Boric Acid
By alaskanray
@alaskanray (4636)
United States
April 10, 2012 4:39pm CST
When I was a kid growing up my mother kept some boric acid in the medicine cabinet. We used it to treat canker sores. We would wet our finger, dip it into the powder and dab it onto the canker sore.
When I went to the store yesterday to get some for my ant traps, though, it was not available on the shelf anymore. Maybe some folks poisoned themselves with it or something but it seemed strange to me that I had to order it through the pharmacy.
What do you remember from your childhood that isn't so readily available anymore? It just blows me away how stupid some people are. I mean, look at some of the warnings we see on products. I can't help but say, "Really? Someone tried to do that with this???"
It makes me wonder if, rather than evolving, we aren't devolving. 
1 person likes this
3 responses
@honest_efforts100 (1607)
• India
20 Jul 12
As a kid I grew up knowing that a liquid they called iodine was good for wounds. We used to treat would immediately inflicted on anyone with it and the wound would dry with no time. Today the same product can only be found in chemists or hospitals. The reason was that certain farmers tried the same on stomach ulcers! Why would you do that?
1 person likes this
@lilaclady (28207)
• Australia
10 Apr 12
When I was a kid we had dogs and every now and then my mother would mix some phenol in water and throw it all over the yard to kill germs and stuff, I tried to get some a few weeks ago and was told that is not available any-more... I used to love the smell of it...
@magtibaygom (4858)
• Philippines
10 Apr 12
Yes, it is a chemical that needs to be regulated, that's why it's no longer there in the stores near you. You can only access them now through pharmacy and some chemical stores, with professionals supervising its dispensing. I studied pharmacy in college, and we were taught not to let ordinary people get easy access to such kind of chemicals or substances.
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
11 Apr 12
Yeah, I understand that it is a chemical. It also has limited usage. One lady ordered two large bottles from the pharmacy here before me...what on earth could she need so much for?
I ordered mine to make ant bait with but when I was a child we used it, as I said, on canker sores. Do you know just what it is and what its properties are? What are its uses and why would anyone need a large supply of it?
