Soap of WooL 7 I 
On the Choice and Preparation of the Materials . 
The materials requisite to form this soap are only two ; 
alkaline substances, and wool. 
The alkaline substances may be procured from the 
ashes of any fires where wood is burnt ; and the ley is to 
be made according to the common well known process. 
Quicklime is to be slaked with a small quantity of water, 
and the paste formed thereby is to be mixed with the 
ashes, (they being first passed through a sieve,) in the 
proportion of one tenth part of quicklime, by weight, to 
the quantity of ashes made use of. The mixture should 
be put into a stone vessel ; (as wooden vessels not only 
colour the ley, but are themselves much injured by it;} 
and water is then to be poured upon it, in such quantity 
as to cover it, and rise some inches above it. These are 
to be left together for a certain time, and then the ley is 
to be drawn off, by an aperture, made for that purpose, at 
the bottom of the vessel. It is best not to draw off the 
ley, till the moment when it is to be used : its strength 
should be from four to fifteen degrees ; but the degree of 
concentration is a matter of very little consequence, since 
all the difference that results from making use of a weak 
ley or a strong one, is, that a greater or less quantity off 
wool will be dissolved. 
The potash of commerce may also be made use of ; it 
is to be employed in the same manner as the wood ashes, 
but with one third of its weight of quicklime. 
With respect to the choice of the wool, every one 
knows, that in the making of woollen cloths, blankets, 
and all other kinds of woollen goods, a series of opera- 
tions are performed, from the first washing of the wool 
to the finishing of the cloth, &c. in each of which there 
occurs a loss, more or less considerable, of a portion of 
the original material. The water in which the wool is 
