11 alternative uses for mustard

Those of us with a preparedness mindset love dual use, or better still multiple use items. Believe it or not mustard is one such item.

Mustard has come a long way since the Romans mixed mustard seeds with grape juice and used it to flavour foods. Mustard seeds have been recovered from Stone Age settlements and the ancient Egyptians must have valued them because copious amounts were found in Tutankhamen tomb.

Now, there are varieties to suit every palate and some version of it is used around the world to flavour everything from a humble ham sandwich to haute cuisine designer dinners.

Mustard though, has so much more to offer than a piquant flavour.

1. Remove the smell of skunk from your vehicle. If you happened to bag a skunk on your latest road trip you will know that the smell clings to the tires and every other part of the car that the poor unfortunate critter made contact with. Mix a cup of dry mustard with three gallons of hot water and after mixing well wash the tires, fender and any other parts of the car the animal made contact with.
2. Now if it can cure the problem of a skunk getting smells out of containers is no problem whatsoever. Make a mixture of dry mustard and hot water and fill the container. Wait a couple of minutes and rinse well.
3. Sore throat relief –  Mix mustard lemon juice, half a spoon of salt, a large spoon of honey and a half cup of hot water. Blend well and leave the mixture to stand for 10 minutes. Mix again and gargle several times. Repeat a couple of hours later and you should be on the mend.
4. Mustard relieves the build up of phlegm. Rub onto chest or back, cover with a hot wet cloth and within 10 minutes the congestion will start to relieve.
5. A mustard bath, combined with epsom salts can relieve aching muscles fast! Soak in a hot bath with both ingredients – enough mustard to colour the water and a cup of epsom salts. Remember to shower off afterwards unless you want to walk around smelling like a hot dog.
6. Reduce weeds in the veggie patch. Plant mustard around the edge of you patch and less weeds will grow. Scientists are still trying to find out why.
7. Still in the garden deer confuse the smell of mustard with the smell of sweaty men! Rub mustard onto fences around your garden, or on tin cans scattered through the veggie patch to keep the deer away.
8. Got a burn? Run it under cold water for at least five minutes to prevent blistering and then spread on a liberal amount of yellow mustard and the pain will go almost instantly.
9. Hair conditioner. No, I haven’t lost my mind. Mustard oil leaves hair in fantastic condition. Apply freely to frizzy split ends, leave for as long as you can, overnight is good but protect your bedding, then shampoo as normal.
10. Relieve the pain of a wasp sting by scraping out the sting, never pinch it out more venom will be squeezed in, and then putting a blob of mustard on the site. Works a treat.
11. Deodorize and/or washing machine. Put half a cup of mustard into the dishwasher or into the drum of the washing machine and run on a hot cycle…no more smells.

Well that’s it, 11 alternative uses for mustard, I hope you enjoyed reading. For similar articles try these:

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