[excerpt] ...

[...]

So, after asking around, I started my new job.

The coal ball recipe was 60 per cent coal dust and 40 per cent mud, with enough water to make a really thick paste. You had to take a handful and using both hands mould it like a small snowball. Then you placed it on the ground to dry. If you really wanted one to burn quicker add 10% sawdust. That was the easy part; getting the residue off your hands and arms was a different matter. Soap was in short supply and hard to get hold of. My suggestion to Mum that I be allowed to help do the clothes washing fell on stony ground. It was a huge concession by me, as I had never thought much of soap, and only used it in the past under the direct persuasion of Funainai.

`You are not coming near to the washing with those hands — find a bucket of water and scrub!’

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[further reading]
http://www.weihsien-paintings.org/books/NoSoapLessSchool/index.htm

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