There are certain everyday household items that may not seem like anything special now but that will prove to be lifesavers due to their multitude of uses following an SHTF disaster.
Vaseline (or petroleum jelly) is one of these items. Petroleum jelly has been around since the late 1850s. It was discovered by accident as an oil by-product, when it began being used by factory workers to heal burns and scrapes.
In 1870, it was officially branded as Vaseline. Since then, Vaseline has become a staple household item, with many homes having at least one container of Vaseline stashed away somewhere in the kitchen or a bathroom cabinet.
If you haven’t started stockpiling Vaseline, you’ll want to soon. Let’s find out why.
Here are the most important survival uses for Vaseline:
Healing Bug Bites
If you have any irritable bug or mosquito bites, apply a small amount of Vaseline over the affected area. It will help make the sting or the itch from the bite to go away.
Healing Wounds
This was one of the earliest uses for Vaseline and remains a critically important application for it today.
If you have sustained any kind of open wound, scrape, or burn, applying Vaseline over the affected area can help for two reasons. The first is to help relieve the pain created by the wound.
The second is to create a barrier over the wound that will help to moisturize it and ensure that bacteria and germs from the outside are kept out.
Decreasing the likelihood of infection becomes crucial in a post-SHTF world, where access to professional medical care might be limited. Nonetheless, if you do happen to contract an infection, you can use this natural antibiotic tincture.
Lip Balm
Perhaps the most obvious use for Vaseline is as a lip balm or chapstick. This is already one of the most common uses for Vaseline in everyday life, and it will continue to be used as such in a post-disaster scenario.
Skin Moisturizer
This is another common use for Vaseline. If your skin becomes dry from working outside, simply rub Vaseline onto the affected area. This is most effective if you do so before you go to bed and then allow it to rest overnight.
Shaving Cream
If you run out of shaving cream, you can use Vaseline as an alternative. It may not have quite the same effect, but it will work wonders to protect your skin from a razor’s blades.
Fire Starter
This is a classic survival trick for getting a fire started fast. Simply take a cotton ball and cover it in Vaseline.
Then, store the cotton balls in a Ziploc bag for safe keeping.
Related: How To Dig A Native American Dakota Fire Hole
When you need to get a fire going, you can take the Vaseline-covered cotton ball or Q-tip out from the bag and ignite it with a match, lighter, or a striker.
The cotton ball or Q-tip will ignite very easily, at which point you can add more kindling and fuel onto it to get a good fire going.
Rust Prevention
Apply a coat of Vaseline to the surface of your knives, hammers, screwdrivers, pliers, and other metal tools you have.
The Vaseline will create a barrier in between the metal surface and the outside world, preventing moisture or humidity from rusting the blades.
Cleaning Firearms
You can utilize Vaseline as an alternative to gun oil or lubricant. When you field strip your firearms to clean them, apply a thin coating of Vaseline to the inside of the slide, frame, and other moving parts.
The only part of a gun that you should not apply Vaseline to is the inside of a bore. Since Vaseline is much thicker than gun oil, you don’t want to run the risk of it obstructing the path of a bullet.
Create A Makeshift Candle
Take a tin can or bowl and turn it upside down. Simply cover the top of the surface with a good amount of Vaseline, and then use a piece of yarn as the wick.
Light up the wick and you’ll have a makeshift candle. It won’t be as nice looking as a store bought candle, but it should work just as well.
Alternatively, take a container of Vaseline and stick a match vertically into it so that the top part of the match protrudes out of the top. Light the match and it will act as a candle wick.
Hinge Lubricant
If you have any door hinges that are squeaking, you can use Vaseline as an alternative to WD-40. Simply rub a small amount of Vaseline onto the outside surface of the door hinge, and then move the door back and forth to move the hinge.
This will allow the Vaseline to work its way into the hinge, and any squeaky noises you were hearing should start to go away.
Remove Stains
You can use Vaseline to remove stains created from markers or wax. Simply soak a washcloth in some water and then apply a small amount of Vaseline directly to the site of the stain.
Proceed to vigorously rub it with the washcloth. Then to remove the residue from the Vaseline, soak your washcloth in dish soap and rub the affected area again. The entire affected area should go back to normal as it was.
Shine Your Leather
If you have a holster, belt, pair of boots, or anything else made out of leather, you can rub a small amount of Vaseline over the surface to give it a cleaner appearance.
One more benefit to Vaseline is its long shelf life. While most Vaseline containers have an indicated shelf life of three years, it can last for ten years or more if stored in a dry environment at room temperature. It’s also very affordable and can be bought in large quantities without breaking the bank.
Vaseline is an item that you’ll want to stock up on if you haven’t already. When disaster hits, it’s an item you’ll get even more use out of than you already do.
