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The Toilet and Bath: Stir

Shave 2 pounds of pure white hard soap and add to the solution. Stir and simmer with gentle heat until the ingredients are thoroughly melted and mixed. When cold the soap is ready for use.

Soap from Corn Meal or Oatmeal. -Both of these articles are useful for the toilet, having the property of making the skin smooth, soft, and white. In summer mix 2 teacupfuls of corn meal with 1 tablespoonful of powdered borax, and use as a cleansing agent.

Or shave 12 ounces of neutral white hard soap, add enough water to keep it from burning, and melt with gentle heat. Stir in 4 ounces of cornstarch, and perfume according to taste.

Or melt together 12 ounces of hard white soap, 5 ounces of palm soap, and 3 ounces of cocoanut oil or marine soap; add 3 ounces of oatmeal or wheat bran. These ingredients should be incorporated with gentle heat in a double boiler. The soap will be improved if the mixture is thoroughly beaten with an egg beater to make a complete emulsion after it has been removed from the fire.

Ready for use when cold and dry.

Or cut fine 1 pound of castile or other hard white soap, add enough water to prevent it from burning, and melt with gentle heat.

Stir while melting to form a thick, smooth paste of the consistency desired. Put this in a bowl to cool. Perfume with any essential oil or perfumed water, incorporating the perfume with an egg beater. Now stir in Indian meal until the paste thickens. This must be kept in a fruit jar or other covered glass vessel, as it will spoil if exposed to the air.

Soft Soap for the Toilet.-A liquid soap may be made for the toilet of sweet oil saponified with caustic potash. Take of the sweet oil 7 parts; caustic potash, 1 part. Put these ingredients in a double boiler with a small quantity of rose water or other THE TOILET AND BATH perfumed water. Beat the mixture with a spoon or an egg beater until a complete emulsion forms, and simmer until saponification takes place. Now add sufficient rose water to reduce the mixture to any desired consistency. Marine or Salt-water Soap.-Dissolve 8 ounces of caustic soda in 3 quarts of boiling water to form a lye. Now melt with gentle heat 30 ounces of cocoanut oil or cocoanut lard. Gradually add the lye, stirring constantly until saponification takes place. One ounce of fused Glauber's salts will cause the soap to harden.

Camphor Soap. - Dissolve in a double boiler 1 pound of neutral hard white soap in 8 fluid ounces of boiling water. Continue boiling until by evaporation the soap has the consistency of butter. Now add 6 fluid ounces of olive oil in which 1 dram of prepared camphor has been previously mingled. Take the mixture from the stove and beat up with an egg beater until a complete emulsion forms. This is a valuable remedy for chaps and scratches.

Citron Soap.-To 6 pounds of curd soap add pound of attar citron, ounce of verbena (lemon grass), 4 ounces of attar bergamot, and 2 ounces of attar lemon.

Frangipani Soap. -To 7 pounds of light-brown curd soap add 4 ounce of civet, ounce of attar neroli, 1½ ounces of attar santal, 1 ounce of attar rose, and 1 ounce of attar vitivert. Cinnamon Soap.-Add 2 ounces of palm-oil soap to 3 ounces of tallow soap, ounce of water, 7 ounces of essence cinnamon, 2 ounces of essence bergamot, and 1 ounce of essence sassafras. Stir in enough yellow ocher to color as desired.

Sandalwood Soap. - To 7 pounds of curd soap, add 2 ounces of attar bergamot and 7 ounces of attar santal.

Sand Soap.-To 7 pounds of curd soap, add 7 pounds of marine soap, 25 pounds of silver sand, 2 ounces of attar thyme, 2 ounces of attar cassia, 2 ounces of attar caraway, and 2 ounces of attar French lavender.

Soap à la Rose. - Take 30 pounds of castile soap, and add 20 pounds of tallow soap, sufficient water to melt, 3 ounces of attar rose, 1 ounce of essence cinnamon, 24 ounces of essence bergamot, 1½ ounces of vermilion, and 1 ounce of essence cloves.

Musk Soap.-Add 26 pounds of palm-oil soap to 30 pounds of tallow soap, 4 ounces of essence bergamot, 5 ounces of powdered pale roses, 3 ounces of musk, and 44 ounces of brown ocher.

Tonquin Soap. -Take 5 pounds of light-brown curd soap and 1 ounce of attar bergamot, and add 4 ounce of grain musk and 8 ounces of essence cloves.

Wash Balls.-Any good toilet soap may be made into balls of any desired size by a process similar to making butter balls, i. e., by using two wooden paddles. The addition of starch helps to give the soap the right consistency.

Melt 7 pounds of neutral white bar soap in distilled water or rose water sufficient to prevent burning. Add 1 ounce of powdered starch and more water, if necessary, to form a stiff paste. If too much water is added, continue the heat until the excess of water evaporates. Stir in 8 ounces of powdered wheat starch or cornstarch, and add essence of almonds according to taste. Remove from the fire, thoroughly incorporate the materials with an egg beater, mix or knead with the hands, and make into balls of any desired size.

MEDICATED SOAP Soaps are frequently used as the vehicle for various remedial agents, as sulphur, iodine, tar, and the like, for diseases of the skin. Also for disinfectants, as carbolic acid, chlorine, and others. Any neutral white hard soap may be medicated by being dissolved in water. The following are especially recommended:

Sulphur Soap. -Shave 2 ounces of soft soap and add 4 ounce of flowers of sulphur and 2 fluid drams of proof spirits, which may be perfumed and colored according to taste. Mix the ingredients thoroughly in an earthenware bowl or marble mortar. Sulphur is a valuable remedy in itch and other diseases of the skin.

