5 Additional Wood Ash Uses Every Writer Should Know

How can wood ash help your character if they are sprayed by a skunk? Want to know how characters can get rid of fleas, roaches, chiggers, and chicken mites? Why are chicken mites so horrible for chickens? What will characters use that looks like a tennis racket? Find out on this episode. 

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How can wood ash help your character if they are sprayed by a skunk? Want to know how characters can get rid of flees, roaches, chiggers, and chicken mites? Why are chicken mites so horrible for chickens? What will characters use that looks like a tennis racket? Find out on this episode. Welcome to Writing Rural With Alley, the Fiction Writers Weekly Inspirations 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 75, Five Woodash Uses, Part Four. Stick around to the end to find out all the ways things could possibly go wrong. Now, let's get into this. Burning firewood in a wood stove, fireplace, or outdoor furnace that uses wood are among the many ways people warm their homes. Historically, wood was the number one way that people stayed warm. One thing that is 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 their wood ash for. One quick note. Always let the wood ash cool so your character do not start accidental fires. Number 16, skunk odor remover. In part two, I touched on a subject of wood ash being used to make things smell better. Let me elaborate on this a little bit. In the unfortunate chance that your character is sprayed by a skunk, wood ash will help, at least after the initial screaming and likely vomiting. Now, most modern advice says to use tomato juice and sometimes rub potatoes on your skin. I admit I would likely try it if I were sprayed by a a skunk, but I find it is not as effective as most people hope. Or at least so I'm told. As of the time of writing this, I have not yet been sprayed by a skunk, but this could change. Here's hoping it doesn't. So what should your character do if they are sprayed with this noxious attack? Well, today I'm told by some of our conservationists and a few nurses to mix in one pint of water, or even better, if you can use hydrogen peroxide, with one-fourth to one-and-a-half cup of baking soda, along one to four tablespoons of Dawn dish soap. It can be used without dish soap if it's not available. This makes a paste that will be applied to anyone or anything that is sprayed. Wait five minutes and rinse. Repeat until the smell is gone. Now I hear you."But Alley, what does that have to do with wood ash?" Hang on, let me explain. You see, baking soda is the chemical sodium bicarbonate. It's very often switched out in kitchens with the chemical potassium bicarbonate, sometimes referred to as potassium soda. They both work as a levaning agent when mixed with acidics such as vinegar and buttermilk. And they both are amazing at neutralizing smells. Back to the question of how this relates to wood ash. Wood ash is made up of potassium bicarbonate. Simply put, these two are interchangeable. Not that your character should be chucking wood ash in the food. There is a process to getting it out when it is for human consumption. What that means is that water mixed with wood ash will make a paste that will help remove the skunk smell from your characters. This has been used for thousands of years and is referred to as old techniques in some ancient Egyptian writings. Number 17, roach repellent. Everyone hates roaches. If your character doesn't, there's something wrong with them. While these evil little bugs might survive the Apocalypse, they do have their downfalls. You see wood ash has high in salt content, so high that it will suck the moisture out of cockroaches. Normally, they move on from the area with wood ash. So if your character made a wood ash line around their home, it will repel most roaches. Any that are dumb enough to stay in the wood ash will be killed when enough moisture has been sucked off of their bodies. Although if it rains or the wood ash gets wet, your character will need to add some new ash to the pile. One other way to kill with wood ash is to get the powdery ash separated from the coals, then take a one-one ratio and mix it with sugar. Cockroaches are not drawn to wood ash, but they are attracted to sugar. Once the roach has consumed the mixture, the wood ash will mix with the acidic digestive juices and will expand. This will rupture inside of them and cause death, which sounds painful. But I hate roaches, so off with their heads or exploded bellies. Number 18, winter emergency vehicle help. Ash is the perfect thing to throw under the tires of a car, truck, or even tractor if it has no traction because of the snow or ice. You see, the high salt content of what ash works like an ice melt. It can melt the snow or ice down to the ground, giving the vehicle's traction. The other thing is that the coal, what most people call it hard chunks, will be a wonderful grip on the ice. Letting the vehicle move. This works better than kitty litter, sand, or floor mats. I have known people that place the ash in buckets in the back of their trucks and just carry it around that way. I've also known little old ladies who didn't want to get their cars dirty, so they placed the cooled ashes inside of Zip-Log gallon bags and then place them inside of a tote. That way, if the bag ever spilled open, it still wouldn't get on the car. Number 19, natural flee treatment for carpets or rugs. If you have an inside pet, you likely at least have thought about what will happen if your pet gets flees, or worse, your home. Living in a rural area, mice are plentiful, and they can almost always find a way into your house. Yeah, we hate them here, too. So what can your character do to get rid of flees out of the carpet where they would like to hide and lay little flea eggs? Your character uses wood ash. They will sprinkle the powdery part of it into somewhat of a thin layer all over the carpet. This will sit for two or more days. During this time, it will suck the moisture out of the flees, killing them and their eggs. After that time is up, they will vacuum the carpet. If it was done before it vacuums, then they will take the rugs out and they will beat them with a rug beater. This is usually a stick or a braided vine that is stiff with some design at the end to make a shape, but leaves the inside hollow so that there is a good airflow. Think like a tennis racket, but without the strings. Number 20. Helps kill chicken mites and chiggers. Chicken mites are the little bugs that irritate your chicken's feathers. It can be so bad that they will lose feathers if there is nothing done about it. That is where wood ash comes in. You see, chickens will naturally take dust baths to try to stop the mites. Your characters will toss the wood ash into the pen or wherever the chickens like to take a dust bath, and the chickens will cover themselves in the wood ash. Wood ash, as we have already established, sucks some moisture out of the soft-bodied bugs, killing them. But it doesn't hurt the chickens. True that wood ash is also able to cut the bodies of soft body bugs, and this speeds the process of sucking out the moisture. Chickers are small little bugs that are rarely noticed outside of an extremely itchy places on your character's skin that will wulp up. They can have hundreds all over their body, and they don't feel any of the bugs. They only feel the itching after they have gone home. This is very common in areas with chiggers. Wood ash can be spread on frequently walked areas in the summer, and it will help to keep the number of chiggers down in these common and walking areas. Fun fact. Skunks can spray up to 15 feet away. If the wind blows just right, it can carry an extra 5 feet, making it a total of 20 feet. Yeah. Now for everyone's favorite part, what could possibly go wrong? Before we get to the best part, if you enjoyed today's podcast, I hope you'll take a minute to follow me and review on your favorite podcasting platform. If you're listening on YouTube, subscribe and hit that like button. Drop me a comment. I love to hear from you and answer questions. Don't forget to share with a friend. As always, you can find this episode's show notes and helpful links to learn more on my website, alleyhart. Com. And now for everyone's favorite part.

