. Your use of this website is subject to our Terms of Service.