A New Supplement...: Wash Balls.

A New Supplement to the latest Pharmacopoeias of London, Edinburgh, Dublin, and Paris, Forming A Complete Dispendatory, Conspectus, and Dictionary of Medical Chemistry, Giving All the Old and New Names, Including the New French and American Medicines, and Poisons; with Symptoms, Treatment, and Tests; as Well As Herbs, Drugs, Compounds, Veterinary Drugs, With the Pharmacopoia of the Vetenary College, Nostrums, Patent Medicines, Perfumery, Paints, Varnishes, And similar articles kept in the Shops; With Their Compositions, Imitations, Adulterations, And Medicinal Uses, Being a General Book of Formulæ and Recipes For Daily Reference in the Laboratory and at the Counter.
Fourth edition, corrected, improved, and very much enlarged.
By James Rennie, M. A., Editor of the Quarterly Journal of Foreign Medicine; the Pharmacopeia Universalis; Author of a Conspectus of Prescriptions in Medicine, Surgery, and Midwifery; the Pharmacopeia Imperialis, &c. &c.
London: Baldwin and Cradock. 1837.
London: Thomas Curson Hansard, Paternoster Row.

WASH BALLS are preparations of soap, which are made in great variety by perfumers. The following receipts from Lillie are a specimen of those compositions:-

Common Wash Balls. Take lblvj of fine, dry, wheaten flour, lblvj of Spanish white, entirely freed from sand and dirt. This must be broken between the hands, and passed once or twice through a hair sieve, and then dried in the sun. Then mix the flour and whiting together, and add to them lnlvj of starch powder, or rather of ground rice. Then mix and sift the whole intimately together; and if the soap used be white, and the balls to be made are intended to be of a yellowish colour, add to the composition about 3iv (not more) of Dutch pink, in fine powder.

Or, Take lbxl of rice, in fine powder, lbxxviij of fine flour, as above, lbxxviij of starch powder, lbxij of white lead, and lbiv of Florentine iris root, in fine powder; but no whiting. Mix the whole well together, and pass it twice through a hair sieve, and then dried in the sun. Then mix the flour and whiting together, and add to them lblvj of starch powder, or rather of ground rice. Then mix and sift the whole intimately together; and if the soap used be white, and the balls to be made are intended to be of a yellowish colour, add to the composition about 3iv (not more) of Dutch pink, in fine powder.

Or, Take lbxl of rice, in fine powder, lbxxviij of fine flour, as above, lbxxviij of starch powder, lbxij of white lead, and lbiv of Florentine iris root, in fine powder; but no whiting. Mix the whole well together, and pass it twice through a fine hair sieve; then put it in a dry place, and keep it for use.
Great care must be taken that the flour be not musty, in which case the balls will in time crack and fall to pieces. To this composition may be added Dutch pink, or brown fine damask-powder, &c, according to the colour reqiored when the wash.balls are quite dry.

Camphor Balls. Take lbvj of very dry starch, and put to it lbviij of very dry white lead; grind the whole in a starch.-mill, and sift it through a fine lawn sieve. Mix this compound well with lbxiv of very fine and good rice-powder. In the grinding of  the starch and white lead, great care must be taken that the compound does not fly about: as it is very hurtful and poisonous, owing to the presence of the white lead.

Best Common Wash Balls. Take lbxl of foreign oil-soap, either Castile, Marseilles, or Gallipoli, and lblx of English tallow soap. Shave both these together, and mix them in a trough or box, with lbxxx of the preceding composition; add eight pints of the water that comes over in the distillation of lavender, rhodium, orange, or any other essential oil; or in default of these, the same quantity of clear rain-water. Into this water put 3j of oil of lavender, 3j of oil of rosemary, and 3j of oil of origanum. Shake these oils and the water well together, so that when the paste comes to be mixe the oil may not swim on the top. Beat the whole well together so as to make it incorporate; and at the end of three or four days (during which time it will become mellow) beat again. Care must be taken to add no more water than what is above directed, unless the soaps used be of a hard nature, and free from superfluous ley: in this case, another quart may very well be added. The paste is now to be laid by in an earthern pan, covered with a wet cloth, for several days after its last beating, before it is made up into balls; because, the stiffer and harder it is, the rounder and handsomer will the balls be which are worked from the mass.

