Flour as a Burn Remedy

I wasn't sure where to post this, but if it is true, it would be great info for a SHTF scenario. I'm hoping people can try it when the unfortunate chance arises so we can verify it.

Apparently, for first, second, and maybe even third degree burns, you can simply immerse the area in flour to prevent your skin from blistering and irritation. Like I said, I'm not yet sure if this is true, and for obvious reasons I don't want to experiment, but I'm hoping that people will read this and try the remedy and post their results.

For it to work, you are not supposed to do the standard 'run cold water over your hand,' but instead put it, or whatever body part (even the tongue) right into the flower, preferably cold flower. This is an old remedy from the 1800's that apparently was tossed as medical knowledge progressed.

Here is an excerpt from 'The American Agriculturalist' in 1854:

But of all applications for a burn, we believe there are none equal to a simple covering of common wheat flour. This is always at hand, and while it requires no skill in using, it produces almost astonishing effects. The moisture produced upon the surface of a slight or deep burn, is at once absorbed by the flour, and forms a paste which shuts out the air. As long as the fluid matters continue flowing, they are absorbed, and thus prevented from producing irritation, as they would do if kept from passing off by oily or resinous applications, while the greater the amount of these absorbed by the flour, the thicker the protecting covering. Another advantage of the flour covering is, that next to the surface it is kept moist and flexible. It can also be readily washed off, without further irritation in removing.

So far I only know of one successful attempt. My mom tried it on a minor burn she got from touching hot metal while she was cooking. I heard the "Ow!" and a quick profanity and she headed to the fridge where she had some flour. She put her finger in it for ten minutes and did nothing else. The next day, she showed me where she got burned. It was not red at all, and she felt no pain or irritation.

Everything seems legit, I am just wondering how well this 'miracle remedy' works. Here is a link to an email/story that was sent out, as well as some analysis and historic info.

Flour as a Burn Remedy

Thanks in advance to those who sacrifice their bodies for the pursuit of knowledge!

Yeah so according to Snopes

This is absolutely incorrect. According to the above link, if you ever suffer a burn the most important thing to do is to place the burned area under cool water for at least 5 minutes.

Definitely don't use flour.

reply to post by scojak


I had full thickness burns (beyond 3rd degree) over 25% of my body. It burned all the way to the bone in a couple of areas. I ran to the neighbors and jumped in a tub of water. I asked the surgeons if I did any harm or any good. They asked me if it made it feel better, and I said yes. They said it was fine then.

They told me, "you can't un-burn the skin." It really doesn't matter what you do after you are burned, because you are already burned. It is kind of like sticking a broken arm in a tub of flour, or running cold water over it. The arm is still broken, but if it feels better then fine.

If you were in a survival situation, and you got a serious burn, you are in pretty deep doodoo. You want to "debride' the area, which means removing the dead skin so infection can't hide underneath. Then you want to find some antiseptic/antibiotic treatment.

If you get a 1st or 2nd degree burn, then you are just looking for pain relief. Aloe Vera or White Willow Bark, cool compresses, mud, or something along those lines. Or, if you are tough like me, just let the chemical pain receptors overload and the endorphines kick in. The worse the pain, the faster it exhausts the chemical reserves and stops transmitting. It will go away on its own eventually. Pain is just a warning signal. Assess it, if you can make it better, fine, if you can't ignore it and keep doing what you were doing, except be more careful to not get burned.

Now, I am off to put some aloe vera from the refrigerator on my sun-burn and lay in front of the TV with some icecream.

Originally posted by getreadyalready
They told me, "you can't un-burn the skin." It really doesn't matter what you do after you are burned, because you are already burned. It is kind of like sticking a broken arm in a tub of flour, or running cold water over it. The arm is still broken, but if it feels better then fine.

If you were in a survival situation, and you got a serious burn, you are in pretty deep doodoo. You want to "debride' the area, which means removing the dead skin so infection can't hide underneath. Then you want to find some antiseptic/antibiotic treatment.

I realize that you can't unburn skin, just as you can't unbreak an arm, but if you can prevent blistering and irritation, that could be quite advantageous, especially for a burn on your foot that would prevent you from walking very far.