Iodine Soap. Dissolve 1 pound of white castile soap shaved fine in 3 fluid ounces of distilled water or rose water. Add 1 ounce of iodide of potassium. Put in a double boiler, melt, and mix by stirring. Iodine is a valuable remedy in scrofula and other diseases of the skin. - Juniper - tar Soap. Dissolve 4 ounces of tar of the juniper tree in 1 pound of almond oil or olive oil.

Put on the fire in a double boiler, and add gradually weak soda lye, stirring constantly until saponification takes place. Tar is a valuable remedy in all kinds of skin diseases.

This soap is really an ointment. It should be applied at night and washed away next morning. - Carbolic acid Soap. - Take 5 pounds of fresh cocoanut oil or marine soap, melt, and add 5 ounces of alcohol, 3 ounces of carbolic acid, 1 ounce of caustic potash, and ounce of almond oil. Stir until the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, and cool in molds.

Soap with Chlorine. - Shave 11 ounces of castile soap, dry in warm oven, and reduce to a powder. Add 1 ounce of fresh dry chloride of lime.

Add a sufficient quantity of proof spirits to cut this mixture and reduce it to the consistency of dough. This soap must be kept from the air, which may be done by packing it in glass fruit jars with tight metal caps.

It is especially valuable in the sick room and for nurses in contagious diseases. It also has the property of removing stains from the skin and making it white.

Soap with Arsenic. - This is a paste made by mixing 12 ounces of carbonate of potash with 4 ounces each of white arsenic, white soap, and air-slaked lime, with sufficient water to reduce to the required consistency. Powdered camphor, & ounce, may also be added with advantage.

Or mix white soap, 8 ounces; powdered lime, 2 ounces; arsenious acid, 8 ounces; carbonate of potassa, 3 ounces, and gum camphor, 14 ounces.

Reduce the ingredients separately to powder and mix. These two arsenical soaps are poisonous, and should be labeled accordingly and kept out of the way of children and household pets. They are used as preservatives in preparing the skins of birds and other animals, and to keep them free from the attacks of insects.

Bayberry Soap, or Myrtle Soap.- Dissolve 32 ounces of white potash in 1 pint of water, and add 1 pound of melted myrtle wax or bayberry tallow. Boil slowly and stir until the mixture saponifies. Add 2 tablespoonfuls of cold water containing a pinch of salt, and boil 5 or 6 minutes longer. Remove from the fire and when it is cool, but before it sets, perfume by adding 5 or 6 drops of any essential oil or oils, according to taste. This soap is valuable for all toilet purposes, for shaving, chaps, and all diseased conditions of the skin. It should not be used until it is thoroughly seasoned. The longer it is allowed to dry and season the better it becomes. - Transparent Soap. - Any good white neutral soap may be rendered transparent by reducing it to shavings, adding one half its volume of alcohol, and setting the mixture in a warm place until the soap is dissolved. When allowed to cool it has somewhat the appearance of rock candy. It may be perfumed and scented according to taste.

Or shave 24 ounces of good hard yellow soap and add 1 pint of alcohol. Simmer with gentle heat until dissolved. Remove from the fire, add 1 ounce of almond or other essence, and stir vigorously with an egg beater to make a complete emulsion.

THE TOILET AND BATH Pour into molds to cool. This gives a very cheap, pure soap of good appearance, as it is nearly transparent. THE HANDS Nothing betrays lack of daintiness in personal care more than neglect of the hands and nails. Of course it is more difficult for some women to keep their nails clean and their hands soft, white, and free from blemishes than for others. But in the care of the hands immaculate cleanliness is imperative. They should never be washed except when it can be done thoroughly. Constantly rinsing them in cold water grinds the dirt in and ruins the texture of the skin, making it rough, coarse, and red. When exposed to hard usage, as in the routine of housework, instead of frequently washing the hands in water, a few drops of oil should be rubbed into them. They should then be dusted over with talcum powder and wiped with a coarse towel. This will cleanse them and protect the flesh from growing callous. Lemon juice will remove stains.

The hands should always be washed in tepid water, and a good soap is an absolute necessity. It is also important that the water be soft. Avoid washing the hands frequently with cheap laundry soap, washing powders, soft soap, or other powerful detergents. They tend to roughen, redden, and chap the skin. The best soap is none too good for the toilet.

There are many brands on the market which are known to be good, and it is better not to experiment with those that are new and untried. Any hard, white, pure or neutral soap is suitable for the toilet. Hence it is not necessary to purchase special toilet soaps, which are usually expensive, however desirable they may seem to be. To test soap for toilet purposes, apply the tongue to it. If it contains free alkali, it will have a caustic or burning taste and should be avoided. Otherwise it is not likely to be injurious.

In cold weather or when the hands are very dirty rub a little pure lard or cold cream over them, and afterwards wash them with soap and water in the usual way. This has a tendency to keep the skin from cracking or chapping. The use of gloves, especially when gardening, driving, or walking in sun or wind, helps to preserve the softness of the hands and keep them clean. Sprinkling the hands with orris root or talcum powder before drawing on the gloves will counteract excessive perspiration. - Redness and Burning. These troubles are caused by defective circulation. Attention should be given to the general health, and as a preventive measure the hands should be protected from exposure to the weather-especially in the winter-by the use of a muff or by fur-lined gloves. Or two pairs of gloves may be worn, which will be found warmer than one pair lined. After the hands have been exposed to the cold they may be prevented from tingling by washing them in very warm water, and drying them carefully on a soft towel. The after effect will be a feeling of coolness, whereas the use of cold water causes a glow.