5 Homemade Cold Remedies: Old-Fashioned Cold Remedies that Work

When it comes to all-but-forgotten homemade cold remedies for clearing congestion, onion poultices are top of the list. The advent of modern antibiotics made them seem antiquated for most of the last century, but due to the growing awareness of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, as well as the damage antibiotics can do to the gut microbiome, there is renewed interest in this use for onions.

Although I’ve never found a scientific study on onion poultices, families have passed down stories of young children healing from pneumonia after an onion poultice was applied to their feet, chest, or back. And it wasn’t just old wives who did this.

In “Remedies and Rituals: Folk Medicine in Norway and the New Land,” Kathleen Stokker relays the story of a 7-year-old girl who, circa 1904, developed severe pneumonia in both lungs. A doctor told the family he didn’t know of any professional treatment to cure her, then clandestinely advised her grandmother to apply onion poultices to the girl’s chest and back. It was one of the homemade cold remedies he’d learned growing up in Norway, but wasn’t allowed to use as an American physician. In the morning, the girl coughed up large amounts of mucus, and immediately began to recover.

In my family, the story from my grandfather is that if even one child (and there were many) let out one cough, then out came the onions. My great grandmother would make everyone drink hot, stewed onion mash tea as a preventative. The word is that there were too many siblings and cousins to risk a cough spreading through the clan.

There are nearly as many ways to make an onion poultice as there are people who have made them. Place a freshly sliced onion in a handkerchief and apply to the chest. Sauté an onion in lard, put it in a muslin bag, and apply the poultice to the bottoms of the feet. Or, as detailed above, chop an onion and bake it with honey. The following method minimizes the mess by lightly steaming the onion in water.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 kitchen towel

Directions

1. Chop the onion.
2. Steam lightly in water until translucent, about 7 minutes, adding more water if necessary.
3. Pour the mixture onto a kitchen towel and fold so that no onions escape.
4. Allow to cool until it won’t burn or hurt the skin.
5. Apply the poultice to the chest, back, or feet for 20 to 30 minutes.
6. Reapply several times a day if needed until mucus is expelled. You can use the same poultice all day by gently reheating it.

2) Saltwater Gargle

My grandfather, John McBride, was a towering Scottish-Irish man who gargled with warm saltwater every morning, a wellness ritual he’d learned from his father. Grandpa John had an outsize influence on what became my passion for herbalism, facilitating my first herb walk when I was eight years old. I often add a squirt of thyme tincture to my salt water, but with or without herbs, gargling has become a favorite heritage remedy.

You can gargle every day like my grandfather did, make it a seasonal practice in fall and winter, or do it when you feel a telling scratch in your throat.

A 2021 review of scientific studies found that saltwater gargling may help prevent and treat upper respiratory infections. The researchers didn’t settle on an answer for exactly how this homemade cold remedy works, but hypotheses included the possibility that saltwater draws viral particles out of cells and washes them away before they can multiply and overwhelm the immune system. Another hypothesis is that saltwater supplies chloride ions that can be used by immune cells to make hypochlorous acid to fight off infection. Whatever the reason, I know for a fact from 30 years of gargling, that it makes a significant difference in my respiratory health.

Gargling has become one of my go-to homemade cold remedies.

Ingredients

• 8 oz. water, as warm as possible without burning the mouth or throat
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Add salt to warm water.
2. Stir to dissolve.
3. Gargle with half the warm saltwater solution for 5-10 seconds and spit out.
4. Repeat with the remainder of the salt water.

3) Steam Inhalation

If you have a pot of hot water and a towel, you have everything you need for one of the homemade cold remedies my students hear the most about! Although water itself is enough to create the necessary vapor for steam inhalation, as an herb nerd I love adding aromatic plants to give the experience a boost.

It turns out I’m not alone. A study of steam inhalation done with and without herbs found that both methods eased sneezing and congestion from allergies. But subjects treated to the herbal steam were more satisfied with the results! Aromatic herbs in the mint family – think sage, peppermint, and thyme – are among my favorites for steaming.

I use sage steams to clear out congestion from my sinuses, ears, and chest. They also help ease my son’s reaction to seasonal allergies, but note that this folk remedy isn’t recommended for children under 12 due to the risk of scalding.

