Hydroxyquinoline is a steroidal derivative that has shown promising results regarding the treatment of cancer. This compound can be found in several different trees; however, making hydroxyquinoline yourself at home with grapefruit is one of the easiest ways of getting this ingredient.
Cut the grapefruit into small pieces
- Cut the grapefruit into small pieces. The smaller the better.
- Put them in a glass container with a lid. I used a quart mason jar.
- Place the container in the freezer for at least 24 hours. I left mine in for about 4 days.
- Take out of the freezer and let thaw for about 15 minutes to half an hour. You want it to be cold, but not frozen.
- Mash up the grapefruit with a fork or potato masher until it is mostly liquid with lots of pulp and seeds remaining.
- Strain out all of the pulp, seeds and large chunks of rind through cheesecloth or some other fine mesh strainer into another glass container with a lid. This is your hydroxyquinoline solution.
Put the grapefruit in the oven for 1 hour
- Place the grapefruit in a baking dish, and bake for 1 hour at 150 degrees Celsius. Let cool, remove from the pan, and slice into quarters.
- Use a blender to blend the grapefruit until it is in a slurry-like consistency.
- Pour the slurry into a saucepan, and bring to a boil over high heat.
- Turn off heat, and place the saucepan in an ice bath.
- Let cool completely, then pour the liquid through cheesecloth or mesh strainer to remove any pulp.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Take out of the oven and cool
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Cut the grapefruit in half. Remove the center and spoon out the fruit, leaving only the rind.
- Pour two cups of water into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Add the rinds and cover the pan with a lid. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about eight hours or until the water is reduced by half. The resulting liquid should be about one cup.
- This is quinine water, which can be used as a tonic and is one of the main ingredients in tonic water. It can also be used to make hydroxyquinoline using the following steps:
- Add one cup of quinine water to a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool completely before transferring it to a glass container with an airtight lid. Refrigerate overnight or until completely cooled.
- The next day, add one tablespoon of glycerin per half-cup of quinine water in your glass container. Discard any unused portion after 24 hours.
Remove the skin, pulp, and seeds from the grapefruit
The hydroxyquinoline is the active ingredient in most commercial lice treatment products and is generally considered safe. In fact, hydroxyquinoline is used in many other common products such as toothpaste and mouthwash.
- The next step is to remove the skin, pulp, and seeds from the grapefruit. Once you have removed them, place them in a plastic bag and seal it with a small amount of tape to keep it airtight.
- After that place your grapefruit in the freezer for about 12 hours. This will kill all the remaining lice and eggs on your scalp.
- Next remove your grapefruit from the freezer and place it in a bowl of water. The water should be warm enough to soften the grapefruit so that you can easily peel off its skin.
- Finally remove your grapefruit from its bowl of water and wash it under cold running tap water until no more lice or eggs remain on your scalp.
Crush the grapefruit peels with a mortar and pestle
To make it, crush the grapefruit peels with a mortar and pestle. If you don’t have one of these, use the back of a wooden spoon or the bottom of a glass jar.
- Add water and let it sit for 5 minutes with the lid on. Then drain into a bowl through cheesecloth
- Extracting the hydroxyquinoline soothes your skin and helps reduce inflammation in acne pimples. It can also help prevent future breakouts by killing acne-causing bacteria on your face.
Add one tablespoon of salt to every two tablespoons of crushed grapefruit peel
- Take the peelings of two grapefruit, and with a teaspoon, scrape the thin white layer of pith away.
- Crush the grapefruit peel. You can do this with a mortar and pestle (which is what I used), or in a blender, food processor, or even with a rolling pin and plastic bag.
- Add one tablespoon of salt to every two tablespoons of crushed grapefruit peel. Mix thoroughly.
- Put the mixture into a glass jar and fill the jar 1/3 of the way with vinegar. Close tightly and store in refrigerator for one week.
- After one week has passed, strain the liquid through a coffee filter or cheesecloth into another jar or bottle. The stronger the vinegar, the less you will need to make hydroxyquinoline — try using something like Heinz Red Wine Vinegar which is 5% acetic acid by volume.
- I poured about 1/4 cup of grapefruit vinegar into another jar and added two teaspoons of sodium hydroxide (lye) until it stopped fizzing/bubbling.
Conclusion
The hydroxyquinoline skin lightener is cheap and very easy to make. It is almost just as effective as similar store-bought products without any of the artificial ingredients. A homemade formula may not be able to completely compete with commercial formulas, but it gets very close to the top results.