Urine was historically used to extract saltpeter, a crucial ingredient in gunpowder, due to its high nitrate content. Other ingredients like coal and sulfur were also needed. Urine has also been used as fertilizer, pest repellent, and in fabric preparation.
Urine can in fact be used in the production of gunpowder, and has historically been a very important source of one of the crucial ingredients of gunpowder: saltpeter, also known as niter. This nitrate compound is what allows gunpowder to rapidly oxidize and ignite, generating an explosion that can be used to fire ammunition. In the modern age, there are less smelly ways to get saltpeter, usually through an industrial process that uses ammonia as a base.
While you literally can’t make gunpowder from urine, as you need many other ingredients to make it, urine certainly can be used to make a needed item. In addition to saltpetre, however, coal and sulfur would also be needed. These ingredients are both readily available, unlike saltpeter, so the folk stories of using urine to make gunpowder have a rationale. Up until World War I, before people learned to reliably produce nitro synthetically, urine, guano, and manure were all harvested to make gunpowder.
Initially, saltpeter was scraped off the walls of stables, but this source soon proved insufficient, so people began collecting urine and manure to access the precious nitrates. Historically, to extract saltpeter from urine, gunpowder manufacturers would set up straw “straw beds,” filtering the urine through the straw, which would concentrate the salts for easy collection. Urine also had a number of other uses, and competition for available resources could sometimes be fierce, which may explain why many nations continued to use edged weapons after the development of firearms, as the production of gunpowder was expensive and time consuming.
During various times of warfare historically, citizens were asked to collect urine and manure so that gunpowder manufacturers could use these products. Making gunpowder is a dangerous practice and not recommended for people who are inexperienced, although some people make their own black powder at home for hunting and reenactment. Some historical societies sometimes offer demonstrations involving making gunpowder from urine, among other things.
Should the topic ever arise, you might also want to be armed with information about other historical uses of urine. Urine has been and continues to be used as a nitrogen-rich fertilizer in some regions of the world. It is also used to repel animal pests, which avoid urine deposits in the garden or on the path. Urine has also historically been used in bleaching and to help prepare fabrics for dyeing.
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