Old Soap Recipes

ROSIN Soap {yellow soap}.--Fifteen per cent, of rosin can be saponified with potash or soda lye, and mixed with clear, warm tallow soap to a good purpose; more would deteriorate it, although for the cheapest grade of soaps, thirty-three per cent is often added; but such soaps remain soft and clammy, and are unsatisfactory to the consumer. Twelve gallons of strong lye (30° to...Continue Reading

The Making of Beeswax Candles

What a variety of candles can be found today! The types of waxes have extended beyond the tallow and beeswax of our early ancestors to include paraffin, soy, and gel. There is even another type of wax which was discovered by the American colonists and still in use today. It is called Bayberry wax, which is derived from bayberries, naturally! Many people are interested...Continue Reading

Spring House Cleaning

Now comes the season of general cleaning, when all the corners and closets are overturned and hidden things are brought to light. Early in the months before the moths-millers show themselves all the woolen sheets, blankets, etc., are to be washed, and the extra ones packed carefully away in deep chests, and cedar boughs strewn over them, or camphor gum. If you possess a...Continue Reading

Household Conveniences.

WE have received from our various correspondents quite a number of requests for us to publish something about the minor household conveniences. In compliance therewith we present the following details with explanatory illustrations, for which we are indebted to the American Agriculturist, for the particular benefit of those residing remote from cities, who are desirous of learning how such commodities are arranged. Fig. 1 gives...Continue Reading

Walls and their Coverings

Taken from Scribner's Monthly May 1872 In the old days of wainscots, when every room of any pretensions to elegance was banded with light or dark wood to height of three or four feet from the base, it was far easier to effectively ornament the portion of wall left uncovered, than it is when an unbroken surface sweeps, as now, from floor to ceiling. If...Continue Reading