Likely to go wrong: 7:57

your character sprinkles wood ash on the carpet trying to kill off fleas. Their dog rolls in the wood ash and then jumps on the furniture spreading the ash all over the house.

Also likely to go wrong: 8:06

your character spends a long time making a ring of ash around their house to repel roaches from coming into their home. In the night, it rains, ruining the usefulness of this repellent. Also likely to go wrong, your character takes a bucket of wood ash with them and places it in the back of their truck. However, as they take a turn, the bucket tips spilling all over the back of the truck bed.

Possible to go wrong: 8:30

your character uses wood ash to help remove the smell of a skunk from themselves, and they have to stop repeatedly to puke because it smells that bad.

Also possible to go wrong: 8:41

your character carries a wood ash bucket in the back of their truck to help them get unstuck in the snow and ice. However, when they need the ash, they find it is mostly gone because the wind has blown it out. your character is sprayed by a skunk and uses wood ash to try to get the smell off. They do not know how it works and takes a handful of powdery ash at a time and rubs it on their skin. This causes bleeding and could take hours to help with the smell.

Unlikely to go wrong: 9:10

your character goes to toss wood ash into the chicken pen to let them take a dust bath in it. However, as they toss it over, they unknowingly upset a snake in the pin, and it tries to escape right up your character's pant leg.

Also unlikely to go wrong: 9:22

your character takes a bucket of wood ash with them on an icy day to help get them unstuck if they slide off the road. They place the bucket in the back floorboard and head out. Along the way, they slide off the road and into a ditch, bouncing the whole way. The wood ash is bouncing around also, sending it flying through the car and covering the driver in the interior in ash. Improbable, but still technically

in the realm of possibilities: 9:48

your character's young child sees their parents putting wood ash into the chicken's pen to let them take a dust bath. The child then plays in the ash so that they, too, can have a dust bath. Also improbable, but still technically your character's young child sees them with a rug beater to beat the wood ash out of a rug. When they see their sibling with a wood ash on them, they try to use the rug beater to help them get clean, too. Also improbable, but still technically your character's young child heard that wood ash can kill cockroaches. They decide to get the ash bucket and lie in wait. When they see a cockroach, they throw a handful of wood ash at it and also accidentally cover the entire living room with the wood ash. Thanks for listening. Until next time. Happy word smithing.