Home Remedy in the new millennium

I have to give my grandmom a lot of credit for saving me from a lot of misery when it came to illnesses. She had some interesting remedies, one of which I adapted lately. Mom mom's was for congestion. I remember when I was in high school and we had gone to see a show that my younger brother was in. I was sitting there in the audience feeling sicker and sicker. By later that evening, I was flat on my back with a lot of chest congestion. My grandmom got busy down in the kitchen. First she got a piece of old sheet. She then mixed up a concoction of vegetable oil and dried mustard to make a paste. She may have heated this before or after she spread it on the sheet, or the heat from the mustard was sufficient. She folded the sheet up and then placed it on the sick person's chest. It burnt slightly, but that was a great way to break up congestion. She always spoke of saving her own mother-in-law from getting pneumonia.
I have had some congestion from that bug I had a few weeks ago, just enough that you feel like you swallowed glue. I found a new way to break it up. I got the Icy Hot in the deodorant type rub on container and just rub some across my chest before I went to bed. I think it helped! I also just bought one of those Sudafed vapor plug-ins. I am not a big fan of eucalyptus which is one of the scents. I also think that helped, but I couldn't have it right next to the bed or I felt like I was getting high all night!
I still wake up most mornings stuffy and then it takes a while for my sinuses to drain. I'm sure it's having a cat plus a dust mite thingie. I need to change the sheets more, vaccuum more and dust more. It just seems that no matter how much I clean, I have to repeat the process a few days latter. It may be because we are so close to a busy road.