Compound index

FoodPreserveWaterFirst aid

Ascorbic acid

A stable, cheap vitamin and a reducing agent. It preserves color in fruit, knocks the chlorine taste out of treated water, and covers a scurvy gap in a long pantry.

Shelf · 3–5 years typical; up to 10+ if cool, dark, dry

B · NaHCO3

CleaningFoodFirst aidHygiene

Baking soda

The most useful powder in the den. It cleans, deodorizes, leavens, calms acid indigestion, and smothers small grease or electrical-adjacent fires as a dry dump.

Shelf · Indefinite dry

B · —

HygieneFirst aidFirePreserve

Beeswax

Fuel, waterproofing, and the backbone of simple salves. A block of wax is candles, lip balm, jar seals, and a moisture barrier for tools.

Shelf · Indefinite

B · —

Bentonite clay

A swelling clay that makes poultices and can help fine sediment drop out of muddy water before you filter and disinfect.

First aidWaterHygiene

Shelf · Indefinite dry

B · NaOCl

Household bleach

The default emergency drinking-water disinfectant in U.S. public guidance. It is also a surface sanitizer. It is not soap, it is not a wound wash, and it is not to be mixed with anything else.

WaterCleaning

Shelf · 6–12 months once opened; buy fresh for water duty

B · Na2B4O7·10H2O

Borax

A laundry booster, grease cutter, and the base of simple ant baits. It is not a food. Keep it away from children, pets, and anything you will eat off of.

CleaningPestHygiene

Shelf · Indefinite

B · H3BO3

Boric acid

A long-used insecticide dust for cockroaches in cracks they travel, and a listed ingredient in some old first-aid recipes. Treat it as a pesticide first, medicine second.

PestFirst aid

Shelf · Indefinite

C · CaCl2

A hungry desiccant and a food-safe firming salt when the grade is right. In the den it keeps dry stores dry and can crisp pickles. It also releases heat when it hits water — useful, and a burn hazard.

PreserveFoodHygiene

Shelf · Indefinite if sealed. It pulls water out of the air and will turn into brine.

C · Ca(OH)2

Calcium hydroxide

The old name is slaked lime. Food-grade lime waters eggs (water glassing), nixtamalizes corn, and raises pH. It is alkaline enough to burn skin and eyes. The wrong bag (builder’s lime) does not go in food.

FoodPreserveGarden

Shelf · Indefinite if dry and sealed. It slowly turns to chalk (calcium carbonate) in air.

C · Ca(OCl)2

Calcium hypochlorite

The long-shelf cousin of liquid bleach. A small jar can disinfect thousands of gallons if you make a dilute stock the way EPA describes — and if you never, ever mix it with acids, ammonia, or organics.

WaterCleaning

Shelf · 5–10 years dry and cool if it is unstabilized 65–73% granules

C · C10H16O

Camphor

A strong-smelling solid used in chest rubs and as a moth-and-mouse deterrent. It is toxic if eaten, and it is a fire risk next to oxidizers.

First aidPestFire

Shelf · Indefinite in a tight tin (it sublimes — it vanishes into air)

C · —

Castile soap

Real soap. Body, hair, dishes, laundry, and the first step of wound care: wash dirt out with soap and clean water before anything fancy.

HygieneCleaningFirst aid

Shelf · Indefinite (bars last longest)

C · C6H8O7

Citric acid

The clean acid of the pantry. It sets pectin, acids tomatoes for canning, descale kettles, and wipes mineral crust off Arizona hard-water fixtures.

FoodPreserveCleaning

Shelf · Indefinite dry

C · —

Cornstarch

Thickener, body powder, and a calm-down for chafing in the heat. Keep it dry or it becomes glue.

FoodHygieneFirst aid

Shelf · Indefinite dry; watch for pantry moths

D · SiO2 (amorphous)

Diatomaceous earth

A mechanical insecticide: microscopic sharp dust that scratches insects’ waxy coats. It is not a poison in the chemical sense, but the dust is hard on lungs — yours included.

PestFoodGarden

Shelf · Indefinite

E · MgSO4·7H2O

Epsom salt

A soak for tired feet and a magnesium source for some soils. As a laxative it is old-fashioned and easy to overdo — follow the USP label or skip it.