You may also like:
How To Protect Your Garden From Looting Intruders
The ‘Superweed’ That Saved Large Communities During The Great Depression (Video)
Why You Should Put Garlic in Your Ear
6 Warning Signs Before An Economic Collapse That Most People Miss
Slightly off topic.
Vaseline is good for greasing the palm or the skids in life.
Ha, Ha it’s great for BOHICA, when we have the government we all for. Or the sheeple voted for. Have we seen who is really leading our great country?
Does it matter anymore who we vote for?
Both political parties have gone off the rails, actually the Demoncrats have the most idiots.
Whose telling grandpa JOE what to do? Cackling Vice President Kamala is off the cliff, a First grader’s mindset.
Dianne Feinstein, John Fetterman and Mitch McConnell. Are their families running our country, using these figureheads as cardboard cutouts for public appearences?
They need more than more than vaseline to run well like a well oiled clock.
Hunter isn’t helping his papa Joe.
Who is running our country, for those who don’t know history, it’s America.
The whole lot needs to be thrown out.
We are spending millions, billions of USD’s to Ukraine’s money laundering War. It’s another liberal coverup like past president’s failures. Jimmie Carter’s Iran hostage situation. Clinton’s blue dress aspirin factory bombing. Obama’s changing America with all sorts of Marxist tactics, Fast N’ Furious guns to the cartels. Undermining the insurance healthcare system by free health care. That is increasing by 10% more to taxpayers.
Are the Chinese, Obama pulling the strings of political control?
Hi Karl… you are correct that BHO is running the show and Sleepy Joe is just his mouthpiece. God help us all if we don’t win the 2024 election.
Agree!
It wasn’t overnight or we all fell off the turnip truck or born yesterday.
We have been slowly influenced by the machine. Conditioned to believe the two party system is the best which actually is one big party.
We may have one the freedom from the old British Empire. No kings or queens to rule us. But in modern day politics that’s what we have now. The political elites have taken our blessed country to the darkside.
Those who protest, Obama’s civilian army – Antifa and BLM for sure are the Red Army of past Soviet and European history beached in America.
Once Christian university system is no longer, these are indoctrination centers. I don’t want European Marxist standards in America. We came close several times in our history. Recent was the hippie 1969 Summer of love experiments.
To the govt agencies sponsoring the last presidential election voting mess. Along with the Jan 6th debacle to keep a former president to upright a failing nation. Currently run by God’s only knows who?
Demoncrats dropped charges on Demo donor crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried. Soros and Son corrupting America by Socialist DA’s.
Criminals are getting a revolving door sweet deal like Hunter.
But the honest business owner, homeowner goes to jail for defending themselves against the dirt bags re-released.
Funny how Senator to president Biden left highly toxic secret files in many places. The Chinese, Russians and others had access to those files for years. Then Senator Biden no presidential privileged has gotten a pass. What access did Hunter have to get Chinese bribe money for?
No secret service protecting the Biden cache files.
Trump has presidential access and Secret Service protection and the files he had. The DC Swamp came after him as revenge.
All the gov’t agencies are national weaponized against the American citizen and anyone connected to Trump.
The country is driven to shame and running on empty of military national defense ammunition. Going to a fake Ukraine War to cover deceive us.
The list goes on.
Don’t forget the woke infiltration; drink Bud Light you will be in the pink, commie pink that is. Where’s the testosterone we are missing?
Are we still the land of the brave, home of the free?
You probably have the One World Government people rolling on the floor laughing. There is no way BHO is running anything. He is just the puppet one step above Biden. Where, when and how would Obama ever acquire power and why would he be given any authority? Was put in because, like Joe said, he was a clean looking black man, and he would do what he was told, and white guilt would get him elected.
Nolan, You probably have the One World Government people rolling on the floor laughing. There is no way BHO is running anything. He is just the puppet one step above Biden. Where, when and how would Obama ever acquire power and why would he be given any authority? Was put in because, like Joe said, he was a clean looking black man, and he would do what he was told, and white guilt would get him elected.
The thumbs down people are the trolls, liberals that hate being exposed.
Probably worship Hunter and Joe as their heroes, the woke free stuff generation.
God bless America!
Vaseline? Vaseline, we don’t need no stinking Vaseline! We need our country back!
RFK jr, would be better than Dumbo Joe for another 4 years of hell.
Trump is being politically harassed that many Sheeple believe is true. It’s to cloud a great president that can turn around this country before we go down the drain a 2rd time. Biden is Obama’s 3rd term in office by proxy.
Gold is going up, banks are buying up gold and calling us crazy for buying gold.