It is to be observed, that, if the trough or box in which the paste is made consists of oak or wainscot, it will, in the course of one night, turn quite black. Also, when the balls are to be dried, the perfumer must not be tempted, merely for the sake of gaining time, to carry them to the fire, or to put them in an oven or stove, for by this method the outer surface only will be dried into a sort  of crust of the thickness of a shilling, whereby no evaporation can take place from the centre, and consequently it must remain completely soft; whereas, if these balls are dried merely by exposure to the air, they will be harder and drier in three monthjs than those dried by the fire will be in twelve. As to putting them into the oven, it may be here noted, that by such treatment, they will be speedily melted or broken to pieces.




 Inferior Common Wash Balls. Take lblxxx of tallow-soap, and lbxx of Gallipoli; shave or scrape as above, and add tot hem lbl of the composition. Proceed in every thing else as before, except that here, on account of the addition of lbxx more of the composition than in the former paste for wash balls, it will be necessary to add two quarts of  water more than has been used in the best common wash-balls.

Or, One hundred-weight of tallow soap, and lbl of Spanish or common whiting, are mixed and beaten up with double the above quanityt of water, and scented with oil of caraway or some other cheap essential oil. These wash-balls are made large; and, to deceive the buyer, are made very round, by being skin-dried or crusted, by lying in the stove for 12 hours; whereas,  good wash balls, dried in the air, generally lose their shape. They will no more lather than a piece of clay or stone. They have been wash-balls frequently made for this sort of trade, which are merely the shells of large French walnuts, covered over with the above base composition.

Ambergris Wash Balls. Take lbxvj of the best Joppa, or the whitest Alicant soap, cleansed well from dirt and lime. Shave or scrape it very thin, and expose it to the air for several days. Now have ready mixed, lbij of ambergris powder, lbj of musk and civet powder, lbss of fine starch-powder, and lbss of Florentine iris-powder: all of which are to be well incorporated with the soap. Then take gr. xx of pure musk, gr. xx of civet, and gr. xxx or gr. xl of the remains of musk and ambergris spirit. Grind all these to a very fine powder, with loaf-sugar, and add to them, whilst in the glass mortar, 3ij of spirit of ambergris, 3j of spirit of must, 20 drops of oil of rhodium, and 3¼ of apoplective balsam. Mix all well together, and put the whole into a quart of the remains of honey water. Shake the mixture well, and put it into the compound of soap and powders above mentioned, and mix the whole well.

This mixture must be made in an earthern pan, but by no means in a wooden vessel, which would absorb the best part of the perfumes. The incorporation of the above substances must be effected by beating very finely; and, if it is found to be too stiff for working, rose, or orange-flower water may be added at discretion; still remembering that the wash-balls are to be made up as stiff as possible.  They are to be dried in shade, and are not to be touched or meddled with for a month at least, to prevent bruising or putting them out of shape. When quite dry, some manufacturers choose to gild these wash-balls on their impressions. It is impossible to make any sort of wash-ball superior to this.


Inferior Ambergris Balls. Take the same quantity of soap as above; but, instead of lbiv of the compound perfumed powder, here use six, taking care to proportion the several articles accordingly. In this case, also, it is to be noticed, that one-half of the perfumes prescribed for the best ambergris balls will be sufficient; and likewise that rose water may be used insteead of honey water. In every other particular, the previous directions are to be strictly followed.

Bologna Wash Balls. Take lbxx of very old and brown Castile soap; shave or scrape it very thin, and place it in the air to dry; then add to it lbiij of the second remains from honey water, in fine powder, lbss of cassia wood, lbjss of labdanum, both finely powdered. Mix the soap and powders well together, and wet them with about a pint and a half of rose water, and a pint of muddy liquid remains of honey water. Now beat the whole well two or three times, at intervals of a few days, to let the paste become quite mellow; and then make up the mass, when stiff, into round balls, and dry them in the shade as above directed. The colour of these wash-balls will be wither light brown, or nearly black; or will possess the different shades of each, according to the colour opf the ingredients used.

