Most effective way to clear phlegm from the throat from a cold?

a nettie pot and hot salty water gargles. Stay away from dairy, and if you must eat dairy, eat it warm.

Feather dusters.

Either that, or an air horn.

@wundayatta You know feathers won’t work if they get all wet! And you forgot sandpaper swabs.

Mucinex to prevent post nasal drip.

@Judi +1 neti pot and other “nasal irrigation” methods.

If you have a tough case of the lungs clearing after a cold, you could try some tiger balm or Vick’s vapo-rub on a cloth (don’t put this stuff on your skin!) on your chest where you’ll breathe the vapors. Try just a little at first. Combine with nasal irrigation.

Echinaccea. It’s a little-known benefit that it dries up phlegm. Secondly., mullein.

I wouldn’t use Vic’s though. I don’t like the idea of sniffing a petroleum product. You can get peppermint and eucalyptus oil and breathe that it. You can also drink peppermint tea and/or lemon an honey tea.

And my sister and I have had very painful experiences with the neti pot. It is not advised if you have narrow eustachian tubes. How do you know? Use the neti pot and suffer severe if brief agony in tubes and surrounding area.

We find filling a small, baby syringe with a mixture of 1c. warm water and 1 teaspoon salt useful and safe for irrigation of nasal passages. A few squirts from time to time.

I also would avoid Vick’s.