I enjoyed the very informative article. I learned a few thing too. A retired nurse told me to place some cloves in a bottle of Wintergreen alcohol for a few weeks, giving it a good shake every now and then use for knee joint pain. I used it but found that it was very strong. If the skin is sensitive be careful when using. It took the pain away for a while but I love the smell of the 2 ingredients together and will open up the bottle just to smell it for lifting my spirits.

I love the fragrance of wintergreen! I'm loving all these ideas for cloves. Seems like at one time, I only saw them used in ham

That reminds me, I need to buy some cloves for my baking projects.

My MIL called them "courting pegs" because they were used in place of mouthwash when somebody was going on a date. Could have been before mouthwash was common, or maybe just because the folks in the coalfields of W. Va were very poor and shopped with script at the company store which was the only place company script was good. Remember Ernie Ford and the song "Sixteen Tons", one line says "I owe my soul to the company store". Talk about living hand to mouth!

You could be right Mary. If mom were still living, she would be 93 so they didn't have toothpaste when she was a little girl. She said she brushed her teeth with baking soda so maybe after that, they would use cloves to freshen their breath?

And fennel. My grandmother chewed fennel.
And mint.

I'm still fascinated by Carol's clove knowledge. And BookerC's carpet freshener.
Amazing what's here on ATP to be learned!

Cloves would sure taste better than baking soda! And I should add that my MIL was born in 1905 and lived in the coalfields until 1927.

I'm going to try the wintergreen oil with cloves. Ivy...what are the proportions? I am getting really nasty arthritis in my hands and would love to use something to killthe pain...

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Hi Carol, I do not know the proportions. I added a large hand full of dried cloves to a bottle of wintergreen alcohol, shook it up every so often for a couple of weeks until it changed to a dark dark brown lovely smelling mixture. Was thinking of adding a cinnamon stick later on. Adding the 2 ingredients for heat and relief seem to go together very well. Must be careful to not to burn the skin if you are not used to liniments or have diabetes because of the threat of ulcers on the skin etc. To dilute it, add a very little bit of olive oil etc.
I guess that you would take a couple of finger amounts and add more as time goes on for a week or more. I just love the fragrance and is guilty of walking by and smelling the bottle when I need a pick me up for my spirits.