★★★★★
Did you know that the original Vick's formula contained turpentine? Yep! Good ‘ol turpentine. I was lucky enough to find a couple of old jars (cleaning out a home after an elderly gentleman died). The jars still contained the VapoRub. One of them was still new in the box! Age didn't seem to have any affect on freshness and potency. Good stuff!
Vicks Vaporub
★★★★★
For a repellent, I use different essential oils mixed with vodka and simply shake the spray bottle and spray it on. I don't mind the smell of clove oil, so that is what I use as a more human friendly insect repellent, but some other essential oils can work also.
I have written about this before on EC.Other uses for Vicks gathered from the web are toenail fungus (multiple studies), topical pain reliever, antiseptic due to its essential oil content, pimples, mild psoriasis and eczema, but I would never consider it for large areas, only for a few small spots as too much can enter through broken skin and cause health problems, sore muscles, relieve bruises and speed the healing process, to repair cracked heels, warts, apply to feet before bed and put white cotton socks on to help relieve a cough due to a cold, for squeaky hinges if you don't have oil handy, to help deal with strong odors that might otherwise make you sick, apply a little around the nose openings, but not inside the nose as some police do when having to work around a dead body, helps relieve athlete's foot, ringworm and minor burns.
In any case, Vicks Vaporub can be useful for short term use, but I refrain from mid and long term use and would never recommend that anyone use it other than for short term use as I believe the essential oils in it could allow the other ingredients or the oils themselves to be over absorbed and this would not be good. Vicks Vaporub has been around for many decades so it appears to have a decent safety profile, but a little caution with its use won't hurt!
Art
Vicks VapoRub
★★★★★
