Green Mountain Salve

Take one pound Beeswax, one pound of soft Butter, and one and one-half pounds soft Turpentine, twelve ounces Balsam Fir. Melt and strain. Use to heal fresh wounds, burns, scalds and all bad sores.

Source: One Thousand Secrets of Wise and Rich Men Revealed, C. A. Bogardus

Toilet Items

Mutton tallow is considered excellent to soften the hands. It may be rubbed on at any time when the hands are perfectly dry, but the best time is when retiring, and an old pair of soft, large gloves thoroughly covered on the inside with the tallow and glycerine in equal parts, melted together, can be worn during the night with the most satisfactory results.

Four parts of glycerine and five parts of yolks of eggs thoroughly mixed, and applied after washing the hands, is also considered excellent.

For chapped hands or face: One ounce of glycerine, one ounce of alcohol mixed, then add eight ounces of rose-water.

Another good rule is to rub well in dry oatmeal after every washing, and be particular regarding the quality of soap. Cheap soap and hard water are the unknown enemies of many people, and the cause of rough skin and chapped hands. Castile soap and rain-water will sometimes cure without any other assistance.

Camphor ice is also excellent, and can be applied with but little inconvenience. Borax dissolved and added to the toilet water is also good.

For chapped lips, beeswax dissolved in a small quantity of sweet oil, by heating carefully. Apply the salve two or three times a day, and avoid wetting the lips as much as possible.

Source: The White House Cookbook, F.L. Gillette

Polish for Hard or Stained Wood Floors

Eight ounces of yellow beeswax, two quarts of spirits of turpentine, one quart of Venetian turpentine. Cut the wax in small pieces and pour the spirits over it–it will soon dissolve; then bottle. Apply with a flannel or soft cloth. It keeps the floors in excellent order.

Source: The Golden Age Cook Book, H. L. Dwight

French Polish

Take a quarter of an ounce of gum sandarac and a quarter of an ounce of gum mastic; pick the dirt and black lumps out very carefully, and pound them in a mortar quite fine; put them into a bottle, and add to them a quartern (old measure) of strong spirit of wine; cork it down and put it in a warm place; shake it frequently till the gum is entirely dissolved, which will be in about twenty-four hours.

Before using it, be careful to ascertain that no grease is on the furniture, as grease would prevent its receiving the polish. If the furniture has been previously cleaned with bees’-wax or oil, it must be got off by scraping, which is the best way, but difficult to those who do not perfectly understand it, because if you are not very careful, you may scratch the surface, and create more expense than a workman would charge to do it properly at first. Or it may be done by scouring well with sand and water, and afterward rubbed quite smooth with fine glass paper, being careful to do it with the grain of the wood. To apply the polish, you must have a piece of list or cloth twisted, and tied round quite tight, and left even at one end, which should be covered with a piece of fine linen cloth; then pour a little of the polish on the furniture, and rub it well all over till it is worked into the grain of the wood, and begins to look quite smooth; then take a soft fine cloth, or what is better, an old silk handkerchief, and keep rubbing lightly until the polish is complete, which will take two or three hours. It will greatly help the polish if it is done near a fire.

If it does not look so smooth and clear as it should, a little sweet oil rubbed lightly over, and cleaned off directly, will greatly heighten it. If any part of the furniture has carving about it, where it will be impossible to polish, it must be done with mastic varnish, and a camel’s hair brush, after the rest is finished.

When the polish begins to look dull, it may be recovered with a little spirit of wine.

Source: The Cook’s Oracle and Housekeeper’s Manual, W.M. Kitchener

Calendula Salve for Caked Breast

Two teaspoons of calendula, two tablespoons of lard and a piece of beeswax the size of a hickory-nut. Melt beeswax and lard together, remove from the fire and put in the calendula while hot. Keep it covered tight. Spread on a cloth large enough to cover the breast, with a flannel over it, cutting a place in it just large enough for the nipple to go through. Keep on two hours or more, then let the child nurse before removing the cloth, and the swelling will go down.

Source: 76: A Cook Book

Grandmother’s Salve for Everything

Two pounds of rosin, a half teacup of mutton tallow after it is hard, half as much bees-wax and a half ounce of camphor gum. Put all together into an old kettle and let it dissolve and just come to a boil, stirring with a stick; then take a half pail of warm water (just the chill off), pour it in and stir carefully until you can get your hands around it. Two persons must each take half and
pull like candy until quite white and brittle; put a little grease on your hands to prevent sticking and keep them wet all the time; wet the table, roll out the salve and cut it with a knife. Keep in a cool place.

Source: 76: A Cook Book

For Sprains or Bruises

Take one pint of lard-oil; half a pound of stone-pitch; half a pound of resin; half a pound of beeswax, and half a pound of beef-tallow. Boil together for half an hour, skim off the scum, pour the liquid into cups. When needed, it must be spread upon coarse cotton cloth, or kid (the latter is best), and applied to the sprain or bruise. It will give quick relief, as it entirely excludes the air. One or two plasters of it will cure the worst case. It acts like splints on a sprained ankle or wrist. It is also good for cattle, horses, or dogs in all cases of injury.

Source: Audel’s Household Helps, Hints and Receipts

All-Healing Ointment

One part white rosin, one part beeswax, one part turpentine and two parts of mutton tallow.

Source: 76: A Cook Book

Cuts and Burns

Equal parts burgundy pitch, beeswax and fresh lard melted together.

Source: The Kansas Home Cook-Book

Remedy for Chapped Hands

The simplest remedy is the camphor ball, to be obtained of all chemists. Powdered hemlock bark put into a piece of muslin and sprinkled on the chaps is highly recommended. Or, wash with oatmeal, and afterwards rub the hands over with dry oatmeal, so as to remove all dampness. It is a good thing to rub the hands and lips with glycerine before going to bed at night. A good oil is made by simmering: Sweet oil, one pint; Venice turpentine, three ounces; lard, half a pound; beeswax, three ounces. Simmer till the wax is melted. Rub on, or apply with a rag.

Source: The Ladies’ Book Of Useful Information