it works! I've battled athletes foot and fungal toe nails for almost 18 years. tried all the brand gunk without success. been using boric acid since watching this video and my feet have never looked, felt or smelt heathier. Thank you BigClive. PS it also kills ants too..
mintyfreshpenguin just use white vinegar for fungal nails . Works a treat . Just a trickle once A day until nail clears then few months after to be sure . Also dry your shoes out thoroughly to stop re infection . use a squirt of hydrex pink spray (eBay) once a week to kill any fungus in shoes and to get rid of stink.
@@flutingaround I put a bit inside my socks during the day, not too much as it dried my skin out and I left white foot prints everywhere. And i dusted my shoes at night.
You guys should know that you also have to file down a fungal nail very thin in order to hope to cure it. The nail becomes thick, and the fungus lives down in the nail bed. If you don't hog away the thick nail, the stuff you slather or soak the nail bed with will never actually reach it. Get a file or a Dremel (carefully) and grind away the nail from tip to cuticle so that it's very near the normal thickness and then your applied medicines will reach the fungus to kill it. 💪😎
I have come back to this video many times, and shared it with friends and family over the years. Thank you for being so helpful. You have been such a help to me since my Grandfather is a microelectronics engineer but he does not have time to show me anything about his trade. Thanks.
I know a name for Clive's new book; *_Cheap chemicals off EBay: A useful (and potentially harmful) chemical reference for the average human being._* Includes: Fun party tricks Things that taste good Stuff to counter disease The first three pages will probably be warning information and waivers that basically say _Use of the information this book provides is anecdotal evidence of effects, long-term effects are not guaranteed, and use of this information is at your own risk, making the author not liable for any damage the information may had caused._
I tried the boric acid in my shoes and my god. Only an hour later and the smell is pretty much completely gone. Much appreciated my gloriously bearded friend 👍
Ahh, glycerine and permanganate, brings back memories of a mad Irish Maths teacher was was seconded to teach us chemistry, a very bad move indeed, as he got out an asbestos mat a poured about 2lb weight of the permanganate onto it, the added more, as he said "there's only a drop left" . most of the class were getting excited as he poured into the pile a good 100 ml of Glycerine, and nothing happened.....till he lent over it and poked it with his finger!! The whole place was filled with white smoke, and fire alarms, as we rapidly departed to safety en block. Even the old asbestos mat had a hole in it, and the wooden bench was smouldering. He did not know we all new what would happen as it was covered over a year before! He was removed from Chemistry duties after that....... Stephen.
This sounds like a great start for a series of "useful chemicals for the home". Because trying to search for such information online just gets you flooded with "dangerous chemicals in your house" websites.
Mix it with some raw sugar, put the mix in a bottle that can hold pressure, add water then shake it up and throw it. You'd be surprised how powerful the the bang is. Best bottles to use are those small pub squash bottles.
In 1967 everybody in my rifle company was issued a largeish white tube of goo that we were directed to apply to our feet to prevent immersion foot (the modern name for Trench Foot). Being good Marines we dutifully applied said goo to our feet and then boarded helicopters to go act as a security force to keep the Bad guys from stealing the rice harvest. Question who in the hell harvests rice during the monsoon? Anyway we spent a couple of weeks swanning about in the very wet area. At the end of this time 65% of the company had various degrees of immersion foor and our Company Commander, a rather mild mannered chap was so angry that he was shouting at the Battalion Commander over the radio. Net result 1 rifle company out of service for a month while we dried out our feet and loafed around the rear areas.
Ah did it smell a bit citrus? They used to hand out horrible gloop with zinc, potassium castorate, urea and lanolin with some sort of citrus and eucalyptus type nonsense in it. More than one poor sod had a bad reaction just to the cream.
I used to have a kio pond back in the late 80s and I sent my apprentice in a local river to obtain me some water lilleys that were growing in abundance near the edge. I recall reading in some olde worldy book on ponds that it is a good idea to soak new pond plants in the pot permangate. I recall asking the local chemist for some and it was like time completely stopped, (stranger walks in the bar routine) all the staff looked at me and one went out the back to get the chemist lady, she came out took her glasses off and looked at me, can i help you sir, she asked sternly. I felt like Oliver twist asking for more food. After I explained what I want and what it's for she explained that I should go to a proper pond supply shop. What an old dragon. I think she thought I was pushing it out on the streets. I managed to get some in a small village chemist several miles away, the chemist was also a kio keeper and he did the same. Never went to my local chemist again for anything.
When I worked in the Australian Outback many years ago; Remote Area First Aid Kits always had plenty of Pot. permanganate ( Condy's Crystals ) in them as an antiseptic, disinfectant, antibacterial and water purification agent, but usually got used for starting campfires in wet weather ! (also great for colouring fountains in public parks!)
Haha, that takes me back, I once went round my parents house, when I nipped into the bathroom for a Jimmie's I noticed the bath was completely purple !! Apparently my dad had decided to treat himself with potassium permanganate, no idea what for but he had obviously over done it . The porcelaine bath had a permanate purple colour (brown as it got older) tide mark that my mum was never able to shift !!! Lol. Good work sir, I love finding uses for old chemicals that most people have forgotten and multinational companies would rather that we didn't remember !! keep up the good work !
We're in Napoli and complaining to each other about possible foot infection and definite stinky feet... and in my suggestions comes the (for us, right now) best Big Clive video ever.
In hindsight I wish I had. If my problematic feet had been treated with boric acid at the start they wouldn't have suffered long term skin damage caused by their useless profit-powders.
I just have to say Thanks I shared this video with my coworkers that have foot problems and they say it helped them a lot. 👍👍👍⚡️⚡️⚡️ And our lab had proper chemical for free!
My Dad (soon 95, now a bit gaga) told me about permanganate; it's used in I think recharging iron-removal systems for tap water around here (Florida) so one can buy a pound or more for under $10. Mythbusters used to used permanganate plus glycerin to start thermite (but didn't show what they were).
Thermite is iron (or just rust) and aluminum filings or powder in a mixture. Yes, they are both metals, yes, they do burn. Lot of contained oxygen there, just waiting for exothermic release.
Just went to nearest grocery store and maybe it's used for swimming pools as well because it was next to the pool chemicals, 2 lbs. for $14 or 5 for $35. (Yes, in much of Florida the grocery stores have pool chemicals.) Even 2 pounds (rather coarse crystals) would last me a while...
I'll have to try that later this summer when we have our reunion. In the past we've started thermite with sparklers. I wonder if permanganate + glycerin will start a magnesium fire? With that in the past we've put a good hot charcoal briquette on top and poured liquid oxygen on it. Whoosh!
I'd just like to thank you Clive for this video, because with a few pink foot baths I have not had any sores at all between my toes since june 2016. :D
Good to hear. I wish I'd discovered these things earlier. The expensive medicated powders sold by chemists were useless and effectively resulted in long term skin damage on my own feet.
You need to do a series on stuff like this. Practical, old-timey solutions like this. Got anything for someone who's able to destroy shoes in a week from the smell, or would Boric Acid work for shoes that bad?
Chlorahexadine gluconate solution is great for stinky feet . Use it every day for disinfecting patient's stinky feet . Hydrex pink spray commonly known as . You can get it on eBay . Just give your shoes a good soaking inside with the spray . It evaporates pretty quick .
Here's my suggestion: stain just the cloth insoles completely with straight liquid fabric softener and machine wash them with a load of clothes. If they're the originals glued in wash the whole shoe too don't rip them out. Clive's method does not address the actual filth called mud. Shoe stink is caused by water acting as a vehicle to bring microbes, so avoid getting the shoes rewetted especially by nonpotable water such as rain. Also pat your feet dry after taking a bath, don't rub. When my skin gets wet it usually softens and often results in proud flesh. I dust powdered red, AKA cayenne pepper directly on raw flesh especially under where the shoelaces and tongue cause injuries. Really won't burn even the worst foot skin but always tingles so be prepared, but DO keep that stuff AWAY from your lips and pelvis/crotch as the skin senses there are very different and hella lotta more sensitive.