Everyone wanted the swamp drained just had no idea how far wide and deep it went. Now we are being shown what we have been living in while we live our lives and not paying attention allowed them to really take over. May be now that the masses are looking where they walk and seeing what the hell is happening we can all get involved in creating a new reality in this picture of chaos! Sitting on the couch bitching about Biden who is really only small piece of this picture is doing absolutely nothing to fix the issues we are facing…as my gran would say either shit or get off the pot! What’s to be done in your house, clean there and branch out to help neighbors into your communities local politicians that are your voice, do you know they are saying what you agree with? ?♀️just sayin ?
Part of the old before the corrupt teacher’s union indoctrination. There were civic classes, one teacher asked do you know who your elected officials are?
Many of us have gotten soft, couch potato lazy forgetting our basic education. Today do we have a list from the lowest local politician to the president name, rank and party. That we keep track of?
Today we vote by the looks of the candidate than their policies. Rather have Trump twitter treats then Biden off the wall lies. Did twitter change to the big X, yet?
Imagine the liberals in this 2024 presidential election using AI?
Will their mail in ballot, ballot union harvesting schemes work again?
How much gold can the average American get before we go gov’t FED coin digital?
Can the average non-Sheeple voter overturn the progressive left’s stronghold on the voting system?
Speaking of draining the swamp, why didn’t Trump work towards the creation of term limits in Congress. Every damned person in the US would have backed him. The Dems because they thought the RINO’s needed to go and the Republican’s because they knew that all of the old and entrenched Dems need to go.
Term limits is the ONLY way to ensure that our elected representatives (from any and all parties) don’t linger around and suck off the government teat for the rest of their lives! Don’t give them free healthcare, don’t let them take jobs with lobbyists, and get their asses back out there working for a living after 12 years (maximin) in Congress.
Now THAT’S what I call draining the swamp!!!
Wirh every indictment againstPresident two Good three good Things happen: #1- Discovery, defense gets to see what Prosecutor has as evidence. #2- Defense ha the chance to submit counter evidence pertinent to the case(J-6, Voter Fraud, other Kangaroo Court Evidence, Eye Witness accounts and affidavits, 41,000 hours of suppressed video, etc., etc.), and #3- His favorable ratings, across all voter groups, goes up and up. BONUS ROUND FOR EXTRA POINTS: #4- The Criminal Old Guard, RINOs, The FIBs, C_A, The DOJ, The News Media and the Crooked Selected Marxist Federal, and State, Judges, DAs, and Governors are Once Again left holding the bag, and are exposed for all to see… Sit back and Enjoy the Show… History is being made right in front of Our eyes. It’s Going To Be Biblical! PS This was a GREAT Article Nicholas, Thank You for the Relavant Info on the many other uses for Vaseline. Another unsung hero related to Vaseline is Vapor Rub.
Those college university student loans that the taxpayer is potentially on the hook for. Will those Antifa and BLM protesters be brought to justice along with their enabler parents? Are these the student protester’s we need to bailout their student loans for?
Once their loans are paid for by taxpayers, they get a Hunter sweet deal too?
Can we bring Antifa, BLM and other radicals to justice?
They rioted all year long and destroyed billions of dollars in damage, property, business, home, lives. They killed people, where’s the unsocial justice to the victim’s families?
You know these student loan crybabies will be bankers, lawyers, politicians and activists who will live better than the rest of us. How about the rest of us that paid our school loans off? Some of us did trade school, got real jobs.
Why should the average American who did not go to college pay pay for them?
It’s bad enough our gov’t and Christian church do-gooders help out illegals getting a free ride from us taxpayers too.
Start the boycott
ANY WOKE , BOYCOTT
no matter what stop the money , stop the woke
Failure is the best defense
yu are absulutely right , the crime machine of DC has definitely lost touch with reality
and usa is a JOKE to the world
plan , prepare , stand , speak up , speak out , tell all so some might not be decieved by the liars club and networks of lies and deciet
Better Be ready , coming soon
kaos, crime, like never before in history , well not really
History is the best lesson of what happens to nations who forgot GOD and turned to Idolatry and lust , passion, perversion
Total Failure , Destruction of any nation who turns their back on God
Isn’t fascinating and horrifying how much China has taken over America?
How many corporations and small businesses are run by CCP shell corporations?
Hollyweed is run by a US gov’t agency and China Influence everyday.
No wonder the movies are failing in profits.
Since when has this become a political forum???? Although I agree with the comments, I thought this was for the uses of Vaseline???
Where did this page go off track???
It’s because of breathing. You can’t breathe anymore w/o inhaling toxins. Toxins like Sleepy Joe, Kamala, Hunter, etc. If you’ve ever voted, have a cellphone, TV and or a mailbox, you’re inundated with something political. Just give $20 one time to any of them and you’ll get texts, letters, emails, etc for months or years from them. They’re like a stray dog. Feed em one time and they’ll be on yer porch forever.
We trolls have taken over, we like chaos as our rioter brothers in arms cause chaos in the streets. Get use to it, our day has come.
