Twentieth century home cook book

Soft-Soap. — In making soft-soap, use a pine barrel, for a hard-wood barrel will warp and leak. A well-cleansed hsh barrel is commonly taken for the purpose. Put in ten to twelve pounds of potash, and throw upon it two pailfuls of boiling water. Let it digest awhile and then put in two pounds of grease to each pound of potash. Have the grease hot. Let that digest awhile, then add a third pailful of hot water. Stir and digest awhile, then add another pailful of hot water. Keep doing this until the barrel is within six inches of being full. Stir occasionally until the whole is well mixed. It should stand three months before use. Stir occasionally during the- first week. The longer it stands after making, the better the soap. We keep it a year before use. — W. Niagara Co., N. Y. Another Way. — For one barrel of soap, take thirty pounds of grease, free from salt, rinds or bits of lean meat, and the lye from two barrels of good ashes. Put one quart of lime in the bottom of each barrel of ashes. Put boiling water on to leach with ; have ready the soap barrel where it is to stand. When the lye begins to run, melt the grease in a little lye and pour it in the barrel. Heat the lye and fill it full, stirring frequently until cold. I always use the stove kettle, as that is free from rust, which makes white cloth yellow. Soap made in this way will be very light-colored and thick, and requires but little labor in making. If the lye is not strong enough to eat the grease, boil it awhile. — Mrs. A. G. Cold-Made Soap. — Have lye strong enough to bear up an egg. Then stir in any soap grease until the lye is pretty well filled, and in a week, or ten days the soap will be fit for use. In the meantime, stir occasionally — Mrs. M. A. C, Labette Co., Kan. Hard-Soap. — Five pounds soda ash, two and a half pounds white lime, one-half pound resin, ten pounds grease, eight gallons soft water. Boil five hours. Take the soda ash and lime, put them in your kettle, pour the water over, and boil one-half hour. Then let it settle, and turn off the lye. Lift out the lime and soda ash, turn over it more water, as it is yet quite strong, return the lye to the kettle, add the grease and resin, and boil five hours. This makes excellent soap. — Mes. E. A. H., North Benton, O. Second Recipe for Hard Soap. — Pour four gallons of boiling water over six pounds of salsoda and three pounds of unslaked lime. Stir the mixture well and let it stand over night. Then drain it off. Put six pounds of tallow, or any kind of clear grease with it, and boil it two hours, stirring most of the time. — C. E. S., Carondelet, Mo. Lard Candles. — Take twelve pounds of laid, one pound saltpeter, one pound alum. Pulverize and mix the saltpeter and alum; dissolve the compound in a gill of boiling water; pour the compound into the lard before it is quite melted. Stir the whole until it boils, and skim off what rises. Let it simmer until the water is all boiled out, or until it ceases to throw off steam. Pour off the lard as soon as it is done, and clean the boiler while it is hot. If the candles are to be run in a mould, you may commence at once, but if to be dipped, let the lard cool first and cake. Then treat as you would tallow. — Nettie, Terrc Haute, Ind. Hardening Tallow. — Take the common prickly pear and boil or fry it in the tallow, without water, for half an hour, then strain and mould. I use about six average-sized leaves to the pint of tallow (by weight one pound of leaves to four of tallow), splitting them up fine. They make the tallow as hard as stearine, and do not injure its burning qualities in the least. — Mrs. E. L. O., Waco, Tex. XVI. To Clean Silver.