I've been subscribed for maybe a couple months now, and in every. single. video. I've learned something new or cool. Thanks so much for what you do, Clive. I wish I could afford to join your patreon, but I thought I'd add my voice to the choir. Your own soothing voice has educated and entertained me through many lonely hours. Here's to many more to come!
Did the same on an auction one day. Now have a lifetime supply of both pencils and sharpeners, for under a dollar. Only bid, and I went stupid low, just to see if I could get it. Auctioneers commission was under a penny.
I'm horrible at containing late night eBay browsing. So far I have 5 copper rods, 10 metres of RCA cable, a gong, 6 mini scales, 6 of those lip things which go whizz and 100ft of paracord
thanks clive,i will try this out,the most effective remedy for far for my feet ailments have been going to the beach and soaking down there for an hour or so
Then common sense would dictate that if you soak your feet in potassium permanganate - DO NOT then rinse them in hydrogen peroxide - unless you really like those anatomical drawings in the encyclopedae.
Certainly wasn't meant as any offense. Hope you didn't take it that way. Just a weak attempt at humour I guess... no, more like 'lame attempt'. After all, who would really think that it'd turn skin transparent. (gotta cut down on my caffiene intake)
I love these 'off beat' vids Clive. I have yet to find any of your content that has been a disappointment. Still a fantastic channel. I first encountered potassium permanganate at school in large crystal form, one of my favourite colours. When you mixed a tiny bit in water however, it almost made me gip thanks to it almost resembling meths. Urgh the small of that stuff... When (or should I say if ?) I get what I'm due from HMRC and other well loved places I'll be sure to PP you some dosh for the entertainment you have provided me. Thanks Clive.
Quinine (the main ingredient in tonic water) is another interesting chemical... but it's also become more difficult to get! It floresces under UV light and is quite bitter tasting. My doctor said he couldn't write prescriptions for quinine anymore but recommended a cup of tonic water (gin is optional:) at night to help with leg cramps and surprisingly it works like a charm!
Magnesium sultfate is the remedy for night leg cramps. The drugstore wants to sell it to me for about $300/kg ( in tiny packages , so $3.00 for ten grams ). I buy it at the gardening store for about $5/kg. It's not "food grade", but I use less than 1g a week. What else does it have in it ? Plutionium ? Lead ? Strychnine ? No. I have researched how magnesium suflate is made, I am not too concerned about "contaminants".
But why do you get leg cramps? Increasing your POTASSIUM intake will usually stop cramping, dizziness, and all sorts of other dysfunctions, including INSOMNIA.
Thank you for illustrating the foot procedure. I almost had put my head into the bucket, and my laptop into my washing machine. Being self employed, I would have lost a lot of revenue this way!
Boric acid also works great for dandruff (which is also caused by a fungal infection/irritation). Also, anyone considering using boric acid for any of these remedies, note that boric acid is NOT the same thing as Borax 'washing soap'. Boric acid is hydrogen borate, while Borax is sodium borate. People often use Borax interchangeably because that's "all they had around". Boric acid can be found at any drug or hardware store for just a few dollars, so why use the wrong stuff?
Another one worthy of note is Vicks Vapour Rub. It contains Camphor, Menthol and Eucalyptus which makes it excellent treatment for fungal nail infection. Use generously overnight and in very few days you'll see the fungus dieing off. Also useful for Psoriasis particularly as nothing else seems to work, but this makes a difference.
Great info. as always. And FWIW, a quick and fairly cheap local (usually) source for Boric acid is the "Anti-Cockroach Powder" that's sold in most Dollar Tree or similar dollar-only shops here in the U.S.. Obviously you'll need to READ the label to confirm that whatever brand sold near you is 100% boric acid.
That was AWESOME! You were reading my freaking MIND! When I saw that I was wondering what that tasted like and BAM, you said, "I wonder what it tastes like" and I was like YES!! DO IT! LOL
It's not dirt cheap but a product called Control III(3) is great for making fabrics antibacterial. Treating socks and undergarments before hikes or camping makes a huge difference.
Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). Good for cleaning stuff, specially my coffee thermos. Here in DK they only have those tiny very expensive selections in the baking department but I know you can buy it much cheaper in large quantities in other countries in the EU.
Here in Japan it's sold in tiny expensive packs in the supermarket, but if you go to a home improvement/construction store they'll have big boxes for cheap.
Just don't use any of the DIY store/ebay chemicals for cooking. It may be food safe, but unless it's labeled fine for consumption it may contain contaminants from production that you don't want to eat. That said, I made lye rolls with sodium hydroxide that's supposed to be used for developing UV exposed PCBs before etching. All the people who ate from that are still alive ;)
I had a gardening book about 30 years ago that showed how to make a "sink garden", which was basically a big concrete flowerpot. They recommended treating the concrete after casting but before planting with potassium permanganate to neutralize the deleterious effects of the new concrete on the plants. They claimed it would make the concrete so hospitable to the plants the roots would seek the concrete. Alas, nobody would sell me potassium permanganate other than little pills at the drugstore which would have been too little and too expensive. Now I have the internet and find that getting it is really no problem at all, if you know who to ask and where to look, like 10 pound bags of the stuff on ebay.
EU banning boron compounds is the main reason I'm angry at REACH at the moment. Borax is literally just as toxic as table salt, and it's essential for many kinds of hobbies. They really seem to want people to do nothing but watch TV on their free time.
Have you ever read some common MSDS? I worked for a government department full of pedantic penpushers for a while. they were anal about MSDS sheets for everything even the dishwashing liquid used to clean the coffee mugs. They eventually realised I was taking the piss when I slipped in MSDS for Di-hydrogen monoxide, dang nasty stuff, coffee, tea (green non chlorinated) and a few other common everyday items found in every lunchroom. Don't work there any more, I wonder why?
Canadian Naval Combat Dress includes essentially light industrial safety boots as apart of our kit (hot and cold weather). They can get pretty bad especially if you blacken them with polish instead of the recommended boot paste. Good to know! Thank you
As far as random eBay chemicals go, I recommend buying a 1-kilo bag of potassium nitrate to play with. Blended with sugar and baking soda, it makes a fantastic pyrotechnic display, like those little "black snake" fireworks. Blended with molten xylitol, you can make solid fuel for homemade hobby rockets. Plus, it makes a good fertilizer.
It's hard to get KNO3 here. But an experiment with melting a similar concoction of oxidiser and sugar in a glass in my microwave went pear shaped very fast in a sort of smoke, flames and very hot broken glass kind of way.
I know from experience that oxidizer/sugar mixtures burn more than hot enough to, for instance, make steel cans glow orange, melt aluminum cans, and shatter/melt glass jars. Luckily, all those things are good for entertaining relatives.
Great stuff Clive, ordered both. The glitter pill thing didn't work though. I now do have very pleasing led flame lighting at home. Keep up the good work dude!
Also, alcohol intoxicated russians would drink a lot of this solution to invoke a releaving barf. Smart ones filter for undissolved crystals first, though.
Still is, it's used in home water softener/ water treatment setups. Reduces stinky water smell, my house had a setup that used it. I got rid of it, it really stains everything purple.
Just be sure not to get too much in there. Teatree is great, but large amounts can have negative health effects. Other then that the amount of uses from putting in cuts to making dilute disinfectant are quite large.
On a serious note now pure 100% tea tree oil is really amazing stuff thats well worth researching. Im not sure if i was just lucky or it actually worked but i had an abcess under a tooth and i massaged it into my gum and i could actually feel the pain dissipating and within a couple of hours the pain had actually gone. If people had told me this i would have said it was an old wives tale, but trust me on this this stuff is really amazing!
I've suffered from both of these problems for years and tried pretty much every treatment around, except for these. I'll have to get some to see if it helps, thanks! Also, Boxax mixed with water can be interesting, especially if you stick a pair of aluminium electrodes in and apply about 100VAC to it, You can make a Borax rectifier that glows slightly.
Did either work for you? Btw I’ve seen in other comments that Borax isn’t the same as Boric acid - the first is sodium borate, and the latter is hydrogen borate.
