# Survival > Bushcraft Medicine >  Been Using This Stuff For Years. . . .

## Nativedude

A friend of mine sent this article to me, do I thought I'd share it with all of you.

I've been using this stuff for better than 20 years. It is the best ointment available, bar NONE!

Since I walk barefoot 95% of the time, I use it when I get cracks on my feet. It heals them overnight. . .seriously! I also use on my hands, and if it is really cold and windy I put it on my lips before I go out to cut woods, haul water, etc. Best lip protection EVER!

So, whom else uses it, and what for?

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

*"By JOHN CURRAN, Associated Press Writer   – Sun Jan 31

LYNDONVILLE, Vt. – Winter is most definitely here. It must be. The phones are ringing at Bag Balm headquarters.

Everyone wants a new tub of the gooey, yellow-green ointment. And all have a story about its problem-salving — they use it on squeaky bed springs, psoriasis, dry facial skin, cracked fingers, burns, zits, diaper rash, saddle sores, sunburn, pruned trees, rifles, shell casings, bed sores and radiation burns.

Everything, it seems, except for cows.

"Some, you don't really even want to hear, but they're gonna tell you anyway," said accounts manager Krystina McMorrow, who is half the office staff.

"I've been here 14 years," said accounts-receivable clerk Shawna Wilkerson, the other half. "The oddest one I've heard was somebody who reloads his ammunition. He puts Bag Balm on the bullet casing and it makes it easier to reload 'em."

Developed in 1899 to soothe the irritated udders of milking cows, the substance with the mild medicinal odor has evolved into a medicine chest must-have, with as many uses as Elmer's glue.

According to Bag Balm lore, the stuff went from barns to bedrooms when dairy farmers' wives noticed how smooth their spouses' fingers were after using it on cows' udders. The wives were jealous.

Bag Balm went to the North Pole with Admiral Byrd, to Allied troops in World War II, who used it to keep weapons from corroding, to Ground Zero for the paws of cadaver-sniffing dogs searching the World Trade Center rubble, and to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Sold off pet care shelves and at farm stores for $8.99 per 10-oz. green tub (with cow's head on the lid), it's made of petrolatum, lanolin and an antiseptic, 8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate — substantially the same formula used since John L. Norris bought it from a Wells River druggist before the turn of the century.

It is made in a one-room "plant" by the family owned Dairy Association Co., Inc. — six employees, two officers and no sales force — operating in a cluster of converted railroad buildings in this small (pop. 1,215) northern Vermont town.

Petrolatum is shoveled from 50-gallon drums into a large vat and blended with lanolin from Uruguay, then heated to 95 degrees. A machine quickly squirts the goop into metal cans that are cooled, capped and packaged.

The plant is inspected annually by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, though the product is marketed for use by animals, not humans.

Distributed by wholesalers and sold retail in farm stores, national drugstore chains and general stores, its popularity has grown largely with word-of-mouth advertising as converts becomes users and then devotees.

Imitators through the years have included Udderly Smooth Udder Cream and Udder Balm.

The Dairy Association won't divulge sales figures.

In a 1983 report, the late CBS News journalist Charles Kuralt said upward of 400,000 units were shipped annually. Norris' granddaughter, company President Barbara Norris Allen, won't say how today's shipments compare.

"The colder the weather, the better our business," said Ron Bean, production manager at the plant, which is open for tours but not photographers.

To call the operation old-fashioned is an understatement.

The plant operates with one shift, Monday through Friday. The Dairy Association doesn't take credit cards ("Send us a good ol' check," says Allen). And the names of individual stores that buy directly are kept on index cards in file cabinets.

Long-distance bicyclist Andy Claflin says he started using Bag Balm on a cross-country race last June, when a teammate turned him on to it for saddle sores.

Claflin, 37, from Dayton, Minn., was suffering from saddle sores as he competed in the Race Across America. A teammate told him it was good for the sores, a bane of long-distance biking. So he slathered some on, down below.

"I was sitting there in Arizona, it's 110 degrees, the air conditioning wasn't working, the crapper in the RV wasn't working, I gotta' bike 100 miles in this heat and great, I've got to deal with this," he said. "It was nasty and filthy and it felt weird ... But I didn't have saddle sores from then on, riding 130 miles a day. When you're on the bike, you're like 'Oh, this stuff is great.'"

Marge Boyle, 62, a quilter in Paducah, Ky., keeps a tin by her sewing machine.

