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Ongoing experiment to see if an UL actually works...

barfing_pumpkin

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Okay, I don't know if it really is an urban legend or not, but it goes something like this:

If you leave a halved onion in a room which has been freshly painted, it will take the smell away in no time

I'm assuming this applies to gloss, which stinks something nasty while it's drying.

Anyway, 'er indoors has been glossing the skirting boards and doorframes in the hall today, and as per my advice, she has kept a halved onion in the room.

As of writing (a good few hours since she began) the smell is noticeable...but its doesn't seem quite as acrid as usual. If it's gone by tomorrow, then we'll have proof positive that it works. Will keep you posted.

Alas, 'er indoors did not believe me when I told her that paint fumes have a tanning effect on the skin, and dismissed my suggestion that she ought to do it in her underwear.

'Nah,' she said. 'Just an urban myth, that.'
 
Well, one week on, I can say without reservation that - in this case - leaving a halved onion in the room while painting made no difference whatsoever.

Make of that what ye will.
 
I make of it that this is proof that most UL's are tosh.

RS
 
Not really an urban legend tho, is it. More a crap household tip ;)
 
Besides, one usually habituates to smells such as paint - I imagine that going to get the onion, cut it in half (and believe in its efficacy) probably allows one enough time to habituate. For those that don't,then I suspect that they probably spend a reasonable amount of time out of the house (post painting) at work etc and so don't habituate as quickly. Or something :lol:
 
i have been (mis?)informed that an onion cut in half left in ones bedroom whilst sleeping can speed the cure of/prevent a cold!

Something to do with onions being anti-bacterial and anti-viral. :?
 
On a similar note, I can confirm that leaving half a lemon in your fridge if there is a bad smell, will take away the smell in no time.

We had some vegetables in the veg compartment of our fridge which we forgot all about (for ages, they were behind 30 Capri-Suns), until one morning I noticed a smell - a day later, the smell was absolutely horrid. Even after removing the (now pretty liquidised) items and scrubbing the fridge out there was still a bad smell.

The next night I bought some chicken pakora on my way home from the pub, and on seeing the two lemon quarters in the tray, decided to test out the old wive's tale.

Next morning, no smell. By that evening, the fridge smelt all lovely and lemon-fresh.
 
i have been (mis?)informed that an onion cut in half left in ones bedroom whilst sleeping can speed the cure of/prevent a cold!

And I've just recently got over a cold ... dammit! There goes another chance to test a UL cum crap-household-tip.

On a related note - despite the fact that I generally consume vast amounts of onion and garlic (and don't I just smell lovely for it!) - which are both said to be anti-viral and anti-bacterial, I still remain utterly prone to colds. Literally, I've had two in the past month and half!

Still, if a certain other UL is to be believed, it means I'm a lot less likely to get cancer. Which is reasurring, considering I'm a smoker - which, relatedly, means I'm a lot less likely to get alzheimer's as well.

Picture me at 90...healthy and spry, with nary a marble lost, but honking like some mad farting beast.
 
Hoorah finally

I can now get rid of the smell in my fridge. I had a garlic bulb of which I only used several cloves and decided to keep it for future use. However I failed to wrap it up and consequently left it in there long enough to leave a very wierd smell - which has permeated everything else. We have had to replace full margarine tub, jam and chocolate :( I bought a thing from Sainsburys for 99p which is meant to rid the fridge of odours but is useless.

I shall put the lemon in tonight and smell the results tomorrow
 
barfing pumkin, could you elaborate on the UL regarding colds and cancer? Never heard that one!

I too eat loads of garlic and onions and still get my seasonal colds at the end of autumn and end of spring! Probably have to eat organic ones or something.
 
barfing pumkin, could you elaborate on the UL regarding colds and cancer? Never heard that one!

Yep! Apparently, people who suffer a lot of colds are a lot less likely to get cancer because their immune system is in overdrive. Or something like that, anyway.

All sounds a bit iffy to me, IMO.

Or should that be 'sniffy'?

Or maybe even 'niffy' when one takes the garlic and onions into consideration.

Ah well...
 
IIRC, a few Wicca spellbook type activities involve placing halved onions in corner - breaking in houses, fighting disease, that sort of thing.
 
whenever I am chopping onions I always paint the kitchen in order to counter the smell. This works great but as i like onions I find that the room is getting noticeably more 'snug'
 
llkit said:
Something to do with onions being anti-bacterial and anti-viral. :?

I've heard several times that:

1) Middle-european Jews used to eat raw onions a lot - like a snack, like you would eat an apple :cross eye
2) And this caused them to have less sickness and infections ...
3) Which again led to claims of black magic and prosecution ...