I thought you might be welsh for a moment [llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch} but google search gives "I messed up my name in an endlessly long line for Google"
Clive, you've been born 1000 years too late; you'd have made a fantastic alchemist. Maybe you could have been the one to very quickly write down that hydrogen cyanide tastes of almonds :-/ (before slightly less than instant death). As a skin specialist, I can tell you that pot permang is fantastic stuff for leg ulcers, and mild infections of the feet. You had the dilution about right as the light pink colour is indicative of a sensible concentration. Much more than that, and you'll have a very unconvincing fake tan from sock level downwards, which could bring strange looks at the local swimming pool. Back in the '80's we used boric acid powder to treat difficult infections of the ear canal. It kills fungi, bacteria, viruses, and we even had a special blower which would puff small amounts into the ear canal. Fantastic stuff and almost never failed to clear infections, without causing any irritation to the patient. Disclaimer. Check with your Doctor before using pot permang or boric acid. Both treatments can cause significant harm if used incorrectly.
growing up we used to use this for tinnea and we always knew it as condy's crystals in Australia i reconised it as soon as you put it in and i saw the color
Yes sir, very aware of the two . My father was of the ones that suffered from trench foot in ww2 and very highly praised the old doctor that give him some of the " purple magic " ! I was also helped tremendously by this " magic powder " coming out of the jungles of Nam ! As for the Boric Acid, it also works great for getting rid of cockroaches, they don't like it much !
Clive, you could drink Potassium Permanganate solution with no worries. Actually it's one of its uses, to purify water. It can be bought where I live in every pharmacy in the form of little tablets which can be easily crushed to dust if needed. The bottle of maybe 50 tablets will last for years and it costs a few dimes.
Railroads used to use thermite for welding rail sections together... might still for all I know. In any case, probably not anything you should do inside or taste. :)
Me again - I once had ahtlete's foot and my sneakers were stinky, no putrid. The chemist told me to pour formaldehyde in my shoes, swish it around and dry them completely (emphasize completely), then bathe your feet in your pink solution and it worked a trreat, my shoes never stunk again, ever. Not sure of the strength of the formaldehyde though, it was whatever the chemists are allowed to sell. Great advice from you though. Really enjoy your show. Spud
thanks for the reply haha I was just kidding about the crotch rot however I really appreciate when people educate others so I have a great deal of respect for you oh and fyi for those with a fungal issue I saw you can get Ketoconazole on ebay from foreign countries on ebay without a prescription Im saying this because for me the most expensive part is having the dr look at me and confirm what I told him
Another antifungal treatment is propylene glycol which also has antibacterial properties. It's non toxic and widely available due to its use in e-liquid. I keep a spray bottle with some well watered down to make it spray easily.
Just ordered both of ebay- because I still can! Thanks for the heads up. Local pharmacy will not sell me 1 liter of acetone at £8.95 anymore- they will only sell me 50ml at £1.09 because of "new rules"?? so I bought 5 liters of ebay for 15 quid and took it around to show them!
Hi Clive. Yes, very. I've made this many times for a laugh as I was fortunate enough to work in a lab at a time when we had one of everything. Not the case now unfortunately. The resulting substance is nitrogen triiodide (NI3). From my experience there are no associated pyrotechnics - just a very (that's very) loud bang. Even the stained filter paper goes off with loud bang (once it's dry) if you give it a tap. The actual substance itself, once dried is somewhat more temperamental. I once looked at it the wrong way and off it went. I couldn't hear a thing for the rest of the day. Please let me know if you would like me to reveal the dark art of making this stuff. The opportunity for japes and high jinx is endless. You should also appreciate that I am somewhat reckless and highly irresponsible.
great tips, im a green oak timber framer and to take the metal stains of the green oak we make up a mix of Oxalic acid and warm water to paint on it, it really is amazing, all the black marks disappear in front of your eyes, before i found out about it we used to do allot of sanding. i think the ratio is around 10 parts water to one part Oxalic acid. thats for a strong mix.
Interestingly potassium permanganate can also be used as emergency water treatment- if you find yourself in the wilderness! Can also be used to start fires as Clive showed. I had no idea it was also antifungal.
Its only been 7 days, plenty of time yet to get everything balanced out, all the right controls are in place and extra funding is readily available should the need arise.
Another fun one to do with potassium permanganate crystals is to mix them with either magnesium or aluminium (either powder or fine filings), then add a drop of glycerine to the top as the ignition source. Basically a flash powder - as you might expect, goes "whumphfff" and makes a blinding white flash. If compacted and confined, will also make a very loud explosion too - the same mixture (more or less, with some kind of stabiliser to prevent spontaneous ignition) is used in military spec flash-bang grenades. Which brings me nicely onto the word of warning: Don't do this unless you are fully prepared for the result, and certainly don't look directly at the flash, unless you want to lose your vision for anything from 5 minutes to half an hour, depending on how old you are and how healthy your eyes are to begin with. Also, NEVER store potassium permanganate and magnesium/aluminium (or any other metal powders) mixed, since these mixtures have been known to ignite on their own without apparent provocation or warning. Keep them as separate powders in separate containers, and only mix immediately before use.
Wool socks and baking soda with apple cider vinegar have never let me down. I used to fall timber in oregon. I wore boots that got wet and stayed wet for the rainy season. My boot dryer merely warmed up the damp leather. Good times.
I just caught up with this video, very interesting. I recently bought some "shoe spray" by a company called Beauty Formulas (!) and after watching this I decided to look at the ingredients... mainly alcohol and what looks like the start of a bomb-making kit by the looks of it. Here are the ingredients: - Butane, Isopropyl Alcohol, Propane, Isobutane, 2-Bromo-2, Nitropropane-1, 3-Diol, Undecylenic Acid, Parfum (!), Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Geraniol, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalool, Limonene, Butylphenyl Methylpropional. I don't think I will be using any of this spray any time soon, I will be sticking to your suggestion of the PP or Boric Acid ;)
almost all of these are either propellants or scents. in fact the only active ingredient i can see is undecylenic acid. so you're getting a lot of perfume and not a lot of actually useful product, probably in an overpriced package.
I had problems with fungal infections for 15 years. I tried all the chemist sold treatments, which worked for a while but never really kicked it fully and cost a significant amount if used long term. When I came to China, my girlfriend (now wife) got me to soak my feet in vinegar every day. Also, when I go to the spa here, I get a vinegar spray over my body before washing. This cleared up the the fungal infection and it has stayed away. I noticed another treatment on sale in China that when I examined the small print, used uric acid. I imagine these works just the same way that the boric acid does. That is, simply any week acid will disturb the fungus but not be so strong as to irritate your feet. I'd recommend trying vinegar to anyone for several reasons: first it does work, second it is cheap, third it is safe to touch and even eat, fourth you can buy it anywhere in any shop or supermarket without any problem. In case you are worried about smelling like a chip shop - try using cider vinegar.
I have athletes foot by the way.. tried anything... even antibiotics.. those helped... but it got back in a couple of months... I'll try this thanks Clive!
+Alejandro Ferrari so today I've got the powder.. Soaked my feet in it (after wash and dry of course) and after the first soak I saw all the hurted skin become brown.. Because of the oxidation.. And also my nails... The next dip will be tomorrow.. And if it works I'll give an immediate update.. However for now they feel extremely clean!.. And I had 12 liters of water.. And my first add was to much... You need indeed a very little bit!
A friend of mine, who passed away in his 80s, developed a severe case of trench foot in the U.S. Army in WWII. He had spent weeks in a foxhole in the Ardennes forest fighting the Nazis. He was bothered by it for the rest of his life.
If you sprinkle a little sodium meta bisulphate (used as a steriliser in home brewing) in when you're finished it will make the solution turn from purple to clear and gets rid of all the brown stains you get! This makes cleaning up at work so much easier!
