Vodka is more than a drink, It has Many uses.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Who Knew???


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1. To remove a bandage painlessly,

saturatethe bandage with vodka.
The stuff dissolves adhesive.

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2. To clean the caulking around bathtubs and showers,
fill a trigger-spray bottle with vodka, spray the caulking,
let set five minutes and wash clean.

The alcohol in the vodka kills mold and mildew.

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3. To clean your eyeglasses,





simply wipe the lenses with a soft,
clean cloth dampened with vodka.
The alcohol in the vodka cleans the glass and kills germs.



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4. Prolong the life of razors by filling a cup with vodka
and letting your safety razor blade
soak in the alcohol after shaving.

The vodka disinfects the blade and prevents rusting.



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5. Spray vodka on wine stains,

scrub with a brush, and then blot dry.



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6. Using a cotton ball, apply vodka to your face

as an astringent to cleanse the skin and tighten pores.



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7. Add a jigger of vodka to a 12-ounce bottle of shampoo.

The alcohol cleanses the scalp,removes toxins from hair,
and stimulates the growth of healthy hair.



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8. Fill a sixteen-ounce trigger-spray bottle with vodka

and spray bees or wasps to kill them.



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9 Pour one-half cup vodka
and one-half cup water into a Ziploc freezer bag

and freeze for a slushy, refreshing ice pack for aches,
pain or black eyes.



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10. Fill a clean, used mayonnaise jar
with freshly packed lavender flowers,

fill the jar with vodka, seal the lid tightly
and set in the sun for three days.
Strain liquid through a coffee filter,
then apply the tincture to aches and pains.



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11. To relieve a fever, use a washcloth

to rub vodka on your chest and back as a liniment.



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12. To cure foot odor,

wash your feet with vodka.



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13 Vodka will disinfect

and alleviate a jellyfish sting.



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14. Pour vodka over an area affected with poison ivy

to remove the urushiol oil from your skin.



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15. Swish a shot of vodka over an aching tooth.

Allow your gums to absorb some of the alcohol to numb the pain.

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

They did some Vodka myths on Mythbusters.
I think one of the results they came up with is that vodka works well as a consumption item too.

[JoAnn Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JoAnn]

Deleted by JoAnn due to some wrong advice....Thanks Beags for bringing it to my attention.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Those are likely all true to at least some degree. But in many cases the vodka will be only marginally effective.

No. 14, in particular, is particularly questionable, and might even be completely false. Vodka is an aqueous solution, and urushiol oil is hydrophobic. So you can't mobilize the urushiol off the skin without a surfactant present. It's totally like removing grease from a plate. Water alone won't do it, but add soap (a surfactant) and the grease will be removed.

+++++++

When I was a boy and got into poison ivy, we washed the area with kerosene. It works well as long as you get to it before too much of the urushiol is absorbed by the skin.

It doesn't have to be kerosene - anything that dissolves grease or oil easily will work, and the faster it cuts grease and oil the more effective it will be in removing urushiol.

After working on cars I squirt some liquid dish detergent straight on my dry hands, then add a few drops of water - just enough to make the detergent flow easier. What you want to achieve is a solution of water in a dish detergent carrier, not a dish detergent solution in a water carrier. Work the deteregent well into the grease you want to remove; then rinse with water.

This works because with the water embedded inside the detergent, the grease or oil reacts to the detergent as an oil solvent and dissolves into the detergent. After the oil or grease is mobilized into the detergent, you can then start rinsing with water. When you do that the detergent converts to a detergent solution inside a water carrier, and rinses away, carrying the oil or grease with it.

You can do the same thing with liquid hand soap, but I find that most liquid hand soaps don't cut grease as effectively as good old Palmolive or Joy dish detergent.

++++

That should be a good way to remove urushiol from skin, and will be far, far, far more effective than vodka.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Since it's the alcohol in the vodka that does the work, why not save some $$ and just buy a good bottle of rubbing alcohol??? Sorry to be such a killjoy (and obviously I don't drink )

Yeah - isopropyl alcohol will be far more efficient than vodka for every single one of those tasks except those that involve putting the alcohol in the mouth.

