Soluble Prussian blue 1 ounce. Oxalic acid 1/4 ounce. Boiling water 1 quart.
This makes the very best quality of bluing at a slight cost.
We see no reason why every economical housewife should not profit by these simple methods of preparing cheap laundry soap, as they are the results of practical experience.
Take 4 pounds of white bar soap, cut it fine, and dissolve by heating in 4 gallons of soft water, after which add 1 pound of sal soda. Dissolve and mix thoroughly. If it is desired the soap can be made thicker by adding less water.
Sal soda and lard, each 6 pounds. Stone lime 3 pounds. Soft water 4 gallons.
Dissolve the lime and soda in the water by boiling, stirring, and settling; pour off, then return to the kettle (brass or copper), add the lard and boil it until it becomes soap. Then pour into a dish or molds, and when cool cut it into bars and dry it.
Take 2 pounds each of fresh-slacked lime, sal soda, and tallow; dissolve the soda in 1 gallon of boiling soft water, stirring occasionally every few hours after which let it settle, pouring off the clear liquor and boiling the tallow therein until it is all dissolved; cool it in a flat box or pan, and cut into bars or cakes as desired. It may be perfumed with oil of sassafras or any other perfume desired, stirring it in when cool.
The old form of this process was to use stale bread or bread baked to a proper consistency, but it seldom produces satisfactory results except in the hands of experts, and then it is an impossibility to keep from scratching the surface of the paper with the sharp points of the crust. A dough preparation known only to a few experts engaged in cleaning walls by contract, and who have been known to make from $5 to $25 per day, is now used, which is far superior in every way to anything yet discovered. The walls can be cleaned over and over again, each time appearing as bright as new paper.
Wheat flour Three parts. Powdered prepared whiting One part.
Mix the flour and whiting thoroughly, and add enough water to bring it to the consistency of ordinary dough. Use by taking a small piece--about twice the size of a hen’s egg. Press against the wall and remove the dirt by making long strokes. After making a stroke knead the dirt into the dough, and continue doing so until it is useless. A quart of the preparation used in this manner will clean the walls of a good-sized room.