I couldn’t live without potassium permanganate. I buy it by the pound every few years and use it when doing finish work on antique violins and guitars, or when trying to add age and character to newly constructed musical instruments to make them look authentic. When repairing or replacing wood on a vintage musical instrument… The potassium solution oxidizes the wood naturally and helps the repairs disappear into the rest of the instrument. Here in America you can still buy pounds of the stuff for dirt cheap. Matter of fact the workbench in my profile picture here on UA-cam was only built about 10 years ago… The wood was so light and white colored and I didn’t want to go to the trouble of ammonia fuming or UV treating the wood to get a darker color. Both can be long drawn out process is for oxidizing and darkening wood naturally (And stains are banned from my shop. As well as sandpaper.) So my only other option was the potassium, If you wash a few thin coats of deluded potassium permanganate into the wood, you can watch it oxidize right in front of your eyes. My solution was probably 10 times stronger than the one you use in this video. And I also use at least 50% Iso alcohol in water so that it evaporates quickly from the wood and doesn’t cause warping or swelling in the wood. After the treatment my workbench looked like it had age naturally 40 years in a matter of minutes… And I didn’t have to resort to evil stains.
Fond memories. I had bad feet as a kid and my doctor told my mom this would help. I think it did help. But I remember the long soakings and how emberassing sports-lessons where back then. Brown / stained feet in sports class with a bunch of kids where you are the weirdo. Fun times... Yeah I remember the coarse crystals in an orange plastic container. Was Fascinated by them and how they were so lovely purple.
I stumbled on this video coincidentally the day after I received a half kilo of boric acid from an internet purchase, for a completely unrelated purpose (dog with skin infections). Of course after watching the video I had to immediately run and mix some into methylated spirits and set fire to it. I can most happily confirm the flames are indeed green :D You don't need much boric acid, but it doesn't dissolve too readily in the alcohol. I believe this one of the problems with boric acid, and also another good reason to buy the finely powdered variety.
Excellent mate - just ordered some boric acid from ebay. It'll be perfect for dusting my running shoes as they often sit damp in a bag then come out smelling pretty badly (definitely a build up of bacteria). Had a touch of athlete's foot too so should also help that.
Unless I missed it, no one mentioned flowers of sulphur, which is a very finely divided powder of elemental sulphur and can still be bought (even though used in a well known powder for g_uns). It has been used for centuries as an anti fungal and antimicrobial on humans and animals. It is dusted on or made into a cream with an oily substance.
ill definitely try the boric acid, i have had tinea for years and the creams i have gotten from pharmacies have costed $20 for a small tube that lasts a week at best and you typically need to get 5 packets to be rid of it. then it comes back in a couple months. i have basically stopped trying to get rid of it for the last few years.
Nice enjoyed this. I kind of hoped it would be a video on how to waterproof footwear. If there is anything that you can apply to footwear to waterproof that would be handy. I go through a ton of shoes and find even waterproof shoes are not that waterproof.
I used to use boric acid to clear my drains when I lived in Scotland (damn tree roots). It was sold inexpensively in plastic bottles at B&Q. Hydrogen peroxide is a good oxidizer for things like soaking your feet; sold cheap in the US but sold in small expensive bottles at Boots in the UK.
hey Clive. something I found. KMnO4 treats drinking water far more effectively than iodine tablets; and unlike other purifiers, it is tasteless, odorless, and produces no toxic byproducts. 50 Milligrams of Potassium Permanganate will treat 1 Liter of drinking water (the volume of a standard canteen).
Interesting reaction you should try is potassium permanganate with aluminium powder and you put a drop of water in it produces purple smoke but don't do it inside
Hey Clive, maybe I asked already, but do you think you could do a short video for my Mom? She was just diagnosed with cancer and she likes your humor, I think it would really lift her spirits. Her name is Aunt Erma.
As kid used to build nitrocellulose bottle "bombs" and used the glycerine potassium permanganate as fuse.. Fun times.. nearly impossible for kids to learn same way nowadays..
it works! I've battled athletes foot and fungal toe nails for almost 18 years. tried all the brand gunk without success. been using boric acid since watching this video and my feet have never looked, felt or smelt heathier. Thank you BigClive. PS it also kills ants too..
mintyfreshpenguin just use white vinegar for fungal nails . Works a treat . Just a trickle once A day until nail clears then few months after to be sure . Also dry your shoes out thoroughly to stop re infection . use a squirt of hydrex pink spray (eBay) once a week to kill any fungus in shoes and to get rid of stink.
@@flutingaround I put a bit inside my socks during the day, not too much as it dried my skin out and I left white foot prints everywhere. And i dusted my shoes at night.
You guys should know that you also have to file down a fungal nail very thin in order to hope to cure it. The nail becomes thick, and the fungus lives down in the nail bed. If you don't hog away the thick nail, the stuff you slather or soak the nail bed with will never actually reach it. Get a file or a Dremel (carefully) and grind away the nail from tip to cuticle so that it's very near the normal thickness and then your applied medicines will reach the fungus to kill it. 💪😎
"I wonder what it tastes like."
Are you sure you're not a mad scientist?
He's mad alright, the scientist part I'm not sure of.
one day the videos may just stop and we're gonna know what happened
Have you seen the devide he made to heat up his tub? Ofcourse hes a mad scientist
He's the kind of guy who accidentally discovers chemical sweeteners by tasting chemicals from the lab.
I'd really rather that +bigclivedotcom didn't become a case file for the BMJ's Emergency Medicine Journal: e.g.
emj.bmj.com/content/14/1/43.abstract
I have come back to this video many times, and shared it with friends and family over the years. Thank you for being so helpful. You have been such a help to me since my Grandfather is a microelectronics engineer but he does not have time to show me anything about his trade. Thanks.
I know a name for Clive's new book;
*_Cheap chemicals off EBay: A useful (and potentially harmful) chemical reference for the average human being._*
Includes:
Fun party tricks
Things that taste good
Stuff to counter disease
The first three pages will probably be warning information and waivers that basically say _Use of the information this book provides is anecdotal evidence of effects, long-term effects are not guaranteed, and use of this information is at your own risk, making the author not liable for any damage the information may had caused._
@@ts757arse The Anarchist's Cookbook is a good way to blow off your hands, there are much better books out there.
I tried the boric acid in my shoes and my god. Only an hour later and the smell is pretty much completely gone.
Much appreciated my gloriously bearded friend 👍
Ahh, glycerine and permanganate, brings back memories of a mad Irish Maths teacher was was seconded to teach us chemistry, a very bad move indeed, as he got out an asbestos mat a poured about 2lb weight of the permanganate onto it, the added more, as he said "there's only a drop left" . most of the class were getting excited as he poured into the pile a good 100 ml of Glycerine, and nothing happened.....till he lent over it and poked it with his finger!! The whole place was filled with white smoke, and fire alarms, as we rapidly departed to safety en block. Even the old asbestos mat had a hole in it, and the wooden bench was smouldering. He did not know we all new what would happen as it was covered over a year before! He was removed from Chemistry duties after that.......
Stephen.
This sounds like a great start for a series of "useful chemicals for the home". Because trying to search for such information online just gets you flooded with "dangerous chemicals in your house" websites.
Who else now has a bag of potassium permanganate on the way from China... but no real idea why?
mines not from china its from work i treat water and we use permanganate to remove iron from our drinking water if you us a little it removes iron
I use it to wash my veggies !!
Strangely enough ,mine is coming from Dublin. Had no idea we had a Dublin California
@@treed5953 This joke trancends me
Mix it with some raw sugar, put the mix in a bottle that can hold pressure, add water then shake it up and throw it. You'd be surprised how powerful the the bang is.
Best bottles to use are those small pub squash bottles.
In 1967 everybody in my rifle company was issued a largeish white tube of goo that we were directed to apply to our feet to prevent immersion foot (the modern name for Trench Foot). Being good Marines we dutifully applied said goo to our feet and then boarded helicopters to go act as a security force to keep the Bad guys from stealing the rice harvest. Question who in the hell harvests rice during the monsoon? Anyway we spent a couple of weeks swanning about in the very wet area. At the end of this time 65% of the company had various degrees of immersion foor and our Company Commander, a rather mild mannered chap was so angry that he was shouting at the Battalion Commander over the radio. Net result 1 rifle company out of service for a month while we dried out our feet and loafed around the rear areas.
