Domestic

New Zealand Tablet, 8 May 1913, Page 57

Domestic

By Maureen

Lemon Honey,' When tired of sweet jellies and jams, try lemon honey for sandwiches and tarts. , Beat well together one cupful of sugar, one egg, and butter size of a walnut. Add juice and grated rind of one lemon.Stir well, put into a double boiler, cook slowly till stirring after it begins to cook. Add tiny pinch of salt. Hints About Kid Gloves. . The length of time a pair of kid gloves will wear depends very much upon the way they are put on, especially the first time. Never put on a pair of new gloves in a hurry; take plenty of time, and keep cool. It is of great importance that the hand should remain dry and cool, and be perfectly clean. It is well to dust it with a little plain rice powder first. Work the fingers well down before you put, in the thumb. Put the thumb in slowly, and then the rest of the hand. Begin at the second button and descend, then return to the first button, which will now fasten easily without breaking or stretching the buttonhole. Your hand will frequently be moist with perspiration when about to remove the gloves. In this clise pull off wrong side out, so that the moisture can evaporate. . When quite dry, turn the fingers and smooth the gloves into shape, laying them in a box or other receptable long enough to receive them, except in the, case of evening gloves, which may be folded halfway up the arm. Another way to make gloves last is to buy them large enough. A glove that is too tight presses the hand out of shape, makes it red, .and is always in the worst possible taste. Concerning Soap. ; Soap is the best means of removing dirt . from men and things ; but unless, it..is made of the purest materials, carefully and conscientiously compounded, and’used in moderation, it is likely to irritate the skin and make it susceptible to disease. • ■ - Soap is the chemical compound of an alkali — or potash —with the acid part of fat. Potash soap is the soft soap that all housewives used to make. . They always had barrels half full of lye, into which they threw the refuse fat from the kitchen. The ordinary hard soap, both for the laundry and for the toilet, is made from soda, and its irritating qualities depend on the amount of free soda it contains, on the kind of fat that is used, and on what is used to adulterate it.

It' ought to contain no free alkali at all, but even if there is none, some of the soda is set free when the soap is, put into water. Soaps in which there is a certain amount of free fat in addition to that combined with the soda have been recommended on the theory that when the soda is thus set free, it combines with the free fat of the soap before it has time to attack the fat of. the skin. Whether that actually happens or not is uncertain.

The fat that is used should not be rancid, and it should be capable of taking up a large amount of alkali. Tallow and olive oil are particularly useful in. soapmaking. ■ Olive oil forms, or should form, the base of Castile soap, but, unfortunately, this soap is often adulterated with other fats, which are more harmful.

Cocoanut oil makes a soap that lathers well, but is rather irritating, and -seed-oil soap is said to bo still worse.

Benzine and paraffin derivatives added to washing soaps increase their cleansing properties, but unless they are used with great care, they are likely to irritate the skin of the laundress. Eczema and other skin troubles can often be traced to the use of cheap and dishonestly made soaps. Be very careful, therefore, to select, as your toilet soap ... one made by a responsible manufacturer.

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