"Turpentine is one of the best means of chasing away fleas, whether from place or animal and a bed of very fine shavings of some wood which abounds in turpentine is one of the easiest and most effective means of banishing them from dogs. Wilson states that the oil of turpentine is almost a specific for spasm in the bowels of the horse.
"Turpentine and rosins are both abundantly within our limits. An excellent English mixture to render leather water-proof is made of turpentine. In the present scarcity of leather and exposure of our soldiers I think its introduction not inappropriate. It is used by the punt shooters in the fenny parts of England. Melt together in an earthen pipkin half a pound of tallow, four ounces of hog’s lard, two ounces of turpentine, and as much beeswax. Make the booth thoroughly dry and warm and rub in the mixture well with a little tow as hot as the hand can bear, or else hold the leather over a very gentle fire till it has thoroughly imbibed the mixture. Another mixture for the same purpose is made thus: Burgundy pitch and turpentine, each two ounces; tallow, four ounces, or half a pound of beeswax, a quarter of a pound of rosin, and a quarter of a pound of beef suet. The leather must be dry and the mixture warm.
"To make cloth waterproof with turpentine for the use of Negroes in picking cotton when the weed is wet from rains or dews, and also for tents, the following method is adopted: To every gallon of spirits of turpentine put two and a half pounds of beeswax, boil well in a pot, remove the fire, and while it is hot put in the goods. Move it about until well saturated, then hang it up to dry. It will require one gallon of turpentine to every eight yards of goods. It is more pliant than India Rubber."
...
TURPENTINE – OTHER USES
Shoe polish containing gum turpentine was preferred by bootblacks because of its aroma. The use of emulsified dressing began to replace the paste type polish. Furniture polish included a mixture of turpentine and sweet oil. Stove polish used a mixture of turpentine and rosin. Auto wax, copper polishes, and liquid floor wax also used turpentine.
Turpentine was used as a cement ingredient for metal, leather, and rubber cements. It was used as a laboratory cement for gas tight joints, cleaning solvent to remove paint and other compounds from tools or skin, lubricant in grinding and drilling glass, and stain remover.
Turpentine was used in drawing crayons, printing inks, laundry indelible marking ink, mixtures to waterproof and preserve leather, and waterproof cloth, tents, and covers for wagons. It was used for washing clothes or removing grease from clothes, and rinse to whiten clothes. It was used as a mild fumigate, an insecticide to rid ants and bugs from closets and storerooms, to moth proof closets, drawers, and clothing, on animals, fowls, and fruit trees, to get rid of unwanted pests, to chase away fleas, and to repel insects from trees using bands of turpentine.
Turpentine was used as a solvent in the rubber industry. The demand for turpentine as a solvent increased when the demand for rubber increased, as new applications of rubber were discovered. Other applications as solvents included waterproofing and resins in lacquers and varnishes.
TURPENTINE HOME USES
A typical home used turpentine. It was used to fight infection, to relieve soreness, and to aid heating of boils, cuts and bruises. If one suffered insect bites or athlete’s foot, one applied liberal amounts on affected parts. Other home medical uses included treatment of burns, blisters, rheumatism, snakebite, croup, worms, coughing, and sore throats.** Mary Frier of Nicholls, Georgia, filled small jars with cotton balls soaked in turpentine. Open jars were placed in several rooms throughout the house to counter a cold or infection. Joanna Calhoun Peterson of Montgomery County Georgia, used the following recipe for liniment, .33 turpentine, .33 kerosene oil and .33 Neatt’s-foot oil. Neatt’s-foot oil was made by boiling the bones of cattle. Harriet Britt’s liniment consisted of one-cup apple vinegar, one-cup turpentine, one-cup kerosene, one-cup whiskey, and five cents of camphor dissolved in the solution.
To keep moths and other insects away, turpentine was sprayed or brushed on clothing at 30-day intervals and a few drops placed in chiffonier or bureau drawers. Bugs, roaches, ants, or other insects fled a home where gum turpentine was freely used. In laundry, a few drops of gum turpentine added to water in washing clothes made them sweeter and whiter. It was easy to keep a clean home with pure gum turpentine. It cleaned furniture, woodwork, floors, windows, bath tops, porcelain fixtures, linoleum, silver, and other metals. It was used as furniture polish. One part turpentine and two parts linseed oil were mixed for an unexcelled and economical furniture polish.
*”Surgeon Francis Peyre Porcher listed uses of turpentine and rosin products in 1863, including medical uses. He considered the longleaf pine one of God’s great gifts to man.” pp 176
**Excessive internal use of turpentine could be deadly
:)
