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Uses

Decayed, dried sphagnum moss has the name of peat or peat moss. This is used as a soil conditioner which increases the soil's capacity to hold water and nutrients by increasing capillary forces and cation exchange capacity – uses that are particularly useful in gardening. This is often desired when dealing with very sandy soil, or plants that need increased or steady moisture content to flourish. A distinction is sometimes made between sphagnum moss, the live moss growing on top of a peat bog, and 'sphagnum peat moss' (North American usage) or 'sphagnum peat' (British usage), the latter being the slowly decaying matter underneath.

Dried sphagnum moss is used in northern Arctic regions as an insulating material.

Anaerobic acidic sphagnum bogs have low rates of decay, and hence preserve plant fragments and pollen to allow reconstruction of past environments. They even preserve human bodies for millennia; examples of these preserved specimens are Tollund Man, Haraldskær Woman, Clonycavan Man and Lindow Man. Such bogs can also preserve human hair and clothing, one of the most noteworthy examples being Egtved Girl, Denmark. Because of the acidity of peat, however, bones are dissolved rather than preserved. These bogs have also been used to preserve food. Up to 2000-year-old containers of butter or lard have been found.

Sphagnum moss has been used for centuries as a dressing for wounds, including through World War I. Botanist John William Hotson 's paper, Sphagnum as a surgical dressing, published in Science in 1918, was instrumental in the acceptance of Sphagnum moss use as a medical dressing in place of cotton. Preparations using Sphagnum such as Sphagnol soap have been used for various skin conditions including acne, ringworm, and eczema. The soap was used by the British Red Cross during both World Wars to treat facial wounds and trench sores.

Since it is absorptive and extremely acidic, it inhibits growth of bacteria and fungi, so it is used for shipping seeds and live plants.

Peat moss is used to dispose of the clarified liquid output (effluent) from septic tanks in areas that lack the proper conditions for ordinary disposal means. It is also used as an environmentally friendly alternative to chlorine in swimming pool sanitation. The moss inhibits the growth of microbes and reduces the need for chlorine in swimming pools.

In Finland, peat mosses have been used to make bread during famines.

In China, Japan and Korea, long strand dried sphagnum moss is traditionally used as a potting medium for cultivating Vanda falcata orchids.