Take one pound of Babbitt's pure concentrated potash, and one pound
sal soda; put these in three gallons of soft water; boil until all is dis-
solved ; then add three pounds of clean grease ; set it to boiling ; after
boiling from one to six hours, and it becomes soap (keep the same
quantity of water in the kettle as at first), add two ounces of liquid
ammonia, half a pound of borax, quarter of a pound of rosin, six gallons
of soft water✪ Washing Compounds ; stir well together, then your soap will be finished, and
use this for boiling ; after rubbing the clothes through one water, they
will usually come out white and clean. This is nice for spreads or heavy
goods.
Or this : One bar of Babbitt's potash, two ounces of ammonia, one
ounce of salts of tartar ; put the potash into four quarts of rain water
(use porcelain kettles if possible) and soak slowly, not boil ; when dis-
solved remove from the stove ; when cool add the ammonia and salts
and put up in jugs or bottles corked tightly, Soak the fine and coarse
articles to be washed separately over night. The following morning,
rinse out and use a half cake of soap, cut fine, one cup of fluid and two
pails of soft water ; put fine pieces into this cokj. suds and boil a few
moments ; take out, add a pail of cold water and put in the coarse
clothes to boil ; suds, rinse, blue and starch as usual, and your clothes
will be beautifully clear and white without rubbing. Wash colored
clothes in the water the clothes are taken into from the boiler. Clothes
will not rot if washed in this but they must not lay in the compound
but be washed out quickly.
BLEACHING WHITE GOODS.
Two pounds of sal soda and half a pound of chloride of lime. Put
half a gallon of water to the lime and let it stand all night. In the
morning dissolve the soda in three and a half gallons of water ; add to
16
242 THE LA UNDR Y.
the lime-water and strain. Immerse the cloth in boiling suds ; then
take out and put directly into the mixture ; leave it in for half an hour,
then rinse the muslin thoroughly and lay upon the grass or snow, or
hang upon a line in the sun. To make it very white, dampen occasion-
ally and leave it out for two or three days.
This is equally good : For twenty yards of muslin take one pound of
chloride of lime ; soak it in warm water over night ; then strain through
a coarse cloth into a tub of water as hot as you can bear the hands in ;
put in the cloth and stir it constantly thirty minutes ; then wring out
and rinse as long as your strength or patience lasts and your cloth will
be white and it will not injure it — if it is thoroughly rinsed.
To Cleanse Cotton Goods — Add to hot rain water an amount of wheat
bran equal to one-eighth of the fabric to be cleansed, and after stirring
well for five minutes, add the goods; stir them about with a clean' stick
and bring the articles to a boil. Allow the mixture to cool until the
goods can be washed out, after which rinse them well.
HARD SOAP.
Page 214 · 3 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1886. 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
Take one pound of Babbitt's pure concentrated potash, and one pound sal soda; put these in three gallons of soft water; boil until all is dissolved ; then add three pounds of clean grease ; set it to boiling ; after boiling from one to six hours, and it becomes soap (keep the same quantity of water in the kettle as at first), add two ounces of liquid ammonia, half a pound of borax, quarter of a pound of rosin, six gallons of soft water ; stir well together, then your soap will be finished, and use this for boiling ; after rubbing the clothes through one water, they will usually come out white and clean. This is nice for spreads or heavy goods.
Or this : One bar of Babbitt's potash, two ounces of ammonia, one ounce of salts of tartar ; put the potash into four quarts of rain water (use porcelain kettles if possible) and soak slowly, not boil ; when dissolved remove from the stove ; when cool add the ammonia and salts and put up in jugs or bottles corked tightly, Soak the fine and coarse articles to be washed separately over night. The following morning, rinse out and use a half cake of soap, cut fine, one cup of fluid and two pails of soft water ; put fine pieces into this cold suds and boil a few moments ; take out, add a pail of cold water and put in the coarse clothes to boil ; suds, rinse, blue and starch as usual, and your clothes will be beautifully clear and white without rubbing. Wash colored clothes in the water the clothes are taken into from the boiler. Clothes will not rot if washed in this but they must not lay in the compound but be washed out quickly.
BLEACHING WHITE GOODS.
Two pounds of sal soda and half a pound of chloride of lime. Put half a gallon of water to the lime and let it stand all night. In the morning dissolve the soda in three and a half gallons of water ; add to
the lime-water and strain. Immerse the cloth in boiling suds ; then take out and put directly into the mixture ; leave it in for half an hour, then rinse the muslin thoroughly and lay upon the grass or snow, or hang upon a line in the sun. To make it very white, dampen occasionally and leave it out for two or three days.
This is equally good : For twenty yards of muslin take one pound of chloride of lime ; soak it in warm water over night ; then strain through a coarse cloth into a tub of water as hot as you can bear the hands in ; put in the cloth and stir it constantly thirty minutes ; then wring out and rinse as long as your strength or patience lasts and your cloth will be white and it will not injure it — if it is thoroughly rinsed.
To Cleanse Cotton Goods — Add to hot rain water an amount of wheat bran equal to one-eighth of the fabric to be cleansed, and after stirring well for five minutes, add the goods; stir them about with a clean' stick and bring the articles to a boil. Allow the mixture to cool until the goods can be washed out, after which rinse them well.
HARD SOAP.
Records on this page
Bleaching White GoodsHard SoapWashing Compounds