Old-time life hacks are either dangerous, gross, or both. Some, however, are just common sense that we don’t do anyway. While our grannies did have wisdom and there are plenty of life hacks that should make a comeback, we don’t think these ones will. It’s best not to try some of these at home.
Save Your Meat
One cooking tip that is extremely unsafe is the notion to save your meat by putting it outside. The idea was that if your meat were going bad, sticking it outside overnight would make it better, and you could eat it. This is obviously unsafe and, in many cases, causes bugs or maggots to appear in the meat.
Putting Things In Your Eyes
We know that we should never put things in our eyes. However, nineteenth-century women were putting perfume, citrus juice, and Belladonna in their eyes. All of these were causing people to fall into comas, hallucinate, or even go blind.
Sunburn
According to old books, if you get sunburned, you should soak unripe grapes in water. Then you add salt and alum to it. After that, you wrap the grapes in some paper and roast your little bundle over some hot ashes. Finally, you squeeze out the juice and use it to wash your face every morning. This method is not advisable, as it can cause rashes and other issues.
Ecoli Hand Trick
When you get chapped hands, it hurts. They can split and bleed, and it can cause issues for you. In the 1860s, it was advised that people use hog’s lard, rosewater, eggs, and honey. Not only did this cause bacteria to grow, but it also led to a host of health issues.
Leaves
The idea behind this hack is that if you couldn’t afford a feather bed, you would go outside during the fall when the weather was nice and crisp. Then you’d gather leaves and stuff them in your mattresses. Supposedly, if you used beech leaves, you’d have no bugs and the bed would be more comfortable.
Don’t Fix Your Hair
If you want to avoid getting food in your hair, the simplest thing to do is not to play with it. It’s recommended that you don’t have any mirrors in the kitchen because they encourage you to arrange your hair, and since you’re most likely to have food on your hands, it would get in your hair. So, they advise that you don’t touch anything at all.
Saving Milk
If your milk is starting to go sour, it is suggested that you put Borax in it to make it last longer. Chemists and the Department of Agriculture have discovered that Borax causes vomiting, stomach distress, and worse. After people attempted this, the Pure Food and Drug Act was created.
Coffee Substitute
If you’ve run out of coffee beans, Plenty Of Child’s recommended roasting peas, dry brown bread crusts, or rum-soaked rye grain. All of these were supposed to be comparable. She mentioned that none of these ideas were good, and they never caught on because she was right—they weren’t a good option.
Use Ear Wax As Lip Balm
Plenty Of Child’s swore that this worked, but others refused because it was disgusting. It was also recommended for wounds from pointed items. It was said that slathering this on would make your lips smooth and beautiful, but the truth is that it was sticky and people didn’t like it.
Freckles
For removing freckles, a beauty book from 1901 offered multiple ideas. One of the recipes included camphor, turpentine, and almond oil. Another was a mix of crystallized lead and zinc with hog’s lard, all of which can be fatal. Yet another contained acid, which caused chemical burns and blindness.
Head Cold
This head cold “cure” is poisonous and fatal. It was immediately disregarded. The mixture included cocaine, borax, and other dangerous ingredients. Some incidents occurred because of this toxic mix, and the cure fell out of favor immediately because people were dying or getting extremely sick if they lived.
Apple Juice
If you wanted to relieve pain from chilblains—itchy, blistered skin that happens when small blood vessels are overexposed to cold and become inflamed—the recommended cure was to rub the area with an apple slice covered with salt. The tip was to choose a bigger apple with plenty of juice.
Potato Paintings
If you want to restore an old painting, English Heritage has advised against these recommendations. One tip suggested wiping the painting down with a slice of raw, wet potato, while another recommended placing the paintings in direct sunlight to kill mold. Neither method is advisable and both can ruin the paintings.
Bread
The old Victorian trick to sponging down grimy wallpaper involved using bread. If you used fresh white bread (like sourdough), it was said to help you achieve success. They claimed that stale bread was too abrasive, but be aware that you’d have to vacuum up all the crumbs and ensure none were trapped in the wall.
Sleeping With Beef
Beef was once believed to get rid of wrinkles. In 1858, it was a fad among “fashionable” ladies. However, it caused bugs and other unhealthy issues, and it was a trend that didn’t last. No one wants bugs crawling on their face at night or blood dripping from the meat.
Don’t Fall For It
None of these options should be taken seriously. They’re from over a century ago, and we didn’t know then what we know now. Some of these methods are poisonous and can kill you, while others—like getting food in your hair—are simply unnecessary. In any case, ignore them and find remedies that can legitimately help you.
