The yellow bar was Fells Naptha I am sure (made by Dial), which is available
still today and very good for taking out most any stain very well except grease
(of which I use Citrol, a mechanic's degreaser from the autonotive supply
stores). A fair substitute is a hand milled French soap. My grandmother made
lye soap which served similarly, and was used often for the washing within
those "wringer washers" also. Occasionally I see that people make and sell it
at fairs, but perhaps is available online.
I fear that many simple things are being lost, like putting table salt on red
wine spilled on lace or a tablecloth, which removes it completely. I wonder if
the soda on grandma's shelf had any other purpose other than to sweeten a load,
such as mens clothes from working on the farm or a heavy job.
My mother used to use borax in her loads along with Lanosheen and her
detergent. She would soak her white towels from the store to get them even
whiter. Now she used Miracle White along with her favorite detergent, and it
doesn't seem to weaken fiber like oxygen cleaners (or of course bleach!)
I am sure you all here have a wealth of info on the best ways to clean lace or
keep it white.
My main frustration is to pull out a white table piece years later and find a
yellow stain. I know of no good way to get it out after the fact.
Unfortunately it seems to not take much to have that kind of thing happen, even
if you feel you are being meticulous when using, and cleaning.
Best,
Susan
> I'm old enough to remember my Grandma using a similar
> mangle in the
> 1950s. I was allowed to turn the handle but not to feed
> the washing
> into the rollers! They had a separate brick built outhouse
> for the
> laundry and I think the only mod-con was a cold water tap,
> but there
> was probably some sort of boiler to heat the water.
> Made-up starch and
> the blue-bag lived on a high shelf along with soda and a
> bar of yellow
> soap.
> Brenda
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