Best Marbled Balls. Take lbx of the best Genoa, or rather of oilsoap, made in England, and lbx of Joppa soap of the whitest sort, cut the whole into small square and triangular pieces, which set to dry for two or three days; the oil soap, particularly, must be thus dried. Then shave, or scrape, very finely, lbv of oil-soap, which dry for about one day in the open air, and the n mix it well in the shaving-box with lbv of powder, and 3jss of the best and finest vermilion. In mixing, it will be  necessary to place the pieces of soap, and the coloured powder, in layers in the box, making in all four alternate layers of each, beginning with coloured powder, and ending with the square and triangular pieces of soap.
When a layer of each has been placed in the box or through, a pint of rose water is to be sprinkled over the upper one, namely, the cut soap; for, if it be much combined with the powder, it will cause it to become lumpy and hard, and consequently spoil the wash-balls made from it. The smae quantity of rose water is likewise to be used for moistening each of the other soap layers, that is, in the whole, four pints. Now have readey a pint of thin starch, which has been well boiled in half a pint of rose water, and distribute it equally among the whole mass; whi his now to be well mixed, by turning it over repeatedly, and then to be ressed down close and even, by the hands. If a piece be now cut out, quite through the mass, the operator will perceive whether the marbling and colour are sufficiently good; and if so, he may proceed immediately to form his wash-balls.

When these wash-balls have been made about two or three days, it will be time to shave off their rough coats; they are then to be left for two or three months in the air, duing the summer; and, when wuite dry, are to be properly shaved and weighed  for sale.

The shavings which come off these balls are to be kept for the next manufacture of wash-balls of the same sort. They are to be mixed with the red soap-powder, mentioned above; but, in such a case, there is no occasion to put so much vermilion as before; as, thereby, too high a colour would be produced. As to the perfume to be used for these wash-ballls, the manufacturer must vary it according to taste, fancy, or the price he intends to sell his commodity for; remembering that it is to be mixed with the liquid starch previous to incorporation with the layers of soap and powder.





Inferior Marbled Balls. Take lbxx of the best curdy tallow-soap, shave it thin, and mix with it lbiv of the composition for camphor white-balls. Beat the whole without any water, to a fine and even-coloured paste, which will be very white.  Now make this up into cakes of about an inch trhick, and set them into the air to dry. Cut these cakes, when  hard, into squares and triangles, as before, in the case of Joppa, or oil soap, for the groundwork of the wash-balls to be manufactured. Now take lbiv of oil-soap, lbij of the coloured powder used for the best marbled balls, and lbij of starch-grounds. Shave the soap, and proceed in every other respect as before. These wash-balls are to be scented with some cheap perfume, because they are designed to be sold for about half the price of the best sort; though, in appearance, they are so beautiful, and in quality so excellent, as often to be sold  for as much money as the best.

Figured Wash Balls. These wash-balls, though troublesome to make, answer very well to surprise and please: they also may be made quite as good as any other.
Take lbxvij of the best and whitest Genoa soap, shave it fine, and mix with it lbiij of the composition ofr camphor balls. Beat the whole into a fine even paste, with rose water. Now have ready four or five different colours, in powder, viz., a dark and a pale green, two reds, two blues, a yellow, and a brown. Then divide the paste into as many parts as there are colours at hand; and beat and mix each very intimately with its separate colour, so that the several masses may have no streaks, spots, or irregularities of hue, but may be entirely homogeneous; in doing which, it is necessary to be very clean and nice. When the coloured masses are pretty stiff, roll them out into cakes on a marble slab, to about a quarter of an inch thickness; then, with tin stamps, cut them out into the shapes of birds, beasts, sun, moon, stars, &c., &c.; always observing to match the colour of the paste to the form of the stamp; viz., the quadrupeds to be generally brown; the birds to be green, or otherwise, as may be proper; the sun, golden yellow; and the moon and stars, very pale blue, approaching to white. The stamp should  never exceed half an inch in size. When each cake is entirely cut out, for the first time, the shapeless cuttings, or pieces, may be again worked up separately, and rolled out and cut as before; and so on, until not a shred remains; or the cuttings may be preserved for the groundwork or field of the wash.-balls. When all the figures have been properly formed, they are to be dried separately in the air, on sheets of paper, according to their colour; and then they are to be properly proportioned to the intended groundwork; for example, when the wash-ball is to be formed of birds and beasts, the field of groundwork must be green; when suns are to be introduced, the field is to be of a very pale sky-blue; and, when the moon and stars are intended to be shown, the field should be a true sky-blue, whilst the figures, and grounds, may be varied without end, according to the fancy and taste of the operator.

