Make Itching Powder
Do you want a heavy duty itching powder to use on an irritating individual? Do you want to aggravate the aggravator, as it were? Well, these formulations are guaranteed to irritate him or her more than they have ever irritated you. Note that the itching will last up to one hour. Also, make sure to read the warnings before you start preparing either itching powder.
Contents
Steps
Using roses (The "Romeo and Juliet" Method)
- Cut a dead-looking rose; one that needs to be 'dead-headed' and has a large hip (bulb). Cut it below the hip without cutting into the hip itself, but leaving no more than a centimetre of stem (this helps it die).
- Remove the sepals and anything above the hip. Make a light slice on the side of the hip. Put it in a dry, dark place.
- Wait maybe a week; until the hip is predominantly brown, but not completely black.
- Cut the rose hip in half with small scissors/knife etc. at an angle. Halve these halves again, also cutting at an angle. White, brown or golden cotton-like substance should be inside the quarter-spheres.
- Remove the cotton into a small cup using a toothpick, a blade, or (as the rose should now be green-brown) your nails. This substance, cythilicus, is a mechanical irritant. It "roughs up" your skin, causing an itch. It should be fine at this stage the to handle the cotton with your bare hands; but be wary of contact with your eyes and inhaling it.
- Place the small cup containing the cythilicus next to a cup of boiling water cup. The cythilicus will then become more fluffy.
- You may want to put a towel over the cups so the cythilicus can absorb more of the steam.
- Don't let any water touch the cotton-like stuff because you want the powder hydrated, not wet.
- Once the cythilicus becomes fluffy (after 10-15 minutes of exposure to steam), it is ready for the next step.
- Place the cup of hydrated cythilicus in direct, bright sunlight. After about an hour, the cythilicus should dry and turn more powdery. At this point, it is ready to be used.
- Throw the powder at someone. It even goes through clothes!
Using maple seeds (not as powerful)
In early fall, maple trees shed little brown "helicopter" seedpods that some people call "whirligigs". The pods are green when they're immature (spring and summer) and turn brown as they ripen. When they're dry enough, they fall from the trees with a graceful, spiral motion.
Tiny, hair-like slivers, the same as you will find in bags of commercial itching powder, cover the seedpod To remove the slivers from the "whirlygigs", follow this process:
- Place a sheet of white paper on a flat surface.
- Hold a maple seed pod in each hand, grasping the "propeller" end between thumb and forefinger. Let the seed pod end hang down towards the paper.
- Rub the seed pods against each other over the sheet of paper and notice that the hairs that coat the seed pods will loosen and fall to the paper.
- Repeat with a few dozen seed pods. The result is about a teaspoonful of slivers. This is the main ingredient of commercially available itching powder. A little goes a long way!
- You can also scrape the hairs off of the seed pod with a razor blade, but the rubbing method described above works best. The razor blade method can become somewhat problematic. You have to worry about scraping away too much of the seed pod and also risk cutting your fingers.
- Pour a small amount of itching powder down the victim's back and he or she will be scratching for quite some time.
- Store leftover itching powder in a resealable plastic bag or in an envelope.
Tips
- Don't microwave the cythilicus or the itching powder won't work. (The microwave radiation destroys the structure of the cythilicus.)
- Dry the sliver-like hairs well for the most effective "itch powder".
Warnings
- Wear gloves when handling the powder.
- Don't ingest (eat or drink) the cythilicus.
- Do not get the cythilicus on lips or eyes.
- This is serious stuff. Do not put it near eyes or lips or anywhere internal. It is especially uncomfortable under the arm pits.
- Do not use the powder on anyone you love, just on people you really want to irritate.
Things You'll Need
Method 1
- Rose
- One cup of boiling water
- Knife
- Toothpick
- Small cup
- Sunlight
Method 2
- Maple tree seed pods
- White paper surface
- Envelope or resealable bag
- Single-edge razor blade for the alternative method (optional)
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