Pursuant to our post on nylon/fabric window draft stoppers, reader Tracy from Kingston, Ontario offered this fabulous tip on alternative uses for nylons: “We make little oatmeal bath bombs for the boys (and sometimes me) to ward off the dry, itchy skin of winter, and to help ease Gabriel's eczema-prone hide. I buy cheap knee-high stockings and keep a tub of oatmeal (not quick cook) in the bathroom. I fill a sock with about 1/3 cup of oatmeal (it's easier if you stuff the sock into a cup first), tie two knots separated by about an inch, cut between them, and voila: one sock for the tub, and the rest of the nylon is ready for next time. The warm water activates the oats, making a soupy, slimy lotion to rub all over their skin, which rinses off easily and helps to moisturize and relieve itching…Since beginning this regimen, we have reduced Gabriel's use of cortisone creams to nil, and use about half the moisturizing cream and petroleum jelly we used to.”
Tracy also notes that: “Many people have recommended oatmeal baths for itchy skin (it's amazing for chicken pox), but you either add it right to the bath, which is really messy to clean up, or you buy commercial and risk break outs and allergic reactions with all the other stuff that's in them. I think oatmeal is safe for any child or baby who has been introduced to oatmeal in their diet (chances are if you can eat, you can bathe in it).”

Thanks Tracy, for this terrific tip!