The perfumes, the quantities of ingredients, manner of making up, and weight of balls, are exactly the same as for the best marbled wash-balls. Although, in the making of these, it will be impossible to be regular, some of the figures being broken, others whole, and all buddled together; yet when the balls are old and properly shaved by a smooth brass knife (called a shaver), they will plainly show the intended design; and even their irregularity will both please and surprise, in the same manner that people wonder at the existence of flies and other insects in pieces of amber.


Camphor Balls. Take lbxlviij of the best white English oil-soap, or of the best sort of Genoa soap; shave and dry it very clean. Now mix with the shavings lbxx of the composition for camphor wash-balls, rubing the whole together. When properly incorporated, take lbjss of camphor, and grind it in an iron mortar with about half a pint of the best English Hungary water; put in, by degrees, 3ss of oil of rosemary, and 3ss of oil of lavender. When the camphor has been thus reduced to a fine powder, add to it in a mortar lbiv or lbv of the composition abovementioned, and also the soap shavings. Beat the whole well together; and, when properly combined, take it out and mix it with the remaining quantity of composition and soap shavings; then beat it well twice over, at an interval of about ten or twelve hours. The incorporated powders are now to be kept in a well-covered earthen pan, to be made up; when the perfumer is to proceed in every respectg as in the manufacture of ambergris wash-balls.

Very little water is to be used in the making up of these wash-balls, and what is used should be entirely rose water. In the making up, the operator must be very quick, and he must not leave off until the rolling is completely finished; because the camphor is so volatile as to evaporate surprisingly, even in the open air. These camphor-balls are to be dried well in the air; and, during the whole time, are to be entirely covered with white paper, not only to keep off the dirt and dust, but also to prevent the camphor from evaporating so much as it would assuredly do, if freely exposed to the air.


Chemical Wash-Balls. Take lbv of white oil-soap, shave or scrape it as above, and then add to it lbij of fine rice powder, lbss of white lead, and lbss of pure and unmixed trisnitrate of bismuth, both in the state of fine powder. Previously to mixture with the soap shavings, these powderts must be put into a basin, with about 3xij of orange-flower or myrtle water, and 3j of essence of ambergris. When this has been well mixed, the soap shavings are to be put in, and the whole is to be well beaten two or three times every day, for several days. After the whole mass is well incorporated and stiff, it is to be made up into balls, which must be very round, and must weight 3jss. Dry these very celanly on sheets of white paper, and, when perfectly hard, wrap and seal each singly in a separate piece of paper of the same colour.

Greek Wash-Balls. Take lbxx of fine old Joppa, or Alicant soap, cut and dried as before. Now Scrape, very thin, lbvj of white oil-soap, and mix with it lbvj of fine powder, and a little Florentine iris-powder, just enough to turn the colour. Proceed in everything else as directed for the red marbled balls, except in using the vermillion. In the perfuming of these Greek wash-balls, use to the above quantity of paste, only 3ij of the essence of ambergris, with about 40 drops of the oil of rhodium, mixed with a quart of rose water. These wash-balls, like the others, will be ready for shaving, for the first time, in two or three days; but will not be fit for sale or use, for three months, at least in summer, and a longer time in winter.

Marseilles Wash-Balls. Marseilles wash-balls differ from the foregoing only, that as these are of a whitish colour, and made from Joppa soap, those are somewhat of a light brown colour, being made from Marseilles and Alicant soap, both of which retain their native bluish colour, and large marbling or veins, for a long time.

Inferior Venice Balls. Cut fresh Genoa soap into pieces of at least three inches square (otherwise the balls will be too small); pare them pretty round with a common knife, and then finish by shaving neatly with the brass shaver. When properly and cleanly dried they will be ready both for sale and use.

Best Venice Wash-Balls. The above described sort of Venice balls may be much improved by the following method. Shave down the soap very finely, and to lbviij add lbij of fine rice powder. Now beat the whole well with some rose water, and, when stiff, make the paste up into pretty large balls, each of which must weigh 3v at least. When they are perfectly fry, shave them for sale. The reason why this sort is better than the foregoing is, that the former can be perfumed, whereas the latter cannot, on account of their previous solidity. The mixturewith powder also improves them greatly, as it prevents the soap from foming off too freely in washing, which in all balls, not so prepared, is apt to be ropy or gelatinous, especially when used with hot water.