This is the result of one of three causes, either it is too weak,
or there is a deposit of dirt, or it is too strong. Continue to boil for a few
hours, when it should fiow from the stick with which it is stirred like
thick molasses ; but if after boiling it remains thin, let it stand over night,
removing it from the fire, then draining it off very carefully into another
vessel, being very particular to prevent any sediment from passing. Wash
the kettle, return the soap and boil again, if dirt was the cause; it will
now be thick and good ; otherwise, if it was too strong, rain-water added
will make it right, adding the water gradually until right and just thick
enough.
FACTS WORTH KNOWING.
★ ★ ★
yiN Agreeable Disinfectant: — Sprinkle fresh ground coffee on a shovel of
hot coals, or burn sugar on hot coals. Vinegar boiled with myrrh,
sprinkled on the floor and furniture of a sick room, is an excellent
deodorizer.
To Prevent Mold : — A small quantity of carbolic acid added to paste,
mucilage and ink, will prevent mold. An ounce of the acid to a gallon of
whitewash will keep cellars and dairies from the disagreeable odor which
often taints milk and meat kept in such places.
To Make Tracing-Pajper : — Dissolve a ball of white beeswax, one inch
in diameter, in half a pint of turpentine. Saturate the paper in this bath
and let it dry two or three days before using.
To Preserve Brooms : — Dip them for a minute or two in a kettle of boil-
ing suds once a week and they will last much longer, making them tough
and pliable. A carpet wears much longer swept with a broom cared for
in this manner.
To Clean Brass-Ware, etc. ; — Mix olie ounce of oxalic acid, six ounces of
rotten stone, all in powder, one ounce of sweet oil, and sufficient water to
make a paste. Apply a small portion, and rub dry with a flannel or
leather. The liquid dip most generally used consists of nitric and sulphuric
acids; but this is more corrosive.
Polish or Enamel for Shirt Bosoms is made by melting together one
ounce of white wax, and two ounces of spermaceti ; heat gently and turn
into a very shallow pan ; when cold cut or break in pieces. When making
boiled starch the usual way, enough for a dozen bosoms, add to it a piece
of the polish the size of a hazel nut.
An Erasive P'luid for the Removal of Spots on Furniture, and all kinds
of fabrics, without injuring the color, is made of four ounces of aqua
ammonia, one ounce of glycerine, one ounce of castile soap and one of
spirits of wine. Dissolve the soap in two quarts of soft water, add the
(639)
540
FACTS WORTH KNOWING.
other ingredients. Apply with a soft sponge and rub out. Very good for
cleaning silks.
To Remove the Odor of Onion from fish-kettle and saucepans in which
they have been cooked, put wood-ashes or sal soda, potash or lye ; fill with
water and let it stand on the stove until it boils ; then wash in hot suds,
and rinse well.
To Clean Marble Busts: — First free them from all dust, then wash them
with very weak hydrochloric acid. Soap injures the color of marble.
To Remove old Putty from Window Frames, pass a red-hot poker slowly
over it and it will come off easily.
Hanging Pictures: — The most safe material and also the best, is cop-
per wire, of the size proportioned to the weight of the picture. When
hung the wire is scarcely visible, and its strength is far superior to
cord.
Page 360
Presented as published in 1887. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
This is the result of one of three causes, either it is too weak, or there is a deposit of dirt, or it is too strong. Continue to boil for a few hours, when it should fiow from the stick with which it is stirred like thick molasses ; but if after boiling it remains thin, let it stand over night, removing it from the fire, then draining it off very carefully into another vessel, being very particular to prevent any sediment from passing. Wash the kettle, return the soap and boil again, if dirt was the cause; it will now be thick and good ; otherwise, if it was too strong, rain-water added will make it right, adding the water gradually until right and just thick enough.
★ ★ ★
An Agreeable Disinfectant: — Sprinkle fresh ground coffee on a shovel of hot coals, or burn sugar on hot coals. Vinegar boiled with myrrh, sprinkled on the floor and furniture of a sick room, is an excellent deodorizer.
To Prevent Mold : — A small quantity of carbolic acid added to paste, mucilage and ink, will prevent mold. An ounce of the acid to a gallon of whitewash will keep cellars and dairies from the disagreeable odor which often taints milk and meat kept in such places.
To Make Tracing-Paper : — Dissolve a ball of white beeswax, one inch in diameter, in half a pint of turpentine. Saturate the paper in this bath and let it dry two or three days before using.
To Preserve Brooms : — Dip them for a minute or two in a kettle of boiling suds once a week and they will last much longer, making them tough and pliable. A carpet wears much longer swept with a broom cared for in this manner.
To Clean Brass-Ware, etc.: — Mix one ounce of oxalic acid, six ounces of rotten stone, all in powder, one ounce of sweet oil, and sufficient water to make a paste. Apply a small portion, and rub dry with a flannel or leather. The liquid dip most generally used consists of nitric and sulphuric acids; but this is more corrosive.
Polish or Enamel for Shirt Bosoms is made by melting together one ounce of white wax, and two ounces of spermaceti ; heat gently and turn into a very shallow pan ; when cold cut or break in pieces. When making boiled starch the usual way, enough for a dozen bosoms, add to it a piece of the polish the size of a hazel nut.
An Erosive Fluid for the Removal of Spots on Furniture, and all kinds of fabrics, without injuring the color, is made of four ounces of aqua ammonia, one ounce of glycerine, one ounce of castile soap and one of
spirits of wine. Dissolve the soap in two quarts of soft water, add the
(639)
other ingredients. Apply with a soft sponge and rub out. Very good for cleaning silks.
To Remove the Odor of Onion from fish-kettle and saucepans in which they have been cooked, put wood-ashes or sal soda, potash or lye ; fill with water and let it stand on the stove until it boils ; then wash in hot suds, and rinse well.
To Clean Marble Busts: — First free them from all dust, then wash them with very weak hydrochloric acid. Soap injures the color of marble.
To Remove old Putty from Window Frames, pass a red-hot poker slowly over it and it will come off easily.
Hanging Pictures: — The most safe material and also the best, is copper wire, of the size proportioned to the weight of the picture. When hung the wire is scarcely visible, and its strength is far superior to cord.