Anyone know anything more about this? I believe at least statement (1) is true.
 
I've heard several times that:

1) Middle-european Jews used to eat raw onions a lot - like a snack, like you would eat an apple
2) And this caused them to have less sickness and infections ...
3) Which again led to claims of black magic and prosecution ...

Most Jews nowadays would put it down to chicken soup - the famed 'hebrew penicillin'. Although the Jewish brand of this fabled recipe is very particular about the ingredients and cooking methods involved, I have to say that my own version - a kind of chicken broth with a little bit of curry powder - is a great pick-me-up when suffering a cold or flu.

Placebo effect or no, it really does seem to work.
 
IIRC, a few Wicca spellbook type activities involve placing halved onions in corner - breaking in houses, fighting disease, that sort of thing.

I was just skimming through a similar book and came upon this:

ONION - since ancient times onion has been a powerful charm against witchcraft and the evil eye when worn, carried, or hung in the entrance of a house. Onion also protects the bearer from drunkenness and cures his colds.
Onion juice with vinegar removes skin blemishes.

from The Complete Book of Magic and Witchcraft (1970) by Kathryn Paulsen
 
My wifes (thankfully) odourless garlic capsules have the note that a possible side effect is "sleep disruption".

Knowing that 'proper' vampires sit on your abdomen and suck blood from your chest, and knowing that hypnopompic/hypnogogic sleep is a common source for 'old hag/vampire' visions wouldn't consumption of garlic prevent these occurances by disrupting sleep: therefore vampires don't like garlic.

The only thing that an onion repels is the dentist.
 
The onions and garlic need to be raw in order to help prevent colds. I ate raw minced garlic and onin on toast each morning and I am very rarely sick.
 
The onions and garlic need to be raw in order to help prevent colds. I ate raw minced garlic and onin on toast each morning and I am very rarely sick.

Perhaps no one got close enough to you to sneeze on you? ;)

Sorry for being a bit cheeky!
 
Curious, I never believed this to be an UL, because it has always worked for me in the past! It has to be a pretty big onion, cut in half and loosened slightly. I must say that it has no effect with acrylic paints, but certainly does work with emulsions. I recall that it was my grandad who told me this sometime in the 1980s.
 
I must say that it has no effect with acrylic paints, but certainly does work with emulsions.

Which is probably why my experiment failed - 'er indoors was using gloss, you see, not emulsion. The thing is, emulsion doesn't smell that bad (IMO), so there was really no call to try the onion. Gloss, though, fumes the place up something evil.
 
Don't know it this is an UL, but a useful household tip is to leave a candle burning overnight in a room where people have been smoking. The next morning there will be no tobacco smell. I presume the carbon in the candle smoke absorbs the smell.
 
plusk said:
Don't know it this is an UL, but a useful household tip is to leave a candle burning overnight in a room where people have been smoking. The next morning there will be no tobacco smell. I presume the carbon in the candle smoke absorbs the smell.
Just as lighting a match after using the 'smallest room' has a deodorising effect?
 
plusk said:
Don't know it this is an UL, but a useful household tip is to leave a candle burning overnight in a room where people have been smoking. The next morning there will be no tobacco smell. I presume the carbon in the candle smoke absorbs the smell.

Won't there be carbon in the tobacco smoke as well? (Would a room really continue to smell of smoke for that long anyway? I don't know, I rarely smoke in my home)

Also, it's not really a good idea to leave candles burning unattended.
 
whizzer27 said:
"Just as lighting a match after using the 'smallest room' has a deodorising effect?"

One of the best ways I've ever discovered for quickly deodorizing a noxious bathroom is to light two entire packs of book matches, let them burn for maybe two or three seconds, and then blow them out. Wave the smoking remains around in the air for 15 to 30 seconds. Afterwards, just to be on the safe side, run both packs under water from the tap before disposing.

And also for safety's sake, I light the packs directly over the porcelain wash basin, so they can be immediately dropped if neccessary. (But I've never yet had to do this.)
 
Onions're great. I buy big bags of them and they are used up quickly.

Cheese (Cheshire of course, made just up t'road) and raw onion sarnies account for a lot of them. I always eat them when I feel a cold coming on, the stronger the cheese and the onions, the better. 8)

Dunno if it helps, apart from keeping potential infectees at a safe distance. :lol:
 
Cockroaches

There's a similar legend that cucumber slices laid on the floor (or on a piece of waxed paper on the floor) will drive all cockroaches out from even a badly-infested building.

I can't speak from personal experience here but when I mentioned this to a scientifically-educated friend around a decade ago he experimented on some roach-ruled rental properties he'd inherited. His report back to me was that within two days the properties involved were entirely roach-free.
 
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