Ah did it smell a bit citrus? They used to hand out horrible gloop with zinc, potassium castorate, urea and lanolin with some sort of citrus and eucalyptus type nonsense in it. More than one poor sod had a bad reaction just to the cream.
@@captainchaos3053 At this distance of time I don't remember that it had any particular smell.
I used to have a kio pond back in the late 80s and I sent my apprentice in a local river to obtain me some water lilleys that were growing in abundance near the edge.
I recall reading in some olde worldy book on ponds that it is a good idea to soak new pond plants in the pot permangate. I recall asking the local chemist for some and it was like time completely stopped, (stranger walks in the bar routine) all the staff looked at me and one went out the back to get the chemist lady, she came out took her glasses off and looked at me, can i help you sir, she asked sternly. I felt like Oliver twist asking for more food. After I explained what I want and what it's for she explained that I should go to a proper pond supply shop. What an old dragon. I think she thought I was pushing it out on the streets.
I managed to get some in a small village chemist several miles away, the chemist was also a kio keeper and he did the same. Never went to my local chemist again for anything.
When I worked in the Australian Outback many years ago; Remote Area First Aid Kits always had plenty of Pot. permanganate ( Condy's Crystals ) in them as an antiseptic, disinfectant, antibacterial and water purification agent, but usually got used for starting campfires in wet weather ! (also great for colouring fountains in public parks!)
sOAP suds Condies and Kings x fountain.
Haha, that takes me back, I once went round my parents house, when I nipped into the bathroom for a Jimmie's I noticed the bath was completely purple !! Apparently my dad had decided to treat himself with potassium permanganate, no idea what for but he had obviously over done it . The porcelaine bath had a permanate purple colour (brown as it got older) tide mark that my mum was never able to shift !!! Lol. Good work sir, I love finding uses for old chemicals that most people have forgotten and multinational companies would rather that we didn't remember !! keep up the good work !
I had really bad feet a few years ago and this was exactly what my GP prescribed. Works amazing and dyes your feet brownish/purple.
We're in Napoli and complaining to each other about possible foot infection and definite stinky feet... and in my suggestions comes the (for us, right now) best Big Clive video ever.
Can you get the chemicals locally?
Avoid those fake powders in the foot-care aisle! These methods work very well!! Thanks Clive!
In hindsight I wish I had. If my problematic feet had been treated with boric acid at the start they wouldn't have suffered long term skin damage caused by their useless profit-powders.
I just have to say Thanks I shared this video with my coworkers that have foot problems and they say it helped them a lot.
👍👍👍⚡️⚡️⚡️
And our lab had proper chemical for free!
My Dad (soon 95, now a bit gaga) told me about permanganate; it's used in I think recharging iron-removal systems for tap water around here (Florida) so one can buy a pound or more for under $10. Mythbusters used to used permanganate plus glycerin to start thermite (but didn't show what they were).
Thermite is iron (or just rust) and aluminum filings or powder in a mixture. Yes, they are both metals, yes, they do burn. Lot of contained oxygen there, just waiting for exothermic release.
Interesting, I'm surprised it has that high of a temperature, I figured they just used some magnesium powder and some other materials.
Just went to nearest grocery store and maybe it's used for swimming pools as well because it was next to the pool chemicals, 2 lbs. for $14 or 5 for $35. (Yes, in much of Florida the grocery stores have pool chemicals.) Even 2 pounds (rather coarse crystals) would last me a while...
I'll have to try that later this summer when we have our reunion. In the past we've started thermite with sparklers. I wonder if permanganate + glycerin will start a magnesium fire? With that in the past we've put a good hot charcoal briquette on top and poured liquid oxygen on it. Whoosh!
I'd just like to thank you Clive for this video, because with a few pink foot baths I have not had any sores at all between my toes since june 2016. :D
Good to hear. I wish I'd discovered these things earlier. The expensive medicated powders sold by chemists were useless and effectively resulted in long term skin damage on my own feet.
You need to do a series on stuff like this. Practical, old-timey solutions like this. Got anything for someone who's able to destroy shoes in a week from the smell, or would Boric Acid work for shoes that bad?
Chlorahexadine gluconate solution is great for stinky feet . Use it every day for disinfecting patient's stinky feet . Hydrex pink spray commonly known as . You can get it on eBay . Just give your shoes a good soaking inside with the spray . It evaporates pretty quick .
Here's my suggestion: stain just the cloth insoles completely with straight liquid fabric softener and machine wash them with a load of clothes. If they're the originals glued in wash the whole shoe too don't rip them out. Clive's method does not address the actual filth called mud. Shoe stink is caused by water acting as a vehicle to bring microbes, so avoid getting the shoes rewetted especially by nonpotable water such as rain. Also pat your feet dry after taking a bath, don't rub. When my skin gets wet it usually softens and often results in proud flesh. I dust powdered red, AKA cayenne pepper directly on raw flesh especially under where the shoelaces and tongue cause injuries. Really won't burn even the worst foot skin but always tingles so be prepared, but DO keep that stuff AWAY from your lips and pelvis/crotch as the skin senses there are very different and hella lotta more sensitive.
@@HighestRank I proudly disagree with eveything you've written here, except for the whole "keep cayenne pepper away from your genitals" thing.
I've been subscribed for maybe a couple months now, and in every. single. video. I've learned something new or cool. Thanks so much for what you do, Clive. I wish I could afford to join your patreon, but I thought I'd add my voice to the choir. Your own soothing voice has educated and entertained me through many lonely hours. Here's to many more to come!
"exciting chemicals you can get off eBay." sounds like a fun time
Never browse eBay late at night while being bored, once I almost bought a bunch of pencil sharpeners lol.
Did the same on an auction one day. Now have a lifetime supply of both pencils and sharpeners, for under a dollar. Only bid, and I went stupid low, just to see if I could get it. Auctioneers commission was under a penny.
+Gordon Freeman instead you bought an HEV.
I'm horrible at containing late night eBay browsing. So far I have 5 copper rods, 10 metres of RCA cable, a gong, 6 mini scales, 6 of those lip things which go whizz and 100ft of paracord
@@beyondbeyond1965 sounds like a busy night
thanks clive,i will try this out,the most effective remedy for far for my feet ailments have been going to the beach and soaking down there for an hour or so
When I had a nasty foot infection years back, I was told by my GP to use this stuff, using a tiny amount in a bowl of warm water, it worked
Another triumph of a video! Brilliant advice and informative. Thank you Clive!
Protip: If you stain something with Potassium Permanganate, squirt it with simple Hydrogen Peroxide. It will turn transparent instantly.
Then common sense would dictate that if you soak your feet in potassium permanganate - DO NOT then rinse them in hydrogen peroxide - unless you really like those anatomical drawings in the encyclopedae.
Huh? You can get it at any pharmacy mate, it's used to rinse your wounds. Not sure what you're on about.
Certainly wasn't meant as any offense. Hope you didn't take it that way. Just a weak attempt at humour I guess... no, more like 'lame attempt'. After all, who would really think that it'd turn skin transparent. (gotta cut down on my caffiene intake)
Oh, okay, haha, I didn't get it.
hahahaa Pour a few ounces into my bath, then shower with peroxide.. then go for a visit to the bank.. naked.
heheheh
I love these 'off beat' vids Clive. I have yet to find any of your content that has been a disappointment. Still a fantastic channel.
I first encountered potassium permanganate at school in large crystal form, one of my favourite colours. When you mixed a tiny bit in water however, it almost made me gip thanks to it almost resembling meths. Urgh the small of that stuff...
When (or should I say if ?) I get what I'm due from HMRC and other well loved places I'll be sure to PP you some dosh for the entertainment you have provided me. Thanks Clive.
Quinine (the main ingredient in tonic water) is another interesting chemical... but it's also become more difficult to get! It floresces under UV light and is quite bitter tasting. My doctor said he couldn't write prescriptions for quinine anymore but recommended a cup of tonic water (gin is optional:) at night to help with leg cramps and surprisingly it works like a charm!
So that’s why tonic water tastes awful.
It might be worth just trying the cup or two of water at night - being dehydrated can make cramps more likely.
