p-cleaning-msg - 2/27/05

Period household cleaning.

NOTE: See also the files: Lye-Soap-art, soapmaking-msg, Soapmakng-CMA-art, soap-msg, p-hygiene-msg.

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This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

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    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Sun, 06 Feb 2000 12:38:08 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Old Wives Cleaning

rachel mccormack wrote: 
> <I don't know about vinegar, but salt and lemons is a real popular
> combination in the 'old wives' sort of cleaners>
> I've also heard of people using ash. I saw this
> mentioned in a nineteenth century Spanish cookbook and
> a friend of mine from a village in Burgos told me that
> her long-deceased Grandmother swore by ash, claiming
> that it was much better than any of the bleaches and
> disinfectants that she could buy in the shops.
> Rachel McCormack
> Barcelona, Spain

I'm pretty sure there's a secondary reference to ashes being used to
clean wooden and earthenware containers in Henisch's "Fast and Feast";
this would make sense since ashes would serve as a _mildly_ caustic
alkaline "soap", as well as a mild abrasive, similar in many respects to
something like Comet or other abrasive cleansers. Besides, they were free.

Adamantius


Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2000 12:08:09 -0600
From: "Branwen" <branwen at ona-stella.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Old Wives Cleaning

> I'm pretty sure there's a secondary reference to ashes being used to
> clean wooden and earthenware containers in Henisch's "Fast and Feast";
> this would make sense since ashes would serve as a _mildly_ caustic
> alkaline "soap", as well as a mild abrasive, similar in many respects to
> something like Comet or other abrasive cleansers. Besides, they were free.

Well, the ash itself wouldn't be soap, but should it combine with any fats
on the containers, soap would form. Potash is formed from ash, and potash is
a form of lye, which is used in things like drain and oven cleaners
nowadays.

Branwen
(who is brand new to the SCA, from the Barony of Nordskogen, Principality of
Northshield, Midrealm, and a soapmaker - amongst other things!)


Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 17:26:03 +1000 (EST)
From: tracey sawyer <tfsawyer at yahoo.com.au>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Medieval Gardens
To: sca-cooks at anstorra.org

... and I read in a dictionary that the word lawn comes from the same 
root as laundry because they laid the clothes out flat on the grass to 
dry...

Lady Lowry ferch Gwynwynwyn a Llewelyn   mka: Tracey Sawyer

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	p-cleaning-msg	Page 2 of 2