Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/109

copper three tablespoonsful may be used, stir well and then put in your clothes. If the oil is put in before the water boils it never mixes properly, makes the soap curdle, the clothes yellow, and the smell cannot be rinsed out, but will cling to the clothes no matter how long they are left in the air, for this reason the mistress should see the kerosene put into the boiler herself. Too much put into the boiler will make the clothes yellow and harder to wash next time. It is an excellent thing for kitchen towels, acting like magic on the most greasy and dirty. Many people have expressed surprise that kerosene should be used in washing, and that it should possess such wonderful cleansing properties. As a matter of fact it is not to be wondered at for this reason, the “American Washing Fluid,” or “Magic Washing Fluid,” I forget which it is called, a bluish fluid much used by some laundresses and laundries is made from the refuse after the kerosene has been extracted from the shale, it may undergo some slight preparation to disguise the smell but little more, so that kerosene is only a stronger agent than the blue washing fluid, but all depends on how it is used. This is only one use to which kerosene is put. Floors, kitchen tables, &c., &c., scrubbed with the washing suds in which it has been put, become beautifully white, clean and free from all stains. In cleaning pot lids, the insides of boilers, coppers, &c., it is invaluable.

It is also used for healing cuts, wounds and burns; and vermin in the fowl house are said to fly from it.

Soap Jelly.—Shred up some good soap in a basin. A small piece will make enough to do two or three dressing gowns. Pour over it some boiling water (about a cupful will be sufficient) let it stand by and when cold it will be in a stiff jelly. Put this into your tub and gradually add the hot water first and cool down to the right heat.

Household Soap—No. 1.—Slack six pounds of fresh quicklime in a tub, using just enough water to make it

crumble perfectly. Dissolve six pounds of washing soda in four gallons of warm water. Add the slacked lime and the soda solution together and stir well, adding four gallons of boiling water and keep on stirring till mixed, then let it settle. Pour off the clear lye and you have home-made caustic soda. Put this lye into a clean kerosene tin over a gentle fire and add to it 12 pounds of clarified grease, stirring continually, then dust in, a little at a time, four ounces of powdered borax. Let the whole boil gently for 10 or 15 minutes, until it becomes thick and ropy. Have ready a box lined with a piece of calico large enough to hang well over the sides to allow of the soap being lifted out when cold. Pour the mixture into the box and let it stand for three or four days to harden. When quite firm turn it out on a table and cut into bars with a thin wire. Let the bars stand in a dry place for a while and it will be fit for use in a month.

Soap No. 2.—Buy a half pound tin of 98 per cent caustic soda and empty it into a basin containing one quart of cold water. Stir it, and it will at once become hot. Then let it stand till cold. This is the “lye.” Now in a large basin melt three pounds of fat, any kind will do, but it must be quite free from salt. Let it stand till just warm and then pour the lye into the melted fat, stirring it the while till it becomes like honey. Then pour the mixture into a box lined with a damp piece of calico to prevent it sticking. Now cover with a bag and set in one corner of the kitchen till next day when you will have about six pounds of good soap. Be sure there is no salt in the fat.

Soap No. 3.—Melt down six pounds of fat and pour it into cold water, this will clarify it. Boil together six pounds of washing soda and three pounds of quick lime in three gallons of water for two hours and then pour off from the sediment, and boil it for one hour and a half with the six pounds of fat. Pour into a wooden box, leave