27 Survival Uses For Common Mullein Besides Cowboy Toilet Paper

Click Here To Join Our Telegram Channel for FREE daily tutorials!

Ever been caught in the woods with nature calling you to a squatty position? If you forgot the Charmin, you’d still be a happy camper with Cowboy Toilet Paper (AKA – Common Mullein). It’s velvety soft leaves has wrangled many a woodsman and camper from certain disaster over a cat hole.

The fuzzy leaf of this botanical wonder may cause skin irritation (contact dermatitis). That’s not a bad thing if you happen to be a Quaker in the new world. Since Quaker women weren’t allowed to wear makeup, these resourceful ladies rubbed the hairy leaves on their cheeks for a homemade blush to attract suitors. Hence the name Quaker’s Rouge.

If employed as Cowboy TP or camper’s wash cloth, wipe with the flow of the hairs not against. Use caution with sensitive behinds. If a rash occurs, plantain is usually close by.

Common Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is easy to identify making it a safe gateway herb to wildcrafting and medicinal plants. The leaves, stalk, and root are safe for medicinal purposes.

First year plants grow as a rosette with large, wooly, hairy, velvety leaves. The silvery-green foliage gives the plant an artificial waxed appearance. They grow in well-drained disturbed soil by roadways, abandoned fields, waste places, and even gravel, rocky soil in full sun.

10 Survival Uses for Mullein Besides Cowboy Toilet PaperFirst year growth

Second year growth can reach heights over ten feet.

10 Survival Uses for Mullein Besides Cowboy Toilet PaperForgot my tripod. This is my first EVER selfie! I’m 5’10” tall for comparison.

10 Survival Uses for Mullein Besides Cowboy Toilet PaperMullein flowers showing off their five yellow flowers

You may know this European weed transplant by other common names such as flannel flower, Quaker’s rouge, bunny’s ear, candle wick, great mullein, torchwort, miner’s candle, poor man’s blanket, hag’s taper, ice leaf, or Cowboy Toilet Paper. Whatever name you use, mullein has been a valuable multiuse tool for self-reliance for thousands of years.

Here’s why…

Properties of Mullein

Understanding the properties of herbs allows you to get the most out of your herbal medicine chest. Here’s the plant’s medicinal profile:

• Analgesic – pain relief
• Anticatarrhal – reduces inflammation of the mucous membranes (lungs, sinus, etc.)
• Antispasmodic – suppresses involuntary muscle spasms
• Antitussive – relieve or prevent coughs
• Astringent – contraction of body tissue, typically on skin
• Demulcent – forms a soothing film over mucous membranes
• Diuretic – increases urine production
• Expectorant – aid in the clearance of mucus from the airways, lungs, bronchi, and trachea
• Mucilant – coat and protect mucous membranes
• Vulnerary – promotes healing of wounds, cuts, and abrasions

For more information on medicinal properties of herbs, check out Bk2natuR’s Herbal Dictionary and other natural goodness!

An additional awesome herbal/wildcrafting resource can be found at Common Sense Homesteading. Laurie, a blogging friend of mine, has a great series called Weekly Weeder with 48 posts on using your weeds for culinary and medicinal purposes. I highly recommend her stuff!

As you can see, Common Mullein has many more uses than emergency roadside TP. Take a look…

Medicine

• Mullein tea (expectorant) helps facilitate lung function and removes congestion and mucus from the respiratory tract. Dried leaves may also be used as a smoke inhalation.

A dehydrator speeds up the drying process. Set your dehydrator on its lowest heat and process until dry. I set this batch on 95º for about 18 hours for crispy leaves.

[Side note: Even though out Excalibur uses little electricity, I want to build a solar dehydrator. If you have successfully built your own, please contact me. Thanks!]

10 Survival Uses for Mullein Besides Cowboy Toilet PaperOne of five trays of 1st year mullein leaves

10 Survival Uses for Mullein Besides Cowboy Toilet Paper‘Toby’ the pig helping me make some mullein tea with a backyard bushcraft setup

• Oil infusion of the yellow flowers for ear aches

How to make Mullein-Flower Oil Infusion

A. Locate a group of blooming mullein plants (June-September) and harvest the yellow flowers. You’ll need enough to fill a small jam or jelly jar half to three-quarters full. I ended up with about half a jar of flowers. This is tedious and time-consuming. Allow the blooms to dry for an hour or so to remove some of the water content.

10 Survival Uses for Mullein Besides Cowboy Toilet PaperFlowers harvested from 6 or 7 mullein stalks

B. Fill the jar with olive oil or any oil you like and screw the lid tightly. Steep the infusion in a warm, sunny spot for about 2 to 4 weeks. Shake the infusion once a day – if you remember.

10 Survival Uses for Mullein Besides Cowboy Toilet PaperSunny spot for steeping

C. Pour the infused oil through a strainer (cheesecloth or bandana) into another container for storage. Label, date, and store in a cool dark cabinet. For earaches or wax build up, place a few (2-3) drops into the ear a couple of times daily until the problem clears up.