Magnesium sultfate is the remedy for night leg cramps. The drugstore wants to sell it to me for about $300/kg ( in tiny packages , so $3.00 for ten grams ). I buy it at the gardening store for about $5/kg. It's not "food grade", but I use less than 1g a week. What else does it have in it ? Plutionium ? Lead ? Strychnine ? No. I have researched how magnesium suflate is made, I am not too concerned about "contaminants".
But why do you get leg cramps?
Increasing your POTASSIUM intake will usually stop cramping, dizziness, and all sorts of other dysfunctions, including INSOMNIA.
I suffer from bad leg cramps and got some quinine tablets from my doctor last year
Thank you for illustrating the foot procedure. I almost had put my head into the bucket, and my laptop into my washing machine. Being self employed, I would have lost a lot of revenue this way!
Boric acid also works great for dandruff (which is also caused by a fungal infection/irritation).
Also, anyone considering using boric acid for any of these remedies, note that boric acid is NOT the same thing as Borax 'washing soap'. Boric acid is hydrogen borate, while Borax is sodium borate. People often use Borax interchangeably because that's "all they had around". Boric acid can be found at any drug or hardware store for just a few dollars, so why use the wrong stuff?
very timely (4 me) I did think the similarity in the names might mean similar chemical behaviour ... duohhh
The reason why Boric Acid is so lethal for fungus and not for us is because our metabolistic system is completely different. Great video!!
Another one worthy of note is Vicks Vapour Rub. It contains Camphor, Menthol and Eucalyptus which makes it excellent treatment for fungal nail infection. Use generously overnight and in very few days you'll see the fungus dieing off. Also useful for Psoriasis particularly as nothing else seems to work, but this makes a difference.
Great info. as always. And FWIW, a quick and fairly cheap local (usually) source for Boric acid is the "Anti-Cockroach Powder" that's sold in most Dollar Tree or similar dollar-only shops here in the U.S.. Obviously you'll need to READ the label to confirm that whatever brand sold near you is 100% boric acid.
That was AWESOME! You were reading my freaking MIND! When I saw that I was wondering what that tasted like and BAM, you said, "I wonder what it tastes like" and I was like YES!! DO IT! LOL
It's not dirt cheap but a product called Control III(3) is great for making fabrics antibacterial. Treating socks and undergarments before hikes or camping makes a huge difference.
Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). Good for cleaning stuff, specially my coffee thermos. Here in DK they only have those tiny very expensive selections in the baking department but I know you can buy it much cheaper in large quantities in other countries in the EU.
Just get it on ebay. You can buy 1kg bags of the stuff for the price of the tiny packs they sell at stores.
Here in Japan it's sold in tiny expensive packs in the supermarket, but if you go to a home improvement/construction store they'll have big boxes for cheap.
Just don't use any of the DIY store/ebay chemicals for cooking. It may be food safe, but unless it's labeled fine for consumption it may contain contaminants from production that you don't want to eat. That said, I made lye rolls with sodium hydroxide that's supposed to be used for developing UV exposed PCBs before etching. All the people who ate from that are still alive ;)
I believe one is food grade, and the other is household cleaning grade.
Well PCBs are pretty sensitive to impurities no?
I love your impulsive taste test! Keep up the great work, Clive!
I had a gardening book about 30 years ago that showed how to make a "sink garden", which was basically a big concrete flowerpot. They recommended treating the concrete after casting but before planting with potassium permanganate to neutralize the deleterious effects of the new concrete on the plants. They claimed it would make the concrete so hospitable to the plants the roots would seek the concrete. Alas, nobody would sell me potassium permanganate other than little pills at the drugstore which would have been too little and too expensive. Now I have the internet and find that getting it is really no problem at all, if you know who to ask and where to look, like 10 pound bags of the stuff on ebay.
I like these chemical talks Clive! any plans to do more in the future?
What an excellent video! If the effects are as good as you and various commenters have stated I'll definitely be making a donation :)
EU banning boron compounds is the main reason I'm angry at REACH at the moment. Borax is literally just as toxic as table salt, and it's essential for many kinds of hobbies. They really seem to want people to do nothing but watch TV on their free time.
I can't find a reason why boron was banned. It's documented to be a cheap conserving agent for foods... Without any obvious or harmful side effects..
Watch TV and soak their feet in epsom salts and bleach!
Boric acid is an incredible roach killer
Im not usually down for commercials but so far you've got some excellent ones
Dammit Clive, love those random taste tests - can somebody slightly closer please send him one of those big MSDS collection books?
I try to avoid reading MSDS they affect the flavour.
Try eating the MSDS.
Have you ever read some common MSDS? I worked for a government department full of pedantic penpushers for a while. they were anal about MSDS sheets for everything even the dishwashing liquid used to clean the coffee mugs. They eventually realised I was taking the piss when I slipped in MSDS for Di-hydrogen monoxide, dang nasty stuff, coffee, tea (green non chlorinated) and a few other common everyday items found in every lunchroom. Don't work there any more, I wonder why?
You mean something like this one ? i.imgur.com/YYKiSC9.jpg
Canadian Naval Combat Dress includes essentially light industrial safety boots as apart of our kit (hot and cold weather). They can get pretty bad especially if you blacken them with polish instead of the recommended boot paste. Good to know! Thank you
As far as random eBay chemicals go, I recommend buying a 1-kilo bag of potassium nitrate to play with. Blended with sugar and baking soda, it makes a fantastic pyrotechnic display, like those little "black snake" fireworks. Blended with molten xylitol, you can make solid fuel for homemade hobby rockets. Plus, it makes a good fertilizer.
It's hard to get KNO3 here. But an experiment with melting a similar concoction of oxidiser and sugar in a glass in my microwave went pear shaped very fast in a sort of smoke, flames and very hot broken glass kind of way.
I know from experience that oxidizer/sugar mixtures burn more than hot enough to, for instance, make steel cans glow orange, melt aluminum cans, and shatter/melt glass jars. Luckily, all those things are good for entertaining relatives.
I got a 1 kilo bag of potassium nitrate from Amazon UK. Cost about two or three quid at the time (about a year ago).
.
Great stuff Clive, ordered both. The glitter pill thing didn't work though. I now do have very pleasing led flame lighting at home. Keep up the good work dude!
Potassium permanganate can be used to treat water in emergency situations. Still not sure you *should* drink it tho...
...but it looks delicious! :)
It used to be used in tap water so in that strength is completely safe unless you are allergic.
Also, alcohol intoxicated russians would drink a lot of this solution to invoke a releaving barf. Smart ones filter for undissolved crystals first, though.
Still is, it's used in home water softener/ water treatment setups. Reduces stinky water smell, my house had a setup that used it. I got rid of it, it really stains everything purple.
@@brianallen9810 2 years late. Just pour some peroxide on the stains
Thank Clive. I'll get both of these chemicals. I'm pretty sure the first came in a chemistry set I had as a lad. That color is very familiar. 👍
Stinky boots can be treated with Teatree Oil. Dribble on some newspaper, stuff in boots, stand boots in hot sun.
Yep, tea tree oil is very useful stuff. It's good for acne as well when diluted.
Just be sure not to get too much in there. Teatree is great, but large amounts can have negative health effects.
Other then that the amount of uses from putting in cuts to making dilute disinfectant are quite large.
Only problem is, there is no hot sun in england
;)
Stick them in a black bin liner, they'll heat up fine. NB this only works during the 5 days of Summer (2 in Scotland).
I actually was waiting (during that period of silence after you tasted the first chemical) for a loud "THUD"!! You're a madman, Clive!!! ;-)
On a serious note now pure 100% tea tree oil is really amazing stuff thats well worth researching. Im not sure if i was just lucky or it actually worked but i had an abcess under a tooth and i massaged it into my gum and i could actually feel the pain dissipating and within a couple of hours the pain had actually gone. If people had told me this i would have said it was an old wives tale, but trust me on this this stuff is really amazing!
Just a warning though: TEA TREE OIL IS TOXIC IF INGESTED. You can die from eating tea tree oil. Only use externally.
You do realise you can literally die if you don't properly treat dental abscesses?