First aidGardenHygiene

Shelf · Indefinite

E · C2H5OH

First aidCleaningFireHygiene

Ethanol

Disinfectant, solvent for tinctures, and fuel. Denatured alcohol is a different product with bitterants and toxins — it is for stoves and shellac, not bodies.

Shelf · Indefinite sealed

G · C3H8O3

Glycerin

A sweet, thick humectant for skin, soap, and alcohol-free extracts. Next to strong oxidizers it is a fire waiting for a mistake — especially potassium permanganate.

HygieneFirst aidFire

Shelf · Indefinite

H · —

Honey

Food, cough soothe, and one of the oldest wound dressings that still shows up in modern clinics when the honey is medical-grade. Grocery honey is food first.

FoodFirst aidPreserve

Shelf · Indefinite if sealed and not watered down. It may crystallize; that is not spoilage.

H · H2O2

Hydrogen peroxide 3%

A short-lived oxidizer. Useful on surfaces and as a stain-lifter. A poor routine wound wash (it kills new cells too). Never a drinking-water plan at 3%.

CleaningFirst aidGarden

Shelf · 1–3 years unopened; months after opening. It wants to become water and oxygen.

I · C3H8O

First aidCleaningHygieneFire

Isopropyl alcohol 70%

The everyday disinfectant wipe in a bottle. Flammable. Not for drinking, not for open deep wounds as a bath, excellent for skin before a splinter needle and for scissors.

Shelf · 5+ years sealed; it evaporates if the cap is loose

I · I2 (in solution)

Iodine

A classic antiseptic and a backup water disinfectant. Thyroid disease, pregnancy, and some allergies take iodine off the table — have bleach or boiling as the real plan.

First aidWater

Shelf · 3–5 years typical in amber glass; longer if still dark and capped

L · NaOH

Lye

Soap-making alkali and a drain clearer. It can blind in seconds. It heats violently in water, hotter if you add water to lye instead of lye to water. It belongs in the den only if you will actually make soap and will kit up every time.

CleaningHygiene

Shelf · Indefinite if dry and sealed. It drinks water from air and cakes.

O · NaCl + KCl + citrate + glucose

Oral rehydration salts

The thing that actually saves people with diarrhea, heat exhaustion, and the flu: water with the right salt and sugar, not a sports-dye bomb. Arizona heat makes this a first-line kit item.

First aidWater

Shelf · 2–5 years sealed dry packets; homemade dry mix keeps if bone-dry

P · —

Paraffin wax

Cheap, clean-burning wax for candles, fire starters, and old-style jelly seals. It is a fuel. Keep it away from oxidizers.

FirePreserveHygiene

Shelf · Indefinite

P · —

Petroleum jelly

A moisture barrier for chapped skin, a rust preventer on tools, and a cotton-ball fire starter. It is an oil. Oxidizers hate it.

First aidHygieneFire

Shelf · Indefinite

P · KNO3

Potassium nitrate

An oxidizer used in some traditional meat-curing chemistry and as a stump-rotting treatment. It is not a toy, not a firework recipe, and not something to mix with sugar, sulfur, charcoal, or wax.

FoodGardenPreserve

Shelf · Indefinite dry

P · KMnO4

Potassium permanganate

A purple oxidizer still used to pretreat some water (iron, hydrogen sulfide) and as a dilute soak in old protocols. It stains everything and will ignite glycerin on contact. Store it like it wants to burn the shelf.

WaterFirst aid

Shelf · Indefinite dry

S · NaCl

FoodPreserveFirst aidWater

Salt

The original preservative. Brines, cures, oral rinses, and half of an ORS glass. Buy it by the stone, not the shaker.

Shelf · Indefinite. Iodized salt can cake; the iodine slowly fades.

S · S

Sulfur

A garden fungicide and a soil acidifier. It burns with a blue flame and a choking gas (sulfur dioxide). Keep it far from nitrates and pool shock.

GardenPest

Shelf · Indefinite

V · CH3COOH (5%)

CleaningFoodPreserveHygiene

White vinegar

The den’s default mild acid: descaler, rinse, pickle brine backbone, and the bottle you grab for an alkali splash on a COUNTER (not on skin). It is not a hospital disinfectant, and it is a chlorine-gas recipe if it meets bleach.

Shelf · Indefinite

W · Na2CO3