The Power of Peroxide

Last summer my daughter and I came home to find my year old Black Lab (that’s her in the photo) had chewed open a bottle of Midol and eaten about half the contents, along with a slipper and some other now unrecognizable items. I called the vet immediately and after looking it up he gave me the news: it was a fatal dosage. He said if we wanted to try to save her we would have to drive her to another clinic several miles away that had the antidote, but first we would need to empty her stomach. My first thought was wondering how I was going to stick my finger down that long throat when I asked, “So, how do we do that?” He asked if there was any Hydrogen Peroxide in the house. I grabbed a bottle from the bathroom and, following the doctor’s instructions, my daughter held open the dog’s mouth while I poured a little in and then held her jaws shut to make sure she swallowed it. The vet stayed on the phone, and several long minutes went by while we stood there watching and waiting for the eruption.

At this point I’ll spare you the details except to say it worked, several times. And during the long drive to the clinic it worked a few more times. Once we arrived at the clinic they gave her the antidote, kept her over night for observation, and today she is approaching her second birthday.

While I now knew of two uses for Hydrogen Peroxide I thought I would do a little research into what else it can do. Besides using it as a germicide to treat minor wounds and making your dog barf the following is what I found. All of these tips use household 3% hydrogen peroxide, not the stronger solutions.

Clean and disinfect your house by spraying peroxide and then vinegar on household surfaces then wiping clean.

Take a swig of peroxide once in a while to debride your gums.

Rub it on your face to help clear up acne.

Use a 50/50 mix of peroxide and water to bleach your hair.

Spray your plants with 8 ounces of peroxide mixed with 8 ounces of white sugar and one gallon of water. This can lead to better growth and acts as insecticide.

Use it as a douche or enema solution. Mix 3 tablespoons of peroxide in 1 quart of distilled water. After seeing what it does to cuts and my dog I’m thinking not.

Mix it with baking soda into a paste as an alternative to toothpaste.

Use peroxide in place of bleach to whiten clothes.

Wash your fruits and vegetables with peroxide to kill bacteria.

As a final note there is a lot of information about food grade peroxide being used either orally or intravenously to treat pneumonia, skin disease, polio, emphysema, asthma and cancer, among many other ailments. For more information on these uses search the web for “Educational Concern for Hydrogen Peroxide” and “Bio-Oxidative Medicine.”

Related Reading:

Vinegar: Is There Anything It Can’t Do? 

Other Uses for Alcohol 

Why You Need WD-40