How can wood ash help your character with ice on the ground? Why would a mechanic keep wood ash in his shop? Who has 61 tattoos? Find out on this episode.
You can find full episode notes and links to find more information on each topic at my website: https://alleyhart.com/
How can wood ash help your character with ice on the ground? Why would a mechanic keep wood ash in his shop? Who has 61 tattoos? Find out on this episode.
You can find full episode notes and links to find more information on each topic at my website: https://alleyhart.com/
How can wood ash help your character with ice on the ground? Why would a mechanic keep a wood ash in his shop? Who had 61 tattoos? Find out on this episode. Welcome to Writing Rural With Alley, the fiction writers inspiration station for rural life and lifestyles; from historical to post apocalyptic, helping you bring your rural stories to life. I'm Alley. This is episode number 57: Five Wood Ash Uses Part Three. Stick around to the end to find out all the ways things could possibly go wrong. Now let's get into this. Burning wood in the fireplace, wood stove or outdoor furnace that uses wood are among the many ways people warm their homes. Historically, wood was the number one way people stayed warm. One thing that was always the same is that burning wood leaves ash and your character will have to do something with it. Today, we will cover five more things that they can use wood ash for. Number eleven, rock salt alternative. Rock salt in this case is what people use to melt ice on walkways, parking lots and more. Wood ash is used as a safe, pet friendly alternative. It will help to melt the ice as there is a small amount of salt in wood ash. However, it is not so much salt that animals will burn their paws if they step on it. However, unlike rock salt, if a pet eats or licks it, there is little to no risk of toxicity to the system. However, it can cause diarrhea and vomiting. The same is true for children should they put it in their mouths. If you're wondering what child would do that a lot. Mostly those under the age that know better will fall down and find it that way and for some childhood reason they will be compelled to eat it. The other thing is that it adds traction to the ice. It is a natural abrasive and will not hurt any concrete, pavement, plants or any other types of walkways. I have known people who carried a bucket with a lid in their car and if they slid off the road, they had wood ash traction for their vehicle to get back onto the road. Number twelve soaking up oil or grease spills. Wood ash is an excellent absorbing agent and can be used to clean up oil spills. These are typically spills from a vehicle. This would include auto shops and diyers. So if your character is changing their own oil, they can clean it up. Simply sprinkle the wood ash over the whole spill and wait several minutes, then sweep it up. This also works for cooking grease. This is also covered and swept up. However, unlike in an auto shop, restaurants will not use this as it's not considered sanitary enough. However, historically and in an apocalypse, this would likely be possible. Number 13 tanning hides. Wood ash is used to remove the fur in the process of tanning animal hides. It has been used virtually everywhere and in every era, with only a few exceptions. After the fleshing has removed as much meat as possible from the inside of the hide, the hide is soaked in a wood ash solution. The hide will then be weighed down and will stay in the solution until the fur is easily pulled out with the fingers. These hides are used for clothing, homes, storage bags, saddles, knife sheaths and a whole lot more. Warning, if the hide is left in the solution too long, it will be dissolved. Also remember that wood ash creates lye and the solution is harmful to the skin. Number 14 tattoos. Wood ash has been used as a coloring for tattoos since cavemen times and as of the time I'm writing this in 2024, the oldest known tattoos are from the Iceman Otzi. I hope I pronounced that right. Believed to be from roughly 3250 bc, he was found with 61 tattoos. Unlike modern tattoos where needles push the ink into the skin, it is believed that Utzi's tattoos were first cuts with ash packed into them. This is a technique that is used in some tribes and remote villages to this day. There are also some tribes that have kept the tradition of tattooing as their ancestors did. Many of these use broken glass, pottery or large thorns such as hawthorns to pierce the skin and then rub the ash into the wound until that it makes the pattern or style or shape that they wish. The type of tattoo has been done for many things, including but not limited to the rite of passage into adulthood, beauty, tradition, showing off the person's ancestry, a badge of honor from birth or battles, and believed to be a treatment for ailments and more. Number 15 silver polish. Wood ash can also be used to clean tarnish silver. This is done by removing the charcoal chunks until only the powdery ash is left. The ash is then sprinkled on a damp cloth and used to rub the silver until it is clean. Some recommend using lemon juice instead of water, although lemon juice is corrosive to silver. Either way will work and I'm not sure which one works better. I did this once with water as a kid, but I don't remember much about it. Mostly I remember not being impressed with what felt like another chore. Fun fact, silver has been mined in ancient Greece since roughly 3000 bc. And now for everyone's favorite part, what could possibly go wrong? Well, let me tell you! Before we get into the best part, if you enjoy this podcast, I hope you will take a minute to follow, rate and review on your favorite podcasting platform. And if you're listening on YouTube, subscribe and hit that like button. Don't forget to share with a friend. And now for everyone's favorite part.
Likely to go wrong:
your character gets a tattoo with wood ash. They soon notice swelling and redness around it and it starts to spread. They soon realize their tattoo is infected.
Also likely to go wrong:
your character keeps a wood ash around as an ice melt. One day, their young child eats some of the wood ash.
Possible to go wrong:
your character chemically burns their hand in the wood ash water because wood ash makes lye water.
Also possible to go wrong:
your character is getting tattooed with wood ash for coloring. However, they didn't get it deep enough and it doesn't take permanently.
Unlikely to go wrong:
your character uses wood ash as an ice melt. They didn't realize that some of the ash was still hot and they walk on it melting the soles of their shoes.
Also unlikely to go wrong:
your character uses wood ash to clean a grease spill in the house while cooking. They end up making a huge mess. your character polishes silver with lemon juice and wood ash. They place the lemon cloth on the silver when they are called away, then forget about it until the next day. When they remember, they find that the lemon juice has damaged the engraving in the silver. Improbable, but still technically in the realm of possibilities: your character uses wood ash to soak up an oil spill. After they clean up the ash, an animal gets into it and eats it. This causes vomiting and diarrhea that lasts for 24 hours and in rare cases could be deadly. Also improbable, but still technically in the realm of possibilities: your character forgets that they placed a hide in ash water. When they remember it, there is nothing left but goo. Also improbable, but still technically in the realm of possibilities: your character uses wood ash fresh from the fireplace to clean up a grease spill in the house. While cooking, one of the pieces was not fully cooled and lights the grease on fire. Also improbable, but still technically in the realm of possibilities: your character is using wood ash to color a tattoo. The site turned gangrene because they did not seek treatment when it became infected. This could be deadly. Thanks for listening. You can find this episode's show notes and helpful links to learn on our website, allyheart.com. That's alleyhart.com. Subscribe and follow for more episodes. Connect by dropping me a comment on my YouTube videos. A new episode comes out every Monday until then happy wordsmithing.