Hydrogen peroxide. Used in hair bleaching, wound cleaning, as a watering additive for plants, an oxygen supplement for fish, and (industrial) deodorant.
Oh, and back massagers, but they’re probably not appropriate for your class.
Well, it’s part of the process. Typically, enzymatic cleaning solutions are applied first to ensure there’s no biological matter stuck to them.
I’m afraid I don’t have any cites, but pharmaceuticals are often prescribed for ‘off label use’. Apparently, some drugs derive the bulk of their revenues for off label use. Let me google it…
There, wikipedia has a list:
Cough syrup is used for drug use. The QB, Jamarcus Russel, just got arrested for possession of cough syrup.
I bet laser pointers are sold in office supply stores for presentations and in toy stores as, well, toys.
Contact lenses are sold for both vision improvement and for esthetics. I just read a piece about these contacts that make your eyes look bigger. Apparently, Lady Gaga uses them.
Viagra’s current main use was originally an off-label use. It was used to treat hypertension, and people noticed that one of the side effects was a very happy Mr.Happy.
It didn’t take long for Pfizer to see there was a LOT more profit potential in helping people have sex than in helping people, you know…live. (Although IIRC it was never that good a vasodilator, at least compared to a lot of other drugs out there.)
I was going to mention this product. I’ve used it on fresh tattoos.
Actually, that wheel looks somewhat similar to a tracing wheel that’s used in sewing. It’s what I would have guessed, anyway.
I use a hair conditioner that was originally developed for horses (Mane’N’Tail). It’s cheap, and it works as well or better than the preparations which are marketed to and for humans. If I could find the shampoo, I’d use it, too, for the same reasons. The next time I go down to Tractor Supply Company I’ll see if they have it in stock.
Crazy Glue was first developed for holding surgical wounds together, but now it is marketed for consumer crafts, repairs, and as an adhesive for artificial nails.
The fluid absorbing material in modern menstrual pads was originally developed to absorb blood from wounds (mostly battle wounds, at the time), and women thought that having a cheap, absorbent, disposable material was much more attractive than washing old rags.
I read a book that was written in the first half of the last century. (Red Threads, Rex Stout, deadly dull) An elemental plot point was that facial tissues were a luxury item to remove makeup, so much so that each customer had “her” own color of tissues. Nowadays, of course, we use them for blowing our noses.
Not quite true. Sildenafil citrate was originally intended to treat angina, but was ineffective in clinical trials. It was never approved for any other use than ED treatment.
DMSO - industrial solvent and also has medical uses as an analgesic and as a carrier of other drugs through the skin.
Nitroglycerin is a much more effective vasodilator, but it has the side effect of killing boners. But it’s also great for blowing stuff up.
How about Q-tips/cotton swabs?
I remember one time running out and looking for more at the store—except I didn’t know where to look. The ear aisle? Is there even an ear aisle? I think I finally found some in either the Baby or the Beauty section, which I would normally never think to venture into.