Even though this is may be considered false, it did work for my mom, so I may give it a go the next time I get burned. The idea of it absorbing moisture makes sense to me, just like putting a wet phone into a bag of rice to draw out all the moisture. I'll update the thread with my findings when they happen. And maybe, since your so tough, you could give it a try if you get to burning yourself before me.

Hmm....don't think so. The greatest problem with burns is infection risk, and the flour would not reduce moisture, but trap it, allowing bacteria to grow.

For a blister...I don't see how it would help.

There are a few different remedies. Here are some of them:

Treating skin burns with home remedies is a common practice provided the burns are minor. Some simple minor burn treatments include:

•Potato peels: Yes, potato peels can be beneficial minor burn treatment option. Potato peels could be applied on the wound area for some time and then wiped off. It helps ease the pain and redness.

•Water: Cool or room temperature water is the ideal remedy in treating skin burns. Water can soothe the immediate pain and also restrict the burn from spreading. Similarly milk can also help in pain relief. Applying milk on the wound area can soothe the skin and aid as a minor burn treatment option.

•Baking Soda: Sprinkling baking soda on dampened skin can soothe the pain. Wipe it away after a short while. Repeat if necessary.

•Aloe Vera: The multiple benefits of Aloe Vera can be put to use for minor burns as well. Small thin slices of the leaf can be placed on the wound area.

•Honey: Applying honey is known to speed the healing process and soothe the pain.

•Oils: The antiseptic properties of lavender essential oil are useful in treating minor burns. It also helps reduce the pain. A combination of olive, sunflower and pumpkin seed oil are also known to prevent blisters and

•Vinegar: Vinegar is known to be effective as a skin burns treatment. Combining vinegar with water and applying the same on the wound area is known to cleanse the skin.


Source: www.home-remedies-for-you.com...

While not dissagreing with any of the points made in this thread, I have learned this about managing burns from being a welder for 20 years where one is always getting burnt. This has been learned through trial and error and exerience. This is a rule of thumb.

When you get burned put the affected area under water for TWICE the length of time it takes for the pain to go away. It does not produce magic results but it helps minimise the damage and the pain.

Originally posted by Turq1
Hmm....don't think so. The greatest problem with burns is infection risk, and the flour would not reduce moisture, but trap it, allowing bacteria to grow.

For a blister...I don't see how it would help.

I don't disagree that infection is the biggest problem, but I also don't know accurate you are in saying that flour will trap in moisture causing bacterial growth. For all I know, it may, as I haven't tried it myself yet. But it seems to me that it would absorb moisture, thus reducing it. And ten minutes is hardly enough time for bacteria to grow.

reply to post by heffo7


Thanks, these give me hope as I don't see how potato peels would be any better than flour. Good info!

Originally posted by bussoboy
While not dissagreing with any of the points made in this thread, I have learned this about managing burns from being a welder for 20 years where one is always getting burnt. This has been learned through trial and error and exerience. This is a rule of thumb.

When you get burned put the affected area under water for TWICE the length of time it takes for the pain to go away. It does not produce magic results but it helps minimise the damage and the pain.

More good info. I wonder, though, through your trial and error, have you tried this particular method? If you have, could you please describe your experience with it? Thanks!

I was a sous chef for 20 years and we used flour for burns in the kitchen. We would also use it to stop bleeding on small cuts when we were out of sage. Don't know if this is helpful to you but it definitely works for me.

reply to post by shadwgirl


Flour to stop the bleeding is a good thing. Sugar works well too.

I still do not think flour for the burn is a good idea, and wicking the moisture out of a burn is exactly the opposite of what you want to do. You need the moisture to help it heal. If a blister forms, it is important to get it popped and removed so that infection cannot grow between the layers of skin. That is why they debride a burn. If it is a first or second degree burn, the only thing important is pain management and fighting infection. If it is third degree, then you have to worry about long term care, fighting infection, not going into shock. It is going to take everything you ever learned about first aid to keep a severe burn victim alive in a survival situation. Hopefully that doesn't happen.

