An Effective Antiseptic: An Old-Fashioned Treatment In the late 1930s and 1940s, my mother, and as far as I know her family would use kerosene as an antiseptic for wounds of all types.

Robert J Samples Loc: Round Rock, Texas

An Old-Fashioned Treatment

In the late 1930s and 1940s, my mother, and as far as I know her family would use kerosene as an antiseptic for wounds of all types. I suppose that if there were more serious wounds, then a trip to town to see a doctor were in order.
On at least two incidences that I recall, she used kerosene without any undue side effect. In the first case, my dog Bruce went missing for several days. I would go out with food for him, and call and call and he wouldn’t come. Finally, on Monday morning, I saw him come limping along. His right rear leg had been cut completely in to, except for bit of skin holding it on.
I called for my mother, and I held him while she applied some small wooden splints and bound them all together with some bandages and then soaked all in kerosene. In about a week, his leg had reattached and grew back together. He did not have any feeling because all the nerves had been severed. When he would be running fast, sometimes he would put the leg down o help stabilize himself, but other than that he carried it off the ground.
On another occasion, my mother and I were hoeing and thinning cotton. At the end of a row there was a large clump of Johnson grass, and I was trying my best to chop it up by the roots. At one swing of my hoe, I miscalculated, and my hoe went on through this clump of grass and hit my ankle. It cut through my shoe and made a deep laceration in my lower ankle. We were probably more than a mile from our house, so we went by Uncle Alex’s farmhouse and there was no one home. Mom went inside and found their can of kerosene and soaked my ankle.
We then walked on to our house and there she cleaned the wound with soap and water, dried it and again applied some kerosene. It healed itself without any problems. Obviously, today there are other remedies that are better than kerosene. But while hydrocarbon-based treatments for wounds will work, there are some disadvantages. At that time, that was all we had, and it worked. Just Sayin….RJS

J in Cleveland Loc: Cleveland, Ohio

Never used Kerosene but in a cabinet shop often lacquer thinner would be used in a similar way. One time I mentioned that to my doctor. Telling him how well is worked. He just looked at me like I was a complete idiot and said, “ You do realize you putting thinner into your blood stream, don’t you”. I had never thought of it that way until then. Now I stick to AMA recommended treatments!

GlsJr40 Loc: Dallas, Tx.

Robert J Samples wrote:

An Old-Fashioned Treatment

In the late 1930s and 1940s, my mother, and as far as I know her family would use kerosene as an antiseptic for wounds of all types. I suppose that if there were more serious wounds, then a trip to town to see a doctor were in order.
On at least two incidences that I recall, she used kerosene without any undue side effect. In the first case, my dog Bruce went missing for several days. I would go out with food for him, and call and call and he wouldn’t come. Finally, on Monday morning, I saw him come limping along. His right rear leg had been cut completely in to, except for bit of skin holding it on.
I called for my mother, and I held him while she applied some small wooden splints and bound them all together with some bandages and then soaked all in kerosene. In about a week, his leg had reattached and grew back together. He did not have any feeling because all the nerves had been severed. When he would be running fast, sometimes he would put the leg down o help stabilize himself, but other than that he carried it off the ground.
On another occasion, my mother and I were hoeing and thinning cotton. At the end of a row there was a large clump of Johnson grass, and I was trying my best to chop it up by the roots. At one swing of my hoe, I miscalculated, and my hoe went on through this clump of grass and hit my ankle. It cut through my shoe and made a deep laceration in my lower ankle. We were probably more than a mile from our house, so we went by Uncle Alex’s farmhouse and there was no one home. Mom went inside and found their can of kerosene and soaked my ankle.
We then walked on to our house and there she cleaned the wound with soap and water, dried it and again applied some kerosene. It healed itself without any problems. Obviously, today there are other remedies that are better than kerosene. But while hydrocarbon-based treatments for wounds will work, there are some disadvantages. At that time, that was all we had, and it worked. Just Sayin….RJS

An Old-Fashioned Treatment br br In the late 1930... (show quote)

You are correct about it working on helping heal wounds. When I was a youngster in the 1940's, we lived in the country without city utilities, so we used kerosene for a number of purposes, from using it in the cook stove, to starting wood fires, to wound treatment, etc. If we had a cut, scrape, or bee sting, we would soak it with kerosene and keep it clean. We had a feist dog for several years that got bitten in the face by a rattlesnake. He ran off and hid in the woods for a few days, but when he came back home with a badly swelled face and the wound running with pus, we started treating it with kerosene. He healed completely after some time. Then he got hit with another snake a couple years later and it was the same scenario all over again. I can distinctly remember that oil drum full of kerosene next to the house. And I can remember that dog came to hate snakes with a passion. If he found a snake he would do everything he could to attack and kill it. My dad or mom would try to grab a hoe and get to the snake as soon as the barking started.

