The Laundry 1113 



3. For each gallon of water use one tablespoon of borax dissolved in 

 one cup of water. 



If water is very hard, increase the amount of alkali used. 



Organic matter 



Organic material may be precipitated by the use of alum in the form 

 of an alum-borax mixture. The sediment should be allowed to settle and 

 the water may then be drawn from the top. 



To remove organic matter. — For each gallon of water use one tablespoon 

 of a mixture made up of two thirds borax and one third alum. If the water 

 is rich in organic matter, use more than one tablespoon of the mixture. 

 When water is very scarce, alum is sometimes used to separate the dirt 

 from the water and the water is then filtered and used again. 



SOAP 



^ In the " good old days " when the home was the center of larger indus- 

 trial activities, soap-making was conducted as a household process. In 

 the spring it was a familiar sight to see the winter supply of wood ashes 

 pounded down into a barrel and set on a platform ready for " leaching." 

 A hole was made in the compacted ashes and water was poured into it. 

 The water leached down through the ashes into little troughs in the plat- 

 form. Then it was collected in kettles, ready to be used for making soap. 

 The resulting liquid was the homemade lye of the housekeeper of old. A 

 kettle of melted fat hung near the barrel on a big iron tripod, and to the 

 contents of the kettle the housewife added the lye, boiled the two together, 

 and tested the mixture now with an egg, now with a feather, in order to 

 see if it was of the proper strength. After two or three days of anxious 

 effort her task was completed, and the resulting mixture, called soft soap, 

 was put away in barrels for winter use. 



Alkalis. — Among the alkalis familiar to the housekeeper is that known 

 as lye. Lye is a term that is used loosely to describe two substances similar 

 in properties but different in composition. Caustic soda and caustic 

 potash are names that better describe what we commonly call lye. Both 

 kinds of lye have a strong eating (corrosive) action, caustic potash being 

 stronger than caustic soda; both have the power of uniting 'with fats to 

 form soaps soluble in water. Soap is a convenient and effective form in 

 which to use the caustic lye in either of its two forms, as the corrosive nature 

 of lye is so modified as to render it useful without being unduly injurious 

 to fabrics. 



There is much difference of opinion as to which kind of lye produces 

 the better soap. That question is settled " practically " in favor of the 