"It's really a wonderful product when you're sewing, because of all the pinpricks you get. It soothes and heals your fingers. Quilters are always pricking their fingers. We wash our hands constantly to keep them free of dirt, and you need something to soothe them," she said.

And it's still de rigeur in barns, where it all started.

Dairy farmer Willie Ryan has used it since the '70s, to soothe the chapped teats of cows. And more.

"The cows get frostbit sometime, so we use the Bag Balm," said Ryan, 60, of Craftsbury, Vt. "Any open wound with swelling, you just put some of that in and put a pack bandage on it and it does wonders. Don't ask me how, but it does," he said.

For all its myriad uses, there's one place its makers say never to use it.

"Never put Bag Balm in your hair, because you will not get it out," said Wilkerson."*

----------


## nell67

I use it for it's intended purpose, on goats,and use it for my hands and feet,it really does work well.

The company I work for sells it for $5.99 not the $8.99 the story has listed.

----------


## aflineman

I use Bag Balm and Corn Huskers Lotion on my hands, feet, and joints. The combination is of the few things that help with my dry elbows. 
I have used Bag Balm for it's intended use, and on myself, family, and animals. It is one of the few balms that I can put on my dogs' sores and they won't lick it off. It really does close up cracks in dry skin, overnight.

----------


## hunter63

AFL, I use it on the dogs sores as well.
Corn Huskers on hands and dry skin.
Both are good, and been around for a long time....Gotta tell ya something.

----------


## Sourdough

Been using it my whole life. Born on a dairy farm.

----------


## Winnie

Similar stuff is known as Udder Salve or Udsal. Great stuff!

----------


## rwc1969

My Mom swears by it for hands and feet. I've maybe used it a couple times.

Only job I ever had that wore on my hands was delivery of cardboard packed boxes of stuff. Those boxes draw the moisture right outta your hands and cause them to crack.

The stuff worked good for that.

----------


## Ole WV Coot

I'm the same. Used it and cornhuskers for many years. I never was much working with gloves and they worked well.

----------


## Nativedude

I used it on my kids for diaper rash and my aunt used it on my cousin when he had cradle cap, nothing better for either condition!

My daughter, when she was 4, contracted lice in daycare. I coated her head in bag balm and covered it with a shower cap. The next morning I washed her hair and the lice were dead (balm suffocated 'em). I washed out the bag balm and her hair was never softer. Was a great hair conditioner.

And, no harsh chemicals, like in OTC lice treatments, to get absorbed into her head.

----------


## mcgyver

I've got two wonder. While we all like multiple use items. 
Soaking cotton balls in Bag Balm seams like a great opportunity. 
You could still use them as tinder but they could double as applicators for all of the above.
I think the Lanolin may smoke a little more, but it might just be worth it.
I think I'm gonna give it a try today.

----------


## Rick

That's basically what I do with the Vasoline. Chapped lips, hot spots, irritated skin, etc. Still a great fire starter.

----------


## Trabitha

I haven't seen that stuff in years!  I remember us using on the goats when I was little, and not too long after I heard that people used it on their hands had face.  I couldn't get past the smell, personally.  Have they ever changed that?

I heard that Horse and Mane shampoo is something that people use too.  I wonder if it works well...

----------


## mcgyver

So I had a few minutes before the Football Festival to try the Bag Balm soaked cotton ball fire starters. 
I was correct in that the Balm smoked a bit more than the Vaseline version (quite a bit more)
The odd observation was, that it burned a bit longer than the Vaseline. 
I will have to do some further, more measured comparison to make sure. 
I think the dual use, just might clinch it for me though.

----------


## Camp10

> So I had a few minutes before the Football Festival to try the Bag Balm soaked cotton ball fire starters. 
> I was correct in that the Balm smoked a bit more than the Vaseline version (quite a bit more)
> The odd observation was, that it burned a bit longer than the Vaseline. 
> I will have to do some further, more measured comparison to make sure. 
> I think the dual use, just might clinch it for me though.


Did it light as easily as vaseline does?  It is a great idea..I've been using the stuff for as long as I can remember.  I've never thought to try to burn it though.

----------


## mcgyver

Yes, it did light the same. One good spark and you got flame.
I was really rather impressed, but then again it is still mainly petroleum jelly.
Having fire starters that double as an antiseptic balm just makes good combo.

----------


## Stairman

My Grandma always had a can they called cow salve, same thing though.

