Sneezing powder

[Hayley]

Hey everyone.

A curiosity of mine: has any here ever discovered a "sneezing powder" that actually works? Does such a thing exist?

[Jorm]

I've never experimented with any commercial sneezing powder myself, but from what I've heard it generally just makes one uncomfortable and causes more pain and coughing than anything else. Snuff supposedly works very well though.

[Vetinari]

A lot of commercial sneezing powder is just white pepper. I have seen it occasionally in shops and on the back of the packet, that's what is in the "ingredients list."

Snuff works best on the uninitiated I suspect, even then it isn't guaranteed. Some snuffs are better than others too.

[Hankysneeze]

I think you are better off finding somthing that makes your nose feel sensitive than wasting time with the commercial powder like vet said its just white pepper and not very good

[murphy dee]

Sneezing power is only white pepper? Well that's a rip off! I induced with white pepper once...sneezed a couple times, then my nose just burned for an hour. Not cool.

[King_of_the_ruins]

Sneezing power is only white pepper? Well that's a rip off! I induced with white pepper once...sneezed a couple times, then my nose just burned for an hour. Not cool.

yes, unfortunately the sneezing powder they make now is only white pepper. The original sneezing powder made a long time ago was made with a chemical known as dianisidine chlorosulphonate, but it has been banned by the FDA.

It was originally used by the Germans in WWII as a chemical weapon, but because it didn't perform as they wanted it to (creating casualties), they stopped using it.

[Hayley]

Hmm - interesting. I never knew that "sneezing powder" was just white pepper. That definitely wouldn't work on me lol

Thanks for the insights!

[kilala]

Yea I've also seen that it's pretty much just white pepper, I saw one that had a few other spices in it as well. Pepper is the only thing that works on me a little, and alot of spicy stuff, but it still only makes me sneeze twice at the most. I would love to have a full blown sneezing fit just once, but I doubt that will ever happen. Oh well

[Hayley]

I would love to have a full blown sneezing fit just once, but I doubt that will ever happen. Oh well

I agree! I've never had a true "fit" - the most i get are doubles, and I hardly ever sneeze.

[Rhomberg Rabbit]

Sneezing power is only white pepper? Well that's a rip off! I induced with white pepper once...sneezed a couple times, then my nose just burned for an hour. Not cool.

yes, unfortunately the sneezing powder they make now is only white pepper. The original sneezing powder made a long time ago was made with a chemical known as dianisidine chlorosulphonate, but it has been banned by the FDA.

I understood that this stuff could have a room full of people sneezing up a storm in a few seconds.

[Jorm]

Sneezing power is only white pepper? Well that's a rip off! I induced with white pepper once...sneezed a couple times, then my nose just burned for an hour. Not cool.

yes, unfortunately the sneezing powder they make now is only white pepper. The original sneezing powder made a long time ago was made with a chemical known as dianisidine chlorosulphonate, but it has been banned by the FDA.

I understood that this stuff could have a room full of people sneezing up a storm in a few seconds.

Man, FDA ruins all our fun

[resolution]

Sneezing power is only white pepper? Well that's a rip off! I induced with white pepper once...sneezed a couple times, then my nose just burned for an hour. Not cool.

yes, unfortunately the sneezing powder they make now is only white pepper. The original sneezing powder made a long time ago was made with a chemical known as dianisidine chlorosulphonate, but it has been banned by the FDA.

It was originally used by the Germans in WWII as a chemical weapon, but because it didn't perform as they wanted it to (creating casualties), they stopped using it.

Yes, that was the first ingredient used in Sneezing Power. They say a few pinches of the stuff could send a room full of people into sneezing fits.

After that they switched to the powder of the White Hellebore flower (which is said to be a very powerful sneeze inducer). However, some kids in Scandinavia started taking things too far and it was ingested, resulting in illness and the banning of the use of White hellebore in sneezing powder.. The other purportedly effective ingredient once used in some sneeze powders was Quillaja Bark powder, but it too was banned. The pattern seems to be that if anything that is not ingestible is used, someone will take the prank too far and it will get banned, leading to the use of only substances that human beings can safely consume: peppers

Today Sneezing Powder is either White Pepper or finely ground Black Pepper. I actually bought some sneezing powder from some retro company, that i assume was supposed to be from either the 60's or 70's (before the ban on Hellebore). It just seemed like finely ground Black pepper, although it was pretty potent (maybe from being locked up for so long).

Edited March 4, 2011 by resolution

[SusieQusie]

I have some that I found a long time ago at a 5 and Below store. I've never opened it. I keep it I guess just as a souvenir.

[Honkytonklagoon]

I have some that I found a long time ago at a 5 and Below store. I've never opened it. I keep it I guess just as a souvenir.

Like a rare wine that you'll never open.