I love when Dr Clive comes to visit
So you are saying that I can use a Potassium Permanganate solution for a fake tan if I bathe in it...?
I wouldn't recommend it. Actual fake tan is probably going to produce a more predictable colour.
Fake tan also has the pleasant side effect of making your blood plasma fluoress under UV light.
I've suffered from both of these problems for years and tried pretty much every treatment around, except for these. I'll have to get some to see if it helps, thanks!
Also, Boxax mixed with water can be interesting, especially if you stick a pair of aluminium electrodes in and apply about 100VAC to it, You can make a Borax rectifier that glows slightly.
Did either work for you? Btw I’ve seen in other comments that Borax isn’t the same as Boric acid - the first is sodium borate, and the latter is hydrogen borate.
tasting Potassium Permanganate is harmless. It was offten used as a mouth wash.
I thought you might be welsh for a moment [llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch} but google search gives "I messed up my name in an endlessly long line for Google"
Clive, you've been born 1000 years too late; you'd have made a fantastic alchemist. Maybe you could have been the one to very quickly write down that hydrogen cyanide tastes of almonds :-/ (before slightly less than instant death).
As a skin specialist, I can tell you that pot permang is fantastic stuff for leg ulcers, and mild infections of the feet. You had the dilution about right as the light pink colour is indicative of a sensible concentration. Much more than that, and you'll have a very unconvincing fake tan from sock level downwards, which could bring strange looks at the local swimming pool.
Back in the '80's we used boric acid powder to treat difficult infections of the ear canal. It kills fungi, bacteria, viruses, and we even had a special blower which would puff small amounts into the ear canal. Fantastic stuff and almost never failed to clear infections, without causing any irritation to the patient.
Disclaimer. Check with your Doctor before using pot permang or boric acid. Both treatments can cause significant harm if used incorrectly.
clive, you have the mind of a small child-"ooh, whats that? what does it taste like?"-[licks mushroom]-
-trippy balls time-
growing up we used to use this for tinnea and we always knew it as condy's crystals in Australia i reconised it as soon as you put it in and i saw the color
Yes sir, very aware of the two . My father was of the ones that suffered from trench foot in ww2 and very highly praised the old doctor that give him some of the " purple magic " ! I was also helped tremendously by this " magic powder " coming out of the jungles of Nam !
As for the Boric Acid, it also works great for getting rid of cockroaches, they don't like it much !
The cockroaches die because boric acid makes them unable to absorb water.
They die from dehydration. Extra crunchy cockroaches. XD
I achieve the same thing by putting cockroach heads in every water source in my kitchen. Then they think it's poisoned.
Clive, you could drink Potassium Permanganate solution with no worries. Actually it's one of its uses, to purify water. It can be bought where I live in every pharmacy in the form of little tablets which can be easily crushed to dust if needed. The bottle of maybe 50 tablets will last for years and it costs a few dimes.
Have you ever played with thermite? It's surprisingly easy to make!
you can also buy it in 10 kg bags from ebay xD
Railroads used to use thermite for welding rail sections together... might still for all I know. In any case, probably not anything you should do inside or taste. :)
+rwbishop some industrial railways in my area are actually still being put together with thermite
I'll take your word for it. :)
You can buy it on eBay along with magnesium ribbon for ignition. I have a twin-pack right here for some excitement one day.
Me again - I once had ahtlete's foot and my sneakers were stinky, no putrid. The chemist told me to pour formaldehyde in my shoes, swish it around and dry them completely (emphasize completely), then bathe your feet in your pink solution and it worked a trreat, my shoes never stunk again, ever. Not sure of the strength of the formaldehyde though, it was whatever the chemists are allowed to sell. Great advice from you though. Really enjoy your show.
Spud
so a boric acid bath would help clear up my raging case of crotch rot?
It could help.
thanks for the reply haha I was just kidding about the crotch rot however I really appreciate when people educate others so I have a great deal of respect for you oh and fyi for those with a fungal issue I saw you can get Ketoconazole on ebay from foreign countries on ebay without a prescription Im saying this because for me the most expensive part is having the dr look at me and confirm what I told him
Another antifungal treatment is propylene glycol which also has antibacterial properties. It's non toxic and widely available due to its use in e-liquid. I keep a spray bottle with some well watered down to make it spray easily.
Just ordered both of ebay- because I still can! Thanks for the heads up. Local pharmacy will not sell me 1 liter of acetone at £8.95 anymore- they will only sell me 50ml at £1.09 because of "new rules"?? so I bought 5 liters of ebay for 15 quid and took it around to show them!
Oh and I didn't taste it...!!! hahaha.
Clive. Iodine crystals and ammonia. Let me know if you want some more info.
Touch sensitive?
Hi Clive. Yes, very. I've made this many times for a laugh as I was fortunate enough to work in a lab at a time when we had one of everything. Not the case now unfortunately. The resulting substance is nitrogen triiodide (NI3). From my experience there are no associated pyrotechnics - just a very (that's very) loud bang. Even the stained filter paper goes off with loud bang (once it's dry) if you give it a tap. The actual substance itself, once dried is somewhat more temperamental. I once looked at it the wrong way and off it went. I couldn't hear a thing for the rest of the day. Please let me know if you would like me to reveal the dark art of making this stuff. The opportunity for japes and high jinx is endless. You should also appreciate that I am somewhat reckless and highly irresponsible.
Don't dry the nitrogen triiodide on a metal sheet. No need to ask me how I know.
Thanks Clive very good info.
*meanwhile in America*
Yeah, I'll take the 50lb sack of potassium Nitrate too. Just throw it on top of the sulfur and charcoal.
Prax Zimmerman. permingate is slightly controlled its still is considered a hazmat chemical in quanties over 100 pounds
potassium permanganate came in chemistry sets in the 60s. 1 oz jar was $0.25. We also used it to make volcanoes.
video is one minute old and it already has a dislike :(
Yes, but why?
This is UA-cam
+Lda
Now that's an idea right there :0
Because he was supposed to talk about trench foot and immediately wrote down french door instead. Lol
Hey guy, not to alarm you but Clive wrote Trench foor. You might be dyslexic. I know it sounds sexy but it's really not.
great tips, im a green oak timber framer and to take the metal stains of the green oak we make up a mix of Oxalic acid and warm water to paint on it, it really is amazing, all the black marks disappear in front of your eyes, before i found out about it we used to do allot of sanding. i think the ratio is around 10 parts water to one part Oxalic acid. thats for a strong mix.
first like... yes, i'm a failure at life. :cries:
there there :( its ok
shh bby is ok
Interestingly potassium permanganate can also be used as emergency water treatment- if you find yourself in the wilderness!
Can also be used to start fires as Clive showed. I had no idea it was also antifungal.
No worries about the EU protecting you any more eh? 😁
nah just a collapsing economy
All bouncing back quiet nicely as we speak
+FOXER Noope! :)
+ＬＩＴＴＬＥＲＨＵＢＡＲＢ not by much
Its only been 7 days, plenty of time yet to get everything balanced out, all the right controls are in place and extra funding is readily available should the need arise.
Another fun one to do with potassium permanganate crystals is to mix them with either magnesium or aluminium (either powder or fine filings), then add a drop of glycerine to the top as the ignition source. Basically a flash powder - as you might expect, goes "whumphfff" and makes a blinding white flash. If compacted and confined, will also make a very loud explosion too - the same mixture (more or less, with some kind of stabiliser to prevent spontaneous ignition) is used in military spec flash-bang grenades.
Which brings me nicely onto the word of warning: Don't do this unless you are fully prepared for the result, and certainly don't look directly at the flash, unless you want to lose your vision for anything from 5 minutes to half an hour, depending on how old you are and how healthy your eyes are to begin with. Also, NEVER store potassium permanganate and magnesium/aluminium (or any other metal powders) mixed, since these mixtures have been known to ignite on their own without apparent provocation or warning. Keep them as separate powders in separate containers, and only mix immediately before use.
oh no trench foor
Wool socks and baking soda with apple cider vinegar have never let me down. I used to fall timber in oregon. I wore boots that got wet and stayed wet for the rainy season. My boot dryer merely warmed up the damp leather. Good times.