----------


## Batch

So what stores do you all buy it in?

----------


## Camp10

> So what stores do you all buy it in?


Mostly feed stores.  There are a few hardware stores around here that also carry it.

----------


## Batch

I'll have to swing into Griff's this week and see if they have it.

----------


## Batch

> My daughter, when she was 4, contracted lice in daycare. I coated her head in bag balm and covered it with a shower cap. The next morning I washed her hair and the lice were dead (balm suffocated 'em). I washed out the bag balm and her hair was never softer. Was a great hair conditioner.


This isn't meant to be any part of the other threads. But, I was driving to work and something had me thinking about this thread. I remembered reading the article posted above and the words of advice at the bottom.

*"For all its myriad uses, there's one place its makers say never to use it.

"Never put Bag Balm in your hair, because you will not get it out," Wilkerson said."
*

I got to wondering how easy was it to get out of your daughters hair?

----------


## welderguy

> Batch So what stores do you all buy it in?





> Mostly feed stores.  There are a few hardware stores around here that also carry it.


Around my part of the woods you can get it at walgreens, cvs ,wal-mart, actually just about anyplace.

----------


## crashdive123

> This isn't meant to be any part of the other threads. But, I was driving to work and something had me thinking about this thread. I remembered reading the article posted above and the words of advice at the bottom.
> 
> "For all its myriad uses, there's one place its makers say never to use it.
> 
> "Never put Bag Balm in your hair, because you will not get it out," Wilkerson said."
> 
> 
> I got to wondering how easy was it to get out of your daughters hair?


Yep - last lines of this news article.  http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...-bagbalm_N.htm

----------


## Rick

Now I can't help but wonder if he's never used this stuff at all. (sigh).

----------


## crashdive123

I really do hope that he comes back to either explain or......

----------


## Nativedude

Yes, I use it (Bag Balm). . .all the time.

I used Dawn dish washing soap (the original blue) to get it out of my daughter's hair. Dawn cuts through anything. I had to wash her hair twice, but it came out and her hair was never softer.

They use it on waterfowl and other animals (otters, etc.) that get caught in oil spills.

My mom still conditions her hair with it (Bag Balm) to this day. She perms her hair and uses it about a week after she puts the perm in. She says it keeps her hair from getting brittle from the processing (???). She, too, washes her hair with Dawn to get it out.

----------


## crashdive123

So is it the Dawn dish soap or the Bag Balm that softens the hair? :Innocent:

----------


## welderguy

> So is it the Dawn dish soap or the Bag Balm that softens the hair?


It is UTTER-LY amazing the questions that interest you :Innocent:

----------


## crashdive123

Don't have a cow. :Innocent:   Inquiring minds want to know.

----------


## welderguy

> Don't have a cow.  Inquiring minds want to know.


Fine ill just  moooooooove on to another thread now

----------


## crashdive123

I guess it is I who should be heading to other pastures .... or is it pasteurizing?  I mean think about it - with your signature I don't want to start no beefs.

----------


## welderguy

LOL , I got side tracked and ran out of bovine euphemisms ( I think thats what I ran out of anyway)

----------


## crashdive123

Sooooooo - utter failure?

----------


## Ken

> LOL , I got side tracked and ran out of bovine euphemisms ( I think thats what I ran out of anyway)





> Sooooooo - utter failure?


Haven't you two milked this thread for all it's worth?   :Sneaky2: 

You both should quit before things turn sour.   :Innocent:

----------


## 2dumb2kwit

> Haven't you two milked this thread for all it's worth?  
> 
> You both should quit before things turn sour.


 Some people just keep at it, 'til the cows come home. :Innocent:

----------


## Ken

They better be careful or we'll have some Mad Cows around here.   :Innocent:

----------


## crashdive123

You two knock it off or I'll moooooove your posts to you know where.

----------


## Ken

You gonna' put us out to pasture?

----------


## crashdive123

Hay - would I do that?

----------


## Ken

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

----------


## crashdive123

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

----------


## Ken

You keep this up and everyone here will be laughing so hard that they milk themselves.   :Innocent:

----------


## crashdive123

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

----------


## Ken

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

----------


## Batch

Holy cow! This thread is corny...  :Innocent:

----------


## hoosierarcher

I can't believe all the puns on this thread I herd.

----------


## hoosierarcher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQMbXvn2RNI

----------


## Batch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0cI7hxWwgU

----------

