Editorial policy

Our approach

Every entry starts from a named, publicly available source: a health service, a dermatology body, a university extension service, a food-safety agency, a horticultural society or an animal-welfare charity. We summarise what that source says and link to it, with the date we last checked the link and wording.

Evidence language

Evidence labels describe the scope of the guidance we found — nothing more. They are not safety badges, and we do not label anything simply “safe”.

• Included in clinical self-care guidance — a health body lists the measure as self-care. It is not proof of effectiveness.
• Limited evidence — the source itself notes that the evidence is thin.
• Practical extension guidance — practical household or garden advice from an extension service. This is not clinical proof and does not transfer to health uses.
• Common household use — the practice is documented as common, with no particular degree of effectiveness established.
• Important limitation — the tradition exists, but cannot do what it is believed to do.
• Evidence against this use and Not supported in a trial — the source advises against it or tested it and found no benefit.

Risk is labelled separately from evidence. Where a use should not be attempted at all, the entry carries Avoid this use and publishes no method — we do not print instructions for something we are telling you not to do.

Professional review

Checking a source is not clinical or veterinary review. Human-health, skin-treatment and pet entries are marked professional review pending. Elsewhere we state that professional review is not claimed. We will never describe an entry as medically or veterinarily approved unless a named professional has reviewed it. A visitor clicking the acknowledgement notice does not complete any review.

Cautions and corrections

Cautions appear immediately before any method, not buried at the foot of the page. Household material-compatibility and food-safety warnings belong to the entry they concern. If a source updates its advice, the entry should be rewritten and re-dated rather than quietly patched.

What is published, and what is not

This collection holds 55 prepared entries. A further 10 topics sit in an internal research backlog; they are not published, do not appear in search or the A–Z, and have no article pages. We would rather show honest counts than pad the handbook. See what is actually prepared.

Independence

There are no adverts, affiliate links, sponsorships or paid placements. Citing an organisation does not imply any affiliation with, or endorsement by, that organisation.