• Reduces swelling in glands via a compress and helps the lymphatic system – I can personally testify to its effectiveness with a recent swollen area on my body
• Laryngitis and tonsillitis remedy
• Mullein root strengthens the bladder
Recipes and proper formulas using mullein root can be found here

Garden/Permaculture

• Improves soil as a nitrogen fixer and heals the worst soil conditions
• Feeds bees and other pollinators
• Compost material
• Some birds enjoy the seeds
• Rotenone, found in mullein, is synthesized for insecticide
• Goats won’t eat it so mullein is a good way to add some green to goat-ravaged land

Bushcraft and Self-Reliance

• Mullein leaves can be used inside shoes as a cushion and warmth
• Blanket mullein is one alias outdoor enthusiasts should keep in mind for emergency blanket
• Saponins in the seeds are said to be useful for stunning fish for easy collection – use only in a true survival scenario
• Dried leaves and seed pods make an excellent tinder for fire starting
• Dip a dried seed head stalk in tallow, bees-wax, or pine sap for a long-burning torch (torchwort, miner’s torch)
• The stalk can be used to create a friction fire – bow or hand drill style

Creek Stewart at Willow Haven Outdoor has a great video demonstrating the friction fire technique using mullein below:

Common Mullein is the common man/woman multi-tool of herbal self-reliance. Ah, a new alias… Common Man Mullein!

DISCLAIMER: This information is offered for educational purposes only. Do your own due diligence before foraging wild edibles and medicinal plants of any kind.

Keep Doing the Stuff of Self-Reliance,

Todd

This Crazy Off Grid Device Literally Makes Drinkable Water From Fresh Air:

According to NASA, the U.S. is expecting a 100-YEAR LONG MEGADROUGHT.

drought-monitor

It's already begun. Ask the farmers in California. They know.

Every survivalist knows that water is of critical importance. You NEED an independent water source that you can count on!

As an interesting "survival rehearsal" - imagine that you turned the tap on right now and nothing came out. How long would you last?

But what if there was another water source literally hidden in plain sight. That's right, I'm talking about the atmosphere!

The amazing thing about getting water from the natural moisture in the air... is that it is ALWAYS available.

This gives you real water security!

Learn more about how to tap into "Nature's secret water reservoir" and stay hydrated when TSHTF!

Watch the video:

air fountain

😳 What Tinnitus Does To Your Brain Cells (And How To Stop It)

After 47 years of studies and countless brain scans done on more than 2,400 tinnitus patients, scientists at the MIT Institute found that in a shocking 96% of cases, tinnitus was actually shrinking their brain cells.

As it turns out, tinnitus and brain health are strongly linked.

Even more interesting: The reason why top army officials are not deaf after decades of hearing machine guns, bombs going off and helicopter noises…

Is because they are using something called "the wire method", a simple protocol inspired by a classified surgery on deaf people from the 1950s...

I Can't Help Showing This Off:

If you haven't heard of Claude Davis yet do yourself a huge favor and watch this video.

One of the smartest guys I ever had the pleasure of meeting, Claude set-up a unique prepping system that changed his life forever.

I already tried it myself and let me tell... you I was completely blown away... His surprising tactics could make your life easier and give you the peace of mind you deserve.

lost ways

Don't just take my word for it... watch his short video and decide for yourself.

Most People Don't Have The Guts To Try This:

Lost Ways Of Survival Video

An amazing discovery in an abandoned house in Austin, Texas: A lost book of amazing survival knowledge, believed to have been long vanished to history, has been found in a dusty drawer in the house which belonged to a guy named Claude Davis.

Remember... back in those days, there was no electricity... no refrigerators... no law enforcement... and certainly no grocery store or supermarkets... Some of these exceptional skills are hundreds of years of old and they were learned the hard way by the early pioneers.

>> Click here to find out about them now

We've lost to history so much survival knowledge that we've become clueless compared to what our great grandfathers did or built on a daily basis to sustain their families.

Neighbors said that for the last couple of years Claude has tried to unearth and learn the forgotten ways of our great-grandparents and claimed to have found a secret of gargantuan proportions. A secret that he is about to reveal together with 3 old teachings that will change everything you think you know about preparedness:

>>> Click Here To Watch His Short Video <<<

More Off-Grid And Survival Resources:

What REALLY Happens When You Bury a Shipping Container? (Hint: It's A Bit Crazy...)

Shipping containers are all the rage - but if you are thinking about buying one, you MUST watch this video first:

shipping container video

There's a general belief that if you bury a shipping container you can create an awesome root cellar / storm shelter / survival bunker.

But is a shipping container strong enough to handle the pressure?

Watch the video to see what happens:

What Really Happens When You Bury a Shipping Container? (Click To Watch Video)