Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 216, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 September 1916 — LESSWASHINGSODA [ARTICLE]

LESSWASHINGSODA

EXPERT WRITES OF MISTAKE MADE IN THE KITCHEN. Constant Use of Strong Alkali Bound to Destroy Linings of Pots and Pans, to Say Nothing of Ruining the Hands. If I had my way I would go into the kitchen of every woman in the land and confiscate her entire supply of washing soda, writes Mrs. Christina Frederick in the Chicago Daily News. That one misused article is responsible for more sore, red hands, more pots with worn-out linings, than any other one thing. I do not exaggerate when I say that in many kitchens washing soda is put into the pots after every meal. Then how can we expect to have utensils that are bright and shiny if w-e subject them constantly to so strong a chemical? Washing' soda is the crystal of soda ash, a very strong alkali. Washing soda should never be used in a solid form, but should be dissolved separately and the solution be used sparingly. When I say that two tablespoonfuls of dry soda are sufficient for a large tub of water, you can readily see why “a handful of soda” is absurdly too much to use in a poor, harmless kitchen utensil. If foods are cooked with care there need be no scorching. If no scorching then the particles which adhere to the bottom and sides should be easily scraped off with a round-pointed flat wooden paddle, and not a metal Instrument. If one is so careless as to scorch a utdnsil, plain water will dissolve the food as well as any water with soda. Now as to actual cleaning: Our modern pots are made either of en- , amel, aluminum or retinned ware. In any case, the outside should never be scoured with an alkali. Enamel is the easiest to keep clean of the three because of its cfiinalike surface'. The worst thing we can do to enamel ware is to let a soda solution soak into it, as this eats off the porcelain and lessens the life of our pot. So many say to me: “Oh, aluminum" ware is so hard to keep clean!” In my own home we have used alutuinum for three years and it is still bright and silvery looking outside. The inside of some pots has become discolored through cooking certain foods. All we ever use on aluminum is whitd soap and water daily, and then we polish it weekly with a good silver'polish; No alkali or powders such as are on the market and commonly used should ever be allowed to touch aluminum, as it is the alkali in the water ■that turns the aluminum dark. Never rub an entire cake of cleanser on a pan or utensil, as this makes scratched and streaky places. Scrape or use a very "fine powder with as little sand as possible in its composition, and apply preferably with a soft brush rather than a rag, which is an unsanitary procedure. There are special “pot brushes” oh the market with bristles that look like a lamp chimney brush, also a very good kind made of corn fiber in compact, squatty shape which could be easily scoured on the inside of the pot. It is a great mistake to use metal pieces and scrapers on any kind of a pot, except a frying pan, which is iron and can stand it. Dump heaps with monuments of enamel pans, and rubbish piles with discarded utensils would be smaller if more housewives exercised a little common sense in the cleaning of pots and kitchen utensils.