Steam inhalation secured its place among homemade cold remedies in Europe during the 19th century, and has been used as a folk remedy for the common cold, bronchiolitis, and croup. Moreover, decades of experience have shown me that when I get water boiling and fetch a towel at the very first sign of congestion or a scratchy throat, I’m able to support my innate immunity by moving the mucus out.

Ingredients

• 4 cups of water
• Optional: 8 tablespoons fresh herbs such as, mint, sage, rosemary, or thyme (or 4 tablespoons dried herbs)

Directions

1. Put water and herbs (if using) into a medium-sized pot. Cover, and bring to a boil.
2. Remove from heat and let sit until it is a temperature that you can put your face over.
3. Carry the pot over to a table and place it on a pot holder or coaster to protect the table’s surface. Pull up a chair so you can comfortably lean over the pot.
4. Put a towel over your head and carefully lean over the steaming pot. Only do what is comfortable, and make sure not to get so close that it burns.
5. Take deep, full breaths and enjoy the feeling of the steam traveling through your sinuses and lungs.

4) Raw Garlic and Honey

Garlic has one of the longest histories of any of these homemade cold remedies. The earliest medical texts from China, Egypt, Greece, India, and Rome expound upon garlic’s medicinal uses, namely to build good health and stamina. In Sanskrit, garlic means “slayer of monsters.”
Modern studies have helped explain the mechanisms behind this ancient wisdom. Garlic is high in trace minerals, has sulfur-containing compounds, is antimicrobial, and has a history of traditional use in keeping colds at bay.. It has been shown to boost the production of white blood cells, strengthening the body’s innate defense against pathogens.

I consider raw garlic my strongest ally in cold and flu defense – even more than elderberry, and that’s saying a lot! You’ll want to use garlic to build your body’s natural defenses before getting sick, or at the very first sign of illness, like a lag in energy or a scratchy throat.

For some, raw garlic causes digestive upset. The trick is eating it fresh without burning your stomach. Garlic honey with a little butter is one of my favorite ways to circumvent this problem. Another time-tested solution is keeping a garlic press at the dinner table and adding freshly-pressed garlic to your meal. For those who dislike the taste but want to add garlic to their repertoire of homemade cold remedies, cut a clove in half and rub it on the bottom of your feet – decades of working with clients has taught me that this method has a strengthening and toning effect on immunity!

Ingredients

• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 teaspoon honey

Directions

1. Mince the garlic with a knife or put it through a garlic press.
2. Mix with the honey.
3. Eat it plain, or atop buttered toast.

5) Hot Toddy

Made with honey, lemon, and whiskey, a hot toddy is one of the most tried and true homemade cold remedies. A few generations ago, whiskey’s acceptance as medicine was so widespread that mothers whipped up hot toddies for their children at the first sign of a cold. More broadly, alcohol is one of the oldest medicines we know, having been used since antiquity to help reduce pain.

Who hasn’t been up half the night, unable to sleep because they can hardly breathe due to congestion from a cold? A hot toddy shortly before bedtime, in my experience, clears the nasal passageways and relaxes the body, helping us drift off and get the rest our bodies need to recover.
Of course, alcohol in large amounts is toxic, but an ounce of alcohol in hot water will have a medicinal effect.

Honey has also been found to ease the symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections, and perhaps there is a synergistic effect between two or more of the ingredients in a hot toddy. In any case, I recommend keeping a bit of whiskey and honey tucked away for just this purpose.

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 1-1/2 ounces whiskey
• 2 tsp. honey, or to taste
• 1/4 of a lemon (or 2 tsp. lemon juice)

Directions

1. Boil the water and pour into a mug and let the water cool to drinking temperature.
2. Add the whiskey, honey, and lemon.
3. Stir until the honey dissolves.
4. Drink and go to bed promptly.

Homemade Cold Remedies from the Kitchen

I hope these stories and recipes inspire you to try a few old-fashioned cold remedies at home. As my students hear me say time and again, when we return to the earth’s medicines and the practices passed on by our great grandmothers, we also empower ourselves, taking charge of building good health and living a healing lifestyle. It can all start with ingredients that are in your kitchen right now!