I just caught up with this video, very interesting. I recently bought some "shoe spray" by a company called Beauty Formulas (!) and after watching this I decided to look at the ingredients... mainly alcohol and what looks like the start of a bomb-making kit by the looks of it. Here are the ingredients: - Butane, Isopropyl Alcohol, Propane, Isobutane, 2-Bromo-2, Nitropropane-1, 3-Diol, Undecylenic Acid, Parfum (!), Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Geraniol, Hydroxycitronellal, Linalool, Limonene, Butylphenyl Methylpropional. I don't think I will be using any of this spray any time soon, I will be sticking to your suggestion of the PP or Boric Acid ;)
@@manitoba-op4jx It was a close tie between this and WD40 ;) Actually the WD40 smelled much nicer when used as a flamethrower device :=)
almost all of these are either propellants or scents. in fact the only active ingredient i can see is undecylenic acid.
so you're getting a lot of perfume and not a lot of actually useful product, probably in an overpriced package.
I had problems with fungal infections for 15 years. I tried all the chemist sold treatments, which worked for a while but never really kicked it fully and cost a significant amount if used long term.
When I came to China, my girlfriend (now wife) got me to soak my feet in vinegar every day. Also, when I go to the spa here, I get a vinegar spray over my body before washing. This cleared up the the fungal infection and it has stayed away.
I noticed another treatment on sale in China that when I examined the small print, used uric acid. I imagine these works just the same way that the boric acid does. That is, simply any week acid will disturb the fungus but not be so strong as to irritate your feet.
I'd recommend trying vinegar to anyone for several reasons: first it does work, second it is cheap, third it is safe to touch and even eat, fourth you can buy it anywhere in any shop or supermarket without any problem.
In case you are worried about smelling like a chip shop - try using cider vinegar.
I recall that this used to be used for sterilisation of water, when out in the wilds. So tasting should be fine, in very low concentrations.
Suffered with this for years working long hours in an office in patent shoes. Peditech Actifresh is a lifesaver.
I have athletes foot by the way.. tried anything... even antibiotics.. those helped... but it got back in a couple of months... I'll try this thanks Clive!
Please let us know how it goes...
+Alejandro Ferrari I will! It's not expensive at all.. However boric acid does come with safety warnings
+Alejandro Ferrari so today I've got the powder.. Soaked my feet in it (after wash and dry of course) and after the first soak I saw all the hurted skin become brown.. Because of the oxidation.. And also my nails... The next dip will be tomorrow.. And if it works I'll give an immediate update.. However for now they feel extremely clean!.. And I had 12 liters of water.. And my first add was to much... You need indeed a very little bit!
Andrew van Leeuwen Thanks for the update, please let me know tomorrow! :D
+Alejandro Ferrari lol I'll try.. I'm very busy at work at the moment.. But I'll try
A friend of mine, who passed away in his 80s, developed a severe case of trench foot in the U.S. Army in WWII. He had spent weeks in a foxhole in the Ardennes forest fighting the Nazis. He was bothered by it for the rest of his life.
If you sprinkle a little sodium meta bisulphate (used as a steriliser in home brewing) in when you're finished it will make the solution turn from purple to clear and gets rid of all the brown stains you get! This makes cleaning up at work so much easier!
I couldn’t live without potassium permanganate. I buy it by the pound every few years and use it when doing finish work on antique violins and guitars, or when trying to add age and character to newly constructed musical instruments to make them look authentic. When repairing or replacing wood on a vintage musical instrument… The potassium solution oxidizes the wood naturally and helps the repairs disappear into the rest of the instrument.
Here in America you can still buy pounds of the stuff for dirt cheap. Matter of fact the workbench in my profile picture here on UA-cam was only built about 10 years ago… The wood was so light and white colored and I didn’t want to go to the trouble of ammonia fuming or UV treating the wood to get a darker color. Both can be long drawn out process is for oxidizing and darkening wood naturally
(And stains are banned from my shop. As well as sandpaper.)
So my only other option was the potassium,
If you wash a few thin coats of deluded potassium permanganate into the wood, you can watch it oxidize right in front of your eyes.
My solution was probably 10 times stronger than the one you use in this video. And I also use at least 50% Iso alcohol in water so that it evaporates quickly from the wood and doesn’t cause warping or swelling in the wood. After the treatment my workbench looked like it had age naturally 40 years in a matter of minutes… And I didn’t have to resort to evil stains.
I don't suppose you use Oak in musical instruments but fuming Oak with ammonia darkens it.
Fond memories.
I had bad feet as a kid and my doctor told my mom this would help. I think it did help.
But I remember the long soakings and how emberassing sports-lessons where back then.
Brown / stained feet in sports class with a bunch of kids where you are the weirdo.
Fun times...
Yeah I remember the coarse crystals in an orange plastic container. Was Fascinated by them and how they were so lovely purple.
"I wonder what it tastes like..." You're the best now I don't have to taste permanganate! You've worked so many places what was your longest job!
Longest job has been self-employed. But with a small and regular group of employers.
I stumbled on this video coincidentally the day after I received a half kilo of boric acid from an internet purchase, for a completely unrelated purpose (dog with skin infections). Of course after watching the video I had to immediately run and mix some into methylated spirits and set fire to it. I can most happily confirm the flames are indeed green :D
You don't need much boric acid, but it doesn't dissolve too readily in the alcohol. I believe this one of the problems with boric acid, and also another good reason to buy the finely powdered variety.
Excellent mate - just ordered some boric acid from ebay. It'll be perfect for dusting my running shoes as they often sit damp in a bag then come out smelling pretty badly (definitely a build up of bacteria). Had a touch of athlete's foot too so should also help that.
Unless I missed it, no one mentioned flowers of sulphur, which is a very finely divided powder of elemental sulphur and can still be bought (even though used in a well known powder for g_uns). It has been used for centuries as an anti fungal and antimicrobial on humans and animals. It is dusted on or made into a cream with an oily substance.
I'm 63 from Clydebank. I need this witchcraft for wellbeing. Give us more big chap
ill definitely try the boric acid, i have had tinea for years and the creams i have gotten from pharmacies have costed $20 for a small tube that lasts a week at best and you typically need to get 5 packets to be rid of it. then it comes back in a couple months. i have basically stopped trying to get rid of it for the last few years.
GP here. Often use Permitabs at a solution of 1 tablet in 4 litres for gammy feet - works really well.
I remember back in the 70's using potassium permanganate with water filters. I think we added it to regenerate one of the systems.
Also sprinkling baking soda will remove the stink from your shoes but dont put too much two pinches and your good :)
hope this helps someone
Nice enjoyed this. I kind of hoped it would be a video on how to waterproof footwear. If there is anything that you can apply to footwear to waterproof that would be handy. I go through a ton of shoes and find even waterproof shoes are not that waterproof.
I don't know about over there, but here in the usa you can get potassium permanganate labed as such, it's used as "green sand iron filter regenerate"
I used to use boric acid to clear my drains when I lived in Scotland (damn tree roots). It was sold inexpensively in plastic bottles at B&Q.
Hydrogen peroxide is a good oxidizer for things like soaking your feet; sold cheap in the US but sold in small expensive bottles at Boots in the UK.
hey Clive. something I found. KMnO4 treats drinking water far more effectively than iodine tablets; and unlike other purifiers, it is tasteless, odorless, and produces no toxic byproducts. 50 Milligrams of Potassium Permanganate will treat 1 Liter of drinking water (the volume of a standard canteen).
Interesting reaction you should try is potassium permanganate with aluminium powder and you put a drop of water in it produces purple smoke but don't do it inside
The flash version? I think it still needs to be glycerin to trigger it.
Hey Clive, maybe I asked already, but do you think you could do a short video for my Mom? She was just diagnosed with cancer and she likes your humor, I think it would really lift her spirits. Her name is Aunt Erma.
As kid used to build nitrocellulose bottle "bombs" and used the glycerine potassium permanganate as fuse.. Fun times.. nearly impossible for kids to learn same way nowadays..