# What? $15.00 for petroleum jelly **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 7, 2023, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845 "2023-03-07T19:03:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/21 "2023-03-08T19:31:21Z")
It’s Arkansas. The lanolin comes from washing sheep in the Hot Springs and skimming the top. You gotta pay up for that quality. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/22 "2023-03-08T19:40:06Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > The lanolin comes from washing sheep in the Hot Springs and skimming the top. Don’t forget the suint. What’s _suint_? Dried sheep perspiration left in the wool. Seriously, there’s a word for dried sheep sweat; I’m not making this up. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/23 "2023-03-08T19:44:52Z")
With some of the high price stuff lately, i was expecting to find that Vaseline was now $15 ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/24 "2023-03-08T19:45:18Z")
I guess they do _sweat_ in those wool coats in Arkansas. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/25 "2023-03-08T19:47:51Z")
Actually, Vaseline brand is kinda pricey. But store brand is still cheap. And as Granny always said “it all comes from the same pot, honey pie!” ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/26 "2023-03-08T19:50:46Z")
While reading the [Wikipedia article on petroleum jelly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_jelly), I read this slightly disturbing passage about the guy who developed and patented Vaseline, Robert Chesebrough: > [@](#): > > Chesebrough traveled around [New York](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_(state)) demonstrating the product to encourage sales by burning his skin with acid or an open flame, then spreading the ointment on his injuries and showing his past injuries healed, he claimed, by his miracle product. He opened his first factory in 1870 in [Brooklyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn) using the name [Vaseline](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaseline). ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/27 "2023-03-08T22:28:26Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Robert Chesebrough Didn’t he also swallow a teaspoon of the stuff every day? Yeesh. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/28 "2023-03-08T22:49:19Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I find it hard to understand how acids, alcohols and lanolin can be good for my skin. lanolin is def. good for your skin (chapstick is mainly lanolin, as are nipple-creams). I bought 100g for 5 bucks in my pharmacy. It lasted me a good couple of years (used it not only as lip/skin cream, but also for leather-goods) - if you don’t mind the smell (like wet sheep). It is the grease of the WOOL of the sheep (not animal-fat of a dead sheep) - and is also an excellent natural non mineral lubricant. doesn’t get much better than that for your skin! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/29 "2023-03-08T23:25:36Z")
Hence, my sensitivity to lanolin. Ewww, sheep juice! ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2023, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/30 "2023-03-08T23:26:45Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > lanolin is def. good for your skin If you are not allergic, lanolin is wonderful. Me and @Beckdawrek though, we can’t use it without risking a reaction. I use CereVe and vegetable oils. Cheap olive oil can be great, but oil can stain clothing, especially synthetic materials. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/31 "2023-03-09T00:16:49Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Hence, my sensitivity to lanolin. Ewww, sheep juice! For Henry’s sake! it’s not sheep juice, it’s sheep **grime**!!! ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/32 "2023-03-09T01:32:43Z")
I remember back when LANOLIN was listed in ads as if it were magic. It even got listed in one Rocky and Bullwinkle episode. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/33 "2023-03-09T17:22:29Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > lanolin is def. good for your skin (chapstick is mainly lanolin, as are nipple-creams). Not quite, for ChapStick at least. First ingredient is [petrolatum](https://www.chapstick.com/discover/chapstick-classic/classic/original). It does have lanolin (and isopropyl lanolate - not sure if that’s related) but they’re fairly far down the list. I assume that many of the ingredients are to make the stuff somewhat solid, versus the goopiness of regular petroleum jelly. Also, I did not know until I googled it just now that petrolatum is the North American term widely used for petroleum jelly - I knew they were the same thing, but I’ve never called it petrolatum. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/34 "2023-03-09T17:26:19Z")
We buy honey and pollen from a local beekeeper who is also a holistic healer of sorts. He has a clinic for massages and also bee sting therapy. He sells all kinds of bee products. He was trying to sell me some hand lotion made from beeswax and got off on a tangent about how lanolin and other things were foreign substances that had no place on your skin. Like we produce honey ourselves. I told him I like Cornhusker’s Lotion and he about fainted. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/35 "2023-03-09T20:51:40Z")
I went into a stupor myself. Reminds me of my Daddy and his nightly foot routine. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/36 "2023-03-09T23:11:34Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > He was trying to sell me some hand lotion made from beeswax and got off on a tangent about how lanolin and other things were foreign substances that had no place on your skin. Like we produce honey ourselves. That is hilarious. I have made a balm from olive oil and beeswax. It’s great for those hard to moisturize parts like feet, elbows, and sometimes hands. But if using a product like this doesn’t work well if you then start trying to text on your phone without scrubbing it off beforehand, you will have a mess. I learned it was strictly a before going to bed product, but it works well. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2023, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/37 "2023-03-09T23:52:59Z")
I found some stuff called ‘Resta’ The Melting moisturizer. Hmmm? Label says it’s basically petroleum jelly and paraffin. No odor. But it’s in French. Ooh la la! (I found this in my cupboard, no idea how long it’s been there. It may be very expensive or not) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/38 "2023-03-10T00:05:31Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I found some stuff called ‘Resta’ The Melting moisturizer. Hmmm? > > Label says it’s basically petroleum jelly and paraffin. No odor. Made out of the resta the stuff that was left over after they made something else? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2023, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845/39 "2023-03-10T04:54:23Z")
Beck you can buy Resta from the Medical Monks so you got that going for you. [https://medicalmonks.com/product/resta-creme/?attribute\_pa\_volume=2-8-oz-83ml&attribute\_pa\_amount=each](https://medicalmonks.com/product/resta-creme/?attribute_pa_volume=2-8-oz-83ml&attribute_pa_amount=each) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-15-00-for-petroleum-jelly/980845.md?page=1)