Until the dog you’re kicking has had enough and decides to bite back.
No way in hell will we get used to it!
The past few weeks we have seen religious Bible thumpers, Trolls and politics muddy the prepper information here. Woke is broke back mountain forced femme on us all.
The supposed page went off track as a last minute soapbox before the weekend happens. People are just blowing off some steam.
Speaking of steam, there are climate change technologies much more advanced. Being used to manipulate or enhance certain weather storms. We see more than usual hurricanes, tornado’s, heatwaves.
This is also Summer we expect some hot climate weather patterns to happen. The liberal screaming environmentalist use these weather patterns for fear mongering.
Previously said we have a low testosterone shortage going on too.
We got a lot of weak males wanting to be girls, maybe it’s the Bud Light drinking. Too much beer estrogen being infused into the males.
The weekend is near, let’s go have fun!
Stan, I agree. In the multitude of many counselors is great wisdom. I’m sure that there are many more vital uses for Vaseline. When I trained as a firefighter in the 70s we used it on burns, but I think that has changed.
I think the lack of moderation of comments here is really killing it.
I don’t know why they don’t moderate comments here, but between the various factions slanging at each other about something or other “Raven” and the politics coming into the comments here is pretty useless.
Sometimes (times like this, when the comments are full of mud) I wish the owner of this website would give up the domain so it could be used effectively.
Correct me if I am wrong please. Could Vasaline be used as a canvas tarp waterproofing agent, like beeswax?
Yes but a bit messy.
you’d probably want to heat it using a double boiler method so it thinned out >>> other than a “no better solution” I can’t see using vaseline – just not $$$$ practical …
the more nature provides like linseed oil are better solutions if the modern chemical waterproofers aren’t available – you want fabric penetration – not sure how deep watery vaseline would go
Both the Vaseline and linseed oil would make the canvas more flammable? Is there alternatives to waterproof and be flame retarding?
What did the Native Americans use on their Teepees and the pioneer’s tents, used in all four seasons?
Vaseline as a lice treatment. Smothers both the lice and the eggs.
Long ago, people used to use coal oil (now banned for commoners LOL).
Best shampoo there was had coal oil in it.
Ionil T was the brand.
Off topic – Gold will NOT help you at all. Silver probably would as it has numerous uses other than as money.
Try buying a loaf of bread with gold as see if you get any change back…
1/10th ounce of silver is worth about 1 loaf of bread.
Besides, governments will just ban precious metals, gold in particular. Just like FDR did.
Do you think McD’s or walmart will take gold or even silver for anything when CDBC’s become mandatory?
No business will.
Hey squirrlyman-
Vaseline is a petroleum product, due to no drilling of Biden’s no American first policy. We may have to stock up on that too. As the supply and price will get unaffordable an overpriced.
Heck most kids don’t know how to make change and modern day math they know is 2+2=5. I have two mommies or two daddies CRT, project 1619 BS!
I digress-
Yes they at least take junk sliver coins. The gold and silver are only hedges against the failing US dollar. So what, about buying bread with gold, that’s a tired old excuse.
Don’t you have something better to spend money on than Micky D’s. Or get mugged at Wally world showing off your gold?
Businesses eventually will, it’s called the black market, sir!
Hold a cotton ball, which you have put a large gob of Vaseline on, and hold it over a wood tick for about a minute, then give a twist. Ticks breathe through their butt and will back them selves out. Great fun for the kids!
Sounds like most of the Prepper Sheeple and politicians, Ha, Ha, Ha!
Vaseline an oily subject to post. Like the alternatives to use in place of it.
Vaseline can also be used as an insulator in electrical connections, countering moisture intrusion. It’s longer lasting than WD40 and certainly cheaper. Place a small amount on the prongs of extension cord plugs. Once connected, smear a bit around the two connectors. You will never have any moisture intrusion that usually trips circuit breakers.
Messy as heck to remove later however!
Dollar Tree and Walmart sell inexpensive petroleum jelly. It lasts forever. Don’t become overwhelmed by all the evil being exposed. It was always there, just not well-known. Work on actionable things where you live, and by preparing. Get involved at your local election precinct (Learn how at precinctstrategy.com). Let your opinions be known to those elected to represent you. Be prudent, but not fearful.
I don’t recommend using Vaseline/Petroleum jelly on firearms. There is a danger of trapping moisture between the metal and the Vaseline. I have one factory blued firearm with a perfectly preserved rust fingerprint on the barrel as proof. If you must use a lubricant Vaseline, gun oil, or other such product. I suggest you thoroughly wipe off any lubricant(s) before putting it away or back into service.
I would recommend keeping vaseline for medical/hygiene purposes separate from vaseline used for maintenance or for rust control to avoid infections.
Thanks for the helpful article. I learned some new ways to use petroleum jelly.