Frank romero Loc: Clovis, NM

Robert J Samples wrote:

An Old-Fashioned Treatment

In the late 1930s and 1940s, my mother, and as far as I know her family would use kerosene as an antiseptic for wounds of all types. I suppose that if there were more serious wounds, then a trip to town to see a doctor were in order.
On at least two incidences that I recall, she used kerosene without any undue side effect. In the first case, my dog Bruce went missing for several days. I would go out with food for him, and call and call and he wouldn’t come. Finally, on Monday morning, I saw him come limping along. His right rear leg had been cut completely in to, except for bit of skin holding it on.
I called for my mother, and I held him while she applied some small wooden splints and bound them all together with some bandages and then soaked all in kerosene. In about a week, his leg had reattached and grew back together. He did not have any feeling because all the nerves had been severed. When he would be running fast, sometimes he would put the leg down o help stabilize himself, but other than that he carried it off the ground.
On another occasion, my mother and I were hoeing and thinning cotton. At the end of a row there was a large clump of Johnson grass, and I was trying my best to chop it up by the roots. At one swing of my hoe, I miscalculated, and my hoe went on through this clump of grass and hit my ankle. It cut through my shoe and made a deep laceration in my lower ankle. We were probably more than a mile from our house, so we went by Uncle Alex’s farmhouse and there was no one home. Mom went inside and found their can of kerosene and soaked my ankle.
We then walked on to our house and there she cleaned the wound with soap and water, dried it and again applied some kerosene. It healed itself without any problems. Obviously, today there are other remedies that are better than kerosene. But while hydrocarbon-based treatments for wounds will work, there are some disadvantages. At that time, that was all we had, and it worked. Just Sayin….RJS

An Old-Fashioned Treatment br br In the late 1930... (show quote)

I don’t believe that the kerosene that is available today would work for that now. Too many additives. I got treated for a cut on my hand with it in the 50s

Robert J Samples Loc: Round Rock, Texas

I have no idea. There could be many changes in the formula. Just Sayin...RJS

whtoak Loc: South Carolina

J in Cleveland wrote:

Never used Kerosene but in a cabinet shop often lacquer thinner would be used in a similar way. One time I mentioned that to my doctor. Telling him how well is worked. He just looked at me like I was a complete idiot and said, “ You do realize you putting thinner into your blood stream, don’t you”. I had never thought of it that way until then. Now I stick to AMA recommended treatments!

That little bit won't hurt you. I KNOW that some older folks drink kerosene for a common cold remedy. I don't know how much, but you can smell it coming out of their skin pores and their breath! They also tell me that they drink "pine top tea"-made from pine needles. I have been told that is essentially turpentine. Obviously, it can not be very much. All said, pouring kerosene on a wound most likely does not introduce a significant amount into the blood stream. However, I have read that bacteria can grow in kerosene and diesel fuel. Isopropyl alcohol is probably a safer and more effective antiseptic.

HenryG Loc: Falmouth Cape Cod Massachusetts

Robert J Samples wrote:

An Old-Fashioned Treatment

In the late 1930s and 1940s, my mother, and as far as I know her family would use kerosene as an antiseptic for wounds of all types. I suppose that if there were more serious wounds, then a trip to town to see a doctor were in order.
On at least two incidences that I recall, she used kerosene without any undue side effect. In the first case, my dog Bruce went missing for several days. I would go out with food for him, and call and call and he wouldn’t come. Finally, on Monday morning, I saw him come limping along. His right rear leg had been cut completely in to, except for bit of skin holding it on.
I called for my mother, and I held him while she applied some small wooden splints and bound them all together with some bandages and then soaked all in kerosene. In about a week, his leg had reattached and grew back together. He did not have any feeling because all the nerves had been severed. When he would be running fast, sometimes he would put the leg down o help stabilize himself, but other than that he carried it off the ground.
On another occasion, my mother and I were hoeing and thinning cotton. At the end of a row there was a large clump of Johnson grass, and I was trying my best to chop it up by the roots. At one swing of my hoe, I miscalculated, and my hoe went on through this clump of grass and hit my ankle. It cut through my shoe and made a deep laceration in my lower ankle. We were probably more than a mile from our house, so we went by Uncle Alex’s farmhouse and there was no one home. Mom went inside and found their can of kerosene and soaked my ankle.
We then walked on to our house and there she cleaned the wound with soap and water, dried it and again applied some kerosene. It healed itself without any problems. Obviously, today there are other remedies that are better than kerosene. But while hydrocarbon-based treatments for wounds will work, there are some disadvantages. At that time, that was all we had, and it worked. Just Sayin….RJS

