Soap is a combination of a fatty acid and an alkali. If
well made, it has little more than a trace of fat or alkali
left over. Strong or laundry soaps always have an excess
of alkali in them. Soap powders have a large amount of
alkali in them, and liquid preparations are alkalies in solu-
tion and water. The effect on the hands will tell you the
nature of these compounds. The alkali takes up the oil in
the skin and eats the skin as well as the dirt and the fabric.
Soap decomposes in water, the alkali takes hold upon the
oily dirt, while the fatty acid forms an emulsion and gives
the water that milky look.
Bluing is supposed to make the clothes white in lieu of
sun and air. When clothes become yellow from careless
washing and rinsing and we haven't a grass plot to bleach
them in, we resort to bluing to overcome the yellow color.
The first bluing used was indigo, a vegetable product. Now
ultramarine blue is more commonly used. It comes to us in
little blue balls, blocks, or powder. This ultramarine was
originally the stone lapis lazuli ground up, but it is now
made chemically. Both indigo and ultramarine are in-
soluble blues. The fine particles are held in suspension
in the water and settling on the cloth give it the desired tint.
Prussian blue comes as a liquid and gives us a bright blue.
It is a salt of iron. With heat and a strong alkali it is
changed to another salt of iron commonly known as iron
rust. If clothes are well rinsed, no ill effect should follow
its use. Perhaps to its careless use are due the fine rust
spots that sometimes appear. Aniline blue is rarely used
292 HANDBOOK OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE
outside of tlie public laundry. It is a strong dye that will
not set in an alkaline medium, hence thorough rinsing is
necessary. The laundries usually neutralize any alkali
with an acid before using the aniline blue. If the acid
is too strong, the strength of the material is impaired.
Starch is found in all vegetables in some stage of their
growth. It is the food stored for the use of the young
plant, and is abundant in the seeds and tubers, but may also
be found in the leaves and stalks. Under the microscope
starch is a grain varying in size and shape according to the
plant from which it is taken. Being the stored food for the
young plant, starch is in its most compact form, lacking
water. This it readily absorbs, especially near the boiling
point of water, and during this absorption or hydration it
often increases to twenty times its volume. Raw starch is
a glistening white powder insoluble in cold water, but more
nearly soluble in boiling water. Its stiffening power makes
starch useful in the laundry. Corn starch is most commonly
used for laundry purposes, next wheat, then potato, and rice
starch is used for fine work.
Wax, the product of the bees, seems to fill up the iron and
make it run smooth.
III. Rules an"d Recipes. — Soap solution is a most con-
venient way of using soap. To one small bar of white soap
shaven fine, allow 2 quarts of water✪ Soap Solution, let it boil until the soap
is dissolved, use while hot. A cake of common yellow laundry
soap shaven would require 3 or 4 quarts of water.
Page 141 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1900. 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
Soap is a combination of a fatty acid and an alkali. If well made, it has little more than a trace of fat or alkali left over. Strong or laundry soaps always have an excess of alkali in them. Soap powders have a large amount of alkali in them, and liquid preparations are alkalies in solution and water. The effect on the hands will tell you the nature of these compounds. The alkali takes up the oil in the skin and eats the skin as well as the dirt and the fabric. Soap decomposes in water, the alkali takes hold upon the oily dirt, while the fatty acid forms an emulsion and gives the water that milky look.
Bluing is supposed to make the clothes white in lieu of sun and air. When clothes become yellow from careless washing and rinsing and we haven't a grass plot to bleach them in, we resort to bluing to overcome the yellow color. The first bluing used was indigo, a vegetable product. Now ultramarine blue is more commonly used. It comes to us in little blue balls, blocks, or powder. This ultramarine was originally the stone lapis lazuli ground up, but it is now made chemically. Both indigo and ultramarine are insoluble blues. The fine particles are held in suspension in the water and settling on the cloth give it the desired tint. Prussian blue comes as a liquid and gives us a bright blue. It is a salt of iron. With heat and a strong alkali it is changed to another salt of iron commonly known as iron rust. If clothes are well rinsed, no ill effect should follow its use. Perhaps to its careless use are due the fine rust spots that sometimes appear. Aniline blue is rarely used
outside of tlie public laundry. It is a strong dye that will not set in an alkaline medium, hence thorough rinsing is necessary. The laundries usually neutralize any alkali with an acid before using the aniline blue. If the acid is too strong, the strength of the material is impaired.
Starch is found in all vegetables in some stage of their growth. It is the food stored for the use of the young plant, and is abundant in the seeds and tubers, but may also be found in the leaves and stalks. Under the microscope starch is a grain varying in size and shape according to the plant from which it is taken. Being the stored food for the young plant, starch is in its most compact form, lacking water. This it readily absorbs, especially near the boiling point of water, and during this absorption or hydration it often increases to twenty times its volume. Raw starch is a glistening white powder insoluble in cold water, but more nearly soluble in boiling water. Its stiffening power makes starch useful in the laundry. Corn starch is most commonly used for laundry purposes, next wheat, then potato, and rice starch is used for fine work.
Wax, the product of the bees, seems to fill up the iron and make it run smooth.
III. Rules an"d Recipes. — Soap solution is a most convenient way of using soap. To one small bar of white soap shaven fine, allow 2 quarts of water, let it boil until the soap is dissolved, use while hot. A cake of common yellow laundry soap shaven would require 3 or 4 quarts of water.
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Soap Solution