Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 November 1895 — Soda and Charcoal. [ARTICLE]

Soda and Charcoal.

A writer in The Household Companion speaks up for these two '‘common things” as follows: A box of washing soda in the kitchen and another in the bathroom closet are great aids in cleanly housekeeping. Greasy spots and pans, or those to which something has burned or fastened itself so firmly that scraping is a disagreeable necessity, are easily cleansed if a small lump of soda is put in the pan and covered with cold water. Set the utensil over the fire until after dinner, and you will find that all the grease or crust is loosened. Granite wear and tin last much longer when cleansed in this way, which is preferable to the pot-cleaner that is a network of iron or steel rings. The soda is also excellent to cleanse and whiten unvarnished and unpainted floors, tables and other surfaces, and quite Indispensable in flushing the waste pipe in the bathroom and kitchen Binks once or twice a week. In this ease the soda should be dissolved in boiling hot water and used at once. Charcoal is another simple and inexpensive purifying agent that is most useful in keeping a house free from smells of various kinds. A few good-sized pieces in a refrigerator occasional purifies and preserves it. If you have that abomination, an enclosed dark place under the sink for pots, etc., put some charcoal there, as well as in the cupboard where you keep cooked food.