An Old-Fashioned Treatment br br In the late 1930... (show quote)

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Passingbye Loc: Reidsville NC

I worked for many years refinishing furniture where I used liquid acid methylene chloride and acetone stripper to remove finishes and course the other parts of woodworking and hands on work, I always had cuts and nick's on my hands, as well as using denatured alcohol based stains that were regularly coming contact with the skin on my hands after prolonged 40 years of use these chemicals proved to defatted my hands, causing carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands. These chemicals over the years worked his way into my bloodstream through the pores on my hands causing me to have toxic cirrhosis of the liver and probably caused my cardiac arrhythmia problems that I have now as an older man. It turns out the things that should heal you can turn around and kill you, while all in a day's work.

Justoldjim Loc: JUNCTION CITY, OR.

Robert J Samples wrote:

An Old-Fashioned Treatment

In the late 1930s and 1940s, my mother, and as far as I know her family would use kerosene as an antiseptic for wounds of all types. I suppose that if there were more serious wounds, then a trip to town to see a doctor were in order.
On at least two incidences that I recall, she used kerosene without any undue side effect. In the first case, my dog Bruce went missing for several days. I would go out with food for him, and call and call and he wouldn’t come. Finally, on Monday morning, I saw him come limping along. His right rear leg had been cut completely in to, except for bit of skin holding it on.
I called for my mother, and I held him while she applied some small wooden splints and bound them all together with some bandages and then soaked all in kerosene. In about a week, his leg had reattached and grew back together. He did not have any feeling because all the nerves had been severed. When he would be running fast, sometimes he would put the leg down o help stabilize himself, but other than that he carried it off the ground.
On another occasion, my mother and I were hoeing and thinning cotton. At the end of a row there was a large clump of Johnson grass, and I was trying my best to chop it up by the roots. At one swing of my hoe, I miscalculated, and my hoe went on through this clump of grass and hit my ankle. It cut through my shoe and made a deep laceration in my lower ankle. We were probably more than a mile from our house, so we went by Uncle Alex’s farmhouse and there was no one home. Mom went inside and found their can of kerosene and soaked my ankle.
We then walked on to our house and there she cleaned the wound with soap and water, dried it and again applied some kerosene. It healed itself without any problems. Obviously, today there are other remedies that are better than kerosene. But while hydrocarbon-based treatments for wounds will work, there are some disadvantages. At that time, that was all we had, and it worked. Just Sayin….RJS

An Old-Fashioned Treatment br br In the late 1930... (show quote)

I can relate to that I jumped a fence and landed on a board that had a large nail protruding it went thru the shoe, my foot and was sticking out the top my grandpa removed the board while my mom held me down then he soke some rags in kerosene and wrapped my foot and resoaked it every day, a few days later I was running around as if nothing had happened, we also got a table spoon full of sugar with drops of kerosine for stomach worms but for colds we got a spoon full of sugar with a few drops of turpentine

Barnacles Loc: Northern California

When I was a kid, we treated some pretty nasty wounds of mine with kerosene. But my folks thought that if you wrapped it with a bandage wet with kerosene, it could make you blister. So, I'd put kerosene on the wound and sit around until it had pretty well dried out, then bandage it up.

HBM

I also remember using kerosene for cuts . I stepped on a rusty nail and my mom cleaned it with soap and water then sliced an onion and taped it to my foot. She is still here. She is 86 years old. 14 years older than me. I have a sister 11 months older than me. Also I have a step sister 2 weeks younger than my oldest daughter. Bobby

Justoldjim Loc: JUNCTION CITY, OR.

HBM wrote:

I also remember using kerosene for cuts . I stepped on a rusty nail and my mom cleaned it with soap and water then sliced an onion and taped it to my foot. She is still here. She is 86 years old. 14 years older than me. I have a sister 11 months older than me. Also I have a step sister 2 weeks younger than my oldest daughter. Bobby

Carful you might become your own grandpa

USAF Major Loc: Sea Bright, NJ

Went to school with a guy who used kerosene in his car radiator rather than buying anti-freeze. Seemed to work ok but I think he had to change some hoses every Spring.