Tweezing, waxing, threading … there are a million ways to get rid of unwanted hair. (Click here for a few good options.) But I bet you never tried these methods: During the Renaissance, people used homemade depilatory creams made of quicklime and arsenic — definitely a far cry from Nair. And in the 1940s, due to wartime scarcity, women used a common hardware store product to remove unwanted hair. Can you guess? Sandpaper. All I can say is “ouch.”