To Remove Fish Odor From Hands

January 20th, 2022

A few drops of ammonia in the water in which you wash your hands will remove all fishy odor from the hands after preparing fish for cooking.

Source: Fowler’s Household Helps, A.L. Fowler

To Prevent the Odor of Boiling Ham or Cabbage

August 1st, 2018

Throw red pepper pods or a few bits of charcoal into the pan they are cooking in.

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

Perspiration

May 8th, 2018

For deodorizing — use a paste of borax and water.

Source: The Mary Frances First Aid Book, Jane Eayre Fryer

A Disinfecting Lamp

May 2nd, 2018

The following simple apparatus is most excellent for purifying rooms where any unpleasant effluvia prevails. Any person can fit up the lamp, and it is an agreeable method of overcoming bad odors in a sick room. Take a small glass lamp, such as is used for burning camphene or spirits, put in a clean wick, and fill it up with chloric ether and light the wick. In a few minutes the object will be accomplished.

In damp, dark cellars whore vegetables have decayed, or where drains allow the escape of mephitic gas, in dissecting rooms, and in any place where it is desirable to sweeten the atmosphere, one of these lamps will prove most efficacious. One tube filled with a wick is quite sufficient.

Source: Household Hints and Recipes, Henry T. Williams

To Prevent Mold

June 22nd, 2017

A small quantity of carbolic acid added to paste, mucilage and ink, will prevent mold. An ounce of the acid to a gallon of whitewash will keep cellars and dairies from the disagreeable odor which often taints milk and meat kept in such places.

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

To Remove the Odor of Onions

May 15th, 2017

Fill with cold water kettles and sauce pans in which they have been cooked adding a tablespoonful of bread soda and the same of ammonia. Let stand on the stove until it boils. Then wash in hot suds and rinse well. A pudding or bean pot, treated in this way, will wash easily. Wood ashes in the water will have the same effect.

Source: Things Mother Used To Make, L.M. Gurney

To Remove Disagreeable Odors from the House

March 20th, 2017

Sprinkle fresh ground coffee, on a shovel of hot coals, or burn sugar on the shovel. This is an old-fashioned disinfectant, still good.

Source: Things Mother Used To Make, L.M. Gurney

To Purify Sinks and Drains

March 8th, 2017

To one pound of common copperas add one gallon of boiling water, and use when dissolved. The copperas is poison, and must never be left unmarked.

Source: The Easiest Way in Housekeeping and Cooking, H. Campbell

Offensive Sweating, Alum Water for

January 16th, 2008

“A wash made with a teaspoonful of alum and a quart of water will prevent offensive sweating. We all know how disagreeable it is to sit near a person in a street car or any crowded place, who has an odor of perspiration about them. How easy it would be to use this wash and rid yourself of this difficulty!”

Source: Mother’s Remedies: Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remidies from Mothers of the United States and Canada, T. J. Ritter

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    NOTE: these remedies are listed only for information and/or amusement. They are not to be construed as medical advice of any type, nor are they recommended for use. Consult your doctor or other medical professional for any medical advice you require.