Something else I thought of over the weekend with my burns. They forced me to take in more calories than I thought I could handle. It was along the lines of 10,000 calories per day. Then needed my metabolism high, and plenty of fuel for the repairs my body was undergoing. They made me stay majorly hydrated, but I could not have water, because it didn't have any calories, so I was sucking down gatorades, and sugary lemonade non-stop. Luckily I had a catheter, because it would have killed me to walk to the bathroom every 20 minutes!

reply to post by getreadyalready


Maybe you should try the flour. I find that using water for a burn makes the pain worse. It only stops the pain when it's in contact with the skin and once it is removed the pain comes back more intense than before. Of course, remedies affect all people differently.

reply to post by scojak


Flour does work for burns.... Any Chef / Cook worth their salt knows this. Put your hand etc in flour and keep it there for at least 5 minutes... 20 if you can. But it definitely works.. I've seen people have zero affect... no red, no blisters... no pain... like a miracle lol...

But it works... So a flag for bringing it up man... and a star and stuffs........

scorched flour is the ultimate cure for diaper rash.

You put flour in a cast iron skillet, and cook it till it begins to turn beige and then finally brown. You let it cool and then use it like talcum powder on the diaper area.

It works better because it has minor antiseptic qualities. I would say it removes surface moisture without chapping or drying the tissue any further.

diaper rash usually comes from the ammonia in urine, but can also come from several nasty infections. one pan of scorched flour, used for about 24 hrs, will stop even the very worst diaper rash. And I've seen rashes so bad the kid's skin is cracked and the cracks bleed like an elderly person's dry hands in wintertime.

Originally posted by dr_strangecraft
scorched flour is the ultimate cure for diaper rash. You put flour in a cast iron skillet, and cook it till it begins to turn beige and then finally brown. You let it cool and then use it like talcum powder on the diaper area.

Originally posted by shadwgirl
I was a sous chef for 20 years and we used flour for burns in the kitchen. We would also use it to stop bleeding on small cuts when we were out of sage. Don't know if this is helpful to you but it definitely works for me.

Originally posted by Serafine
Flour does work for burns.... Any Chef / Cook worth their salt knows this. Put your hand etc in flour and keep it there for at least 5 minutes... 20 if you can. But it definitely works.. I've seen people have zero affect... no red, no blisters... no pain... like a miracle lol...

Thanks for all the input! It's looking like flour might not be such a bad thing for SHTF after all! And did I mention that you can cook with it?

BTW, I still haven't been fortunate enough to burn myself accidently so I can test this. I may have to just suck it up and do some experimentation.

Mayonnaise it's not just for sandwiches anymore.... it also makes a good burn remedy...
Learned that from an old Mexican man, he was a roofer by trade and always got burned slopping around that hot tar... I thought he was nuts the first time he handed me one of those little plastic packages of Mayo... but you know... he was right and it took away the pain...

reply to post by scojak


I realize this is an old post but I had to add my 3 cents. Flour is absolutely amazing and you are correct about it helping burns. It also helps with weeping sores, bleeding cuts and when you "burn" the flour, its a miracle on babies butts (for diaper rash) Most people think to go for the aloe plant or the cold water...I head for the cupboard and grab the flour. I've used it on myself, my husband, my four children and now on my granddaughter...I swear by it because I've seen the results personally :-) Granny taught me this!!!

Hi, I also see this is an old post, but want to put my feedback in too, since I just found the post through a google search "flour for burns", on the first search result page. Actually this is how I found out about ATS, and am now a new member. Thanks.

Just before I found this posting, I was on the Snopes website, where they claim treating burns with flour to be "false". After reading their page on it, I had to send them a little email letting them know they are full of lies, and just another tool of the propaganda machine. Last time I ever click on that website!

Yes, flour does work for burns. I am a glassblower so burns are really common. Recently found out about the flour for burns thing through a friend, and it didn't take long to find out it really does work, and works well. Obviously a treatment so easy and cheap and "miraculous" would be suppressed by the mainstream, and considered a "hoax". But, like many of these "old school" treatments, the effectiveness can be confirmed by reading through the old medical literature....thank you for posting a nice collection of some of the old writings about flour as a burn remedy.

I've found, most often, Grandma does know best, and the best miracle remedies are so simple and easy our minds have trouble accepting them to be true. We've been trained to believe we need lots of pills and potions and lotions to get better. I for one, am happy to take things back to a simpler solution.

Thanks everyone for sharing all this wonderful info and tips.