But IPA in a water solution - sold as rubbing alcohol - loses much of it's solvent strength because of the aqueous phase. Straight IPA is a reasonably good oil solvent. I know from experience (trying to clean soil sampling gear in the field when we hit unexpected pockets of oily soil) that IPA in water is a lot less effective.

When I need a serious household solvent, I raid my DW's cosmetic kit and grab her nail polish remover. There are few chemicals found in a home these days better at dissolving organics than nail polish remover. Especially the stinky stuff. The stinkier the better.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

I wonder if Scotch or Whiskey will do the same thing? They have just as much Alcohol and so does good 151 rum.

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

Yeah - isopropyl alcohol will be far more efficient than vodka for every single one of those tasks except those that involve putting the alcohol in the mouth.

But IPA in a water solution - sold as rubbing alcohol - loses much of it's solvent strength because of the aqueous phase. Straight IPA is a reasonably good oil solvent. I know from experience (trying to clean soil sampling gear in the field when we hit unexpected pockets of oily soil) that IPA in water is a lot less effective.

When I need a serious household solvent, I raid my DW's cosmetic kit and grab her nail polish remover. There are few chemicals found in a home these days better at dissolving organics than nail polish remover. Especially the stinky stuff. The stinkier the better.

But nail polish remover is acetone, yes ? We used to use acetone to remove the old surgical tape residue off skin ! Yikes !

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

I wonder if Scotch or Whiskey will do the same thing? They have just as much Alcohol and so does good 151 rum.

Yep - every single one of those uses depends on the alcohol content. But, as I noted, some of those uses appear to be based on the properties of pure alcohol, and mixing alcohol with water changes many of those properties.

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

Like "Bathtub Gin/White Lightning" = blindness/stupor/coma/death (methanol).

Yes, different from IPA.


I think folks just lump all the "OL"s and think they're the same: ethanol, methanol ethylene glycol and isopropanol ...

Isopropal Alcohol Ingestion

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Using that 151 Bacardi will kill just about anything if you use enough of it.

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

Using that 151 Bacardi will kill just about anything if you use enough of it.

I think that on the TSA website it's the only alcohol that you can't pack in your checked luggage or something to this effect.

Probably the flammability aspect. Although the most flammable aspect I've seen is when people drink too much and become flaming ass*%les.

Actually, here's what I found on Can I check Bacardi 151? - FlyerTalk Forums, but have not verified it on TSA | Transportation Security Administration | U.S. Department of Homeland Security yet.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

I think folks just lump all the "OL"s and think they're the same: ethanol, methanol ethylene glycol and isopropanol ...

Isopropal Alcohol Ingestion

Though I have yet to hear of someone who mistook urushiol for ethanol!

[Fern Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fern]

Interesting you should mention this. When I was a troubleshooter for MUNI, I often came in contact with grungy metals...the bottoms of streetcars, areas underneath subway platforms, couplers, etc. Frequently I ended up with greasy black gunk on my hands. I'd try to be very careful until I could get to a restroom or lunchroom where I could find liquid soap. I'd squirt some on, work it into the gunk, and then remove it with paper towels. THEN I'd wash my hands. But first round I used only liquid soap. It worked like I charm. I don't have the chemical background you do, so I guess it was just dumb luck that I figured it out...

Fern

After working on cars I squirt some liquid dish detergent straight on my dry hands, then add a few drops of water - just enough to make the detergent flow easier. What you want to achieve is a solution of water in a dish detergent carrier, not a dish detergent solution in a water carrier. Work the deteregent well into the grease you want to remove; then rinse with water.

This works because with the water embedded inside the detergent, the grease or oil reacts to the detergent as an oil solvent and dissolves into the detergent. After the oil or grease is mobilized into the detergent, you can then start rinsing with water. When you do that the detergent converts to a detergent solution inside a water carrier, and rinses away, carrying the oil or grease with it.

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

Though I have yet to hear of someone who mistook urushiol for ethanol!

With a bad enough urushiol exposure, you'll be wanting lots and lots of ethanol to numb the pain (and wash down the prednisone).

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

Like "Bathtub Gin/White Lightning" = blindness/stupor/coma/death (methanol).

Yes, different from IPA.

Yes, very different from IPA. If it gets warm this afternoon, I'll probably have some IPA myself. Inversion IPA is a good choice if you can find it.