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page 469
prepared to receive it. Put half bricks or stones around the edge of the inside
of the barrel; place on them one end of some sticks about two inches wide,
inclining to the centre; on those place some straw to the depth of two inches,
over it scatter two pounds of slaked lime. Put in ashes, about half of a bushel
at a time, pack it well, by pounding it down, and continue doing so until the
barrel is full, leaving a funnel-shaped hollow in the centre large enough to
hold several quarts of water. Use rain water boiling hot. Let the water
disappear before adding more. If the ashes are packed very tightly it may
require two or three days before the lye will begin to run, but it will be the
stronger for it, and much better.
To make boiled soft soap. Put in a kettle the grease consisting of all kinds of
fat that has accumulated in the kitchen, such as scraps and bones from the
soup-kettle, rinds from meat, etc.; fill the kettle half full; if there is too
much grease it can be skimmed off after the soap is cold, for another kettle of
soap. This is the only true test when enough grease is used, as the lye will
consume all that is needed and no more. Make a fire under one side of it. The
kettle should be in an out-house or out of doors. Let it heat very hot so as to
fry; stir occasionally to prevent burning. Now put in the lye a gallon at a
time, watching it closely until it boils, as it sometimes runs over at the
beginning. Add lye until the kettle is full enough, but not too full to boil
well. Soap should boil from the side and not the middle, as this would be more
likely to cause it to boil over. To test the soap, to one spoonful of soap add
one of rain-water; if it stirs up very thick, the soap is good and will keep; if
it becomes thinner, it is not good. This is the result of one of three causes,
either it is too weak, or there is a deposit of dirt, or it is too strong.
Continue to boil for a few hours, when it should flow from the stick with which
it is stirred, like thick molasses; but if after boiling it remains thin, let it
stand over night, removing it from the fire, then draining it off very carefully
into another vessel, being very particular to prevent any sediment from passing.
Wash the kettle, return the soap, and boil again, if dirt was the cause; it will
now be thick and good; otherwise, if it was too strong, rain-water added will
make it right, adding the water gradually until right and just thick enough.
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