Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1916-09-01
LESSWASH!NGSODA
EXPERT WRITES OF MISTAKE
MADE IN THE KITCHEN.
Constant Use Of Strong AlksIi Bound
to Destroy Innings Of Pots and
Pans, to Say Nothing Of Ruin.
ing the Hands.

If I had my way 1 would go into
the kitchen of every woman in the
land and confiscate her entire supply
of washing soda, writes Mrs. Christine
Frederick in the Chicago Daily News.
That one misused article is RESPONSE
Bile for more sore, red hands, more
pots with worn-out Innings, than any
other one thing. l do o e~xaggerate
when I say that in many kitchens
washing soda is put into the pots af-
ter every meal. Then how can we ex-
pect to have utensils that are bright
and shiny If we subject them constant
~ TO so strong II chemical?
Washing soda is the crystal Of soda
ash, Il very strong alkali. Washing
soda should never be used in IA solid
form, but should be dissolved sepa-
rately and the solution be used spar
ingly. When l say that two table
%spOonfuls of dry soda are sufficient for
a large tub Of water, you can readily
see why "a handful of soda" is abb
surdly 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
scruped off with a round-pointed fiat
wooden paddle, and not a metal instru-
ment. If one is so careless as to
scorch a ~utensil, plain water will dis
solve the food as well as any water
with soda.
Now as to actual cleaning: Our
modern pots are made either of en-
amel, aluminium or retlnned ware. In
any case, the outside should never be
secured with an alkali. Enamel is the
easiest to keep clean of the three be-
cause of its chinalike 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 lessons
the life of u pot.
SO many say to me: "Oh, aluminium
ware is so hard to keep clean! ~ In
my own home we have used alumni
mum for three years and it is still
bright and silvery looking outside. The
inside of some pots has become dis
colOred through cooking certain foods.
All we ever use on aluminium Is white
soap and water daily, and then we
polish it weekly with a good silver pol
ish. No alkali or powders such as are
on the market and commonly used
should ever be allowed to touch alumni
mum, as it is the alkali in the water
that turns the aluminium dark.
Never rub an entire cake Of cleanser
on a pan or utensil, as this makes
scratched and streaky places. Scrape
or use n very fine powder with as little
sand as possible in its composition, and
apply preferably with a soft brush
rather than n rag, which is an unsani-
tary procedure. There are special
pot brushes on 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 secured on the
inside of the pot. 1t is II great mis-
take 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 en-
amel pans, and rubbish piles with dis
carded utensils would be smaller If
more housewives exercised a little
common sense in the cleaning of pots
and kitchen utensils.