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House Cleaning: Feather

Care of Feather Beds. - Many feather beds are in use which have been slept on for more than one generation without being renovated. When the feathers have been properly cleaned and the ticks cared for, they perhaps do not need renovating oftener than once in two or three years, but at least once in three years the feathers should be passed into a fresh tick, the ticking washed, and the feathers renovated before they are returned to it. After the tick has been washed, rub the inside with a mixture of equal parts of beeswax and turpentine and go over it with a warm iron. This will prevent the feathers from being soiled by perspiration or otherwise or from working through the tick.

Or, once a year, place the feather beds and pillows out of doors on the grass or on a clean, flat roof, and allow them to be thoroughly drenched by a warm summer rain.

Hang them to the limb of a tree to dry in the shade.

To Clean Feather Pillows. - Feather pillows may be washed without removing the feathers by boiling them in borax water to which a small quantity of ammonia has been added. Use half a teacupful of borax to a boilerful of water, and add a tablespoonful of ammonia. Boil fifteen or twenty minutes. After removing the pillow from the boiler, scrub the tick, if badly stained, by laying it on a washboard and applying suds with a stiff brush. Rinse in two or three waters and hang on the line in a shady place to dry. Shake the pillow and change ends two or three times a day. Bring the pillows into the house before the dew falls or if it should come on to Put on a wash boiler half full of rain, as it takes a long time to dry HOUSE CLEANING pillows at best. This process makes the feathers light, flaky, and sweet smelling.

Or, if you do not wish to wash the feathers, pass them into pillow covers and hang them on the line to air while the ticks are being washed.

Or put the pillows out of doors in a drenching rain storm. Afterwards squeeze as much water out of them as possible and hang them up to dry in a shady place.

To Mend Old Blankets. - To mend all breaks and tears in old blankets, cover both sides with cheese cloth.

Tack all together with white or colored yarn, and thus make a light quilt superior to a comforter. Finish the edge by crocheting around all four sides.

To Store Bedding. - Line a large packing case with heavy wrapping paper by using brass tacks or by pasting paper to the inside of the case with flour paste and a whitewash brush. This will prevent moths from making their way through the cracks of the case and the folds of the paper.

Air the bedclothes thoroughly, fold blankets in paper, and scatter freely among the folds hemlock or arborvitæ sprigs, dry sweet flags, lavender, or sachet powder. These are equally as effective as moth balls, and give the bedclothes an agreeable odor.

Paste the ends of the paper together and paste wrapping paper over the top of the case in such a way as to leave no cracks through which moths can find an entrance. Nail down the lid.

Bedroom Ornaments. - Remove all unnecessary bric-a-brac from the bedrooms and take unnecessary articles from dressing tables. A room looks much daintier without useless little things. - To Clean the Bathroom. Thoroughly wash down walls and floors, clean out the medicine closet, and throw away everything that is not likely to be used. Look over the shelves carefully for cracks and crevices which may give lodgment to vermin, and wash them with strong soap and water. Clean the porcelain tub and basin with a cloth wet with kerosene.

Pour in kerosene, if necessary, and scrub with a whisk broom or fiber brush. Remove stains from porcelain with dilute muriatic acid (1 part of acid to 10 parts of water), applied by means of a cotton swab held in a cleft stick. Polish the metal work of faucets and pipes with a suitable cleaner.

Or clean the bathtub, washbowl, etc., with gasoline and flannel.

When painting the bathroom, if you wish the floor darker than the walls, without buying two shades of paint, get a light-colored paint, as lead color or light yellow, and after the walls are painted add to the remainder of the paint powdered burnt umber. This will give to the floor a darker color of the same general tone.

TO CLEAN FLOOR COVERINGS Floors in Summer. -Take up carpets in the spring, beat and clean them, roll them up, protect them against moths, and, if desired, store them away until the fall house cleaning. Fill the floor cracks, if any, with a suitable wood filler, and paint or stain the floor, or cover with matting during summer. This plan saves time and labor in the care of floors, and prevents much dust from sweeping during the hot months. If carpets can be replaced by hard-wood floors and rugs, so much the better, and taking up carpets during the summer time is a step in the right direction. Or, if preferred, the carpets may, of course, be returned to the floors after cleaning.

When taking up large rugs and art squares for the summer, roll them on sticks and sew them in canvas or bed ticking. These may be tied with strong cords and slung on hooks attached to the wall or ceiling in the attic or storeroom. Thus they are well protected and out of the way.

To Take Up Carpets. - First draw the tacks and pick them up without moving the carpet. Then begin at one end of the room and roll the carpet carefully to the other end. Double the roll on itself or, if two persons can assist, take it up at both ends and carry it out of doors to be cleaned.

Roll up papers or carpet lining carefully with the dust, and take them out of doors to be burned. If the papers are handled gently little or no dust will remain in the room, and the floor may be readily cleaned with soapsuds and a mop.

Or, if no lining papers were used and the floors are covered with dust, sprinkle wet sawdust or bits of wet newspaper about the floor, and stir them gently with a broom to gather the dust. Sweep part of the room at a time, taking up the sweepings, and repeat with a fresh lot of sawdust or newspaper. Afterwards wash the floor with a mop.

To Put Down Carpets. - Use an ordinary carpenter's hammer, taking care to choose a tool which has a square, flat head, and not a hammer the head of which has grown round.

One or two blows with such a tool will drive a tack, where a small tack hammer will require six or seven. The best and most convenient carpet stretcher is a pair of rubber overshoes. Tack the carpet down on one side, put on a pair of old rubbers, and scuff across the room. Repeat the process for the other three sides. If one person can stretch the carpet and another tack it as fast as it is stretched, it may be laid very quickly and with comparatively little effort.

Carpets-To Prevent Wear.-Before returning old carpets to the floor, rip up the seams and transpose the breadths, putting the least worn strips in place of those that are most worn; or turn the carpet end for end to change the wear.

Or, if the carpet is ingrain, turn and use wrong side up for a season.

Stair Carpets-To Prevent Wear.- Tack several thicknesses of newspaper or carpet lining or old carpet on the top of each step, having them deep enough to hang three of four inches over the edge. This pad prevents the stair carpet from wearing along the edge. It doubles the life of the stair carpet.

To Mend a Rag Carpet.-Holes in rag carpet caused by the breaking of the warp may be mended by sewing back and forth on the sewing machine.

Large holes may be mended in this manner so as not to be noticeable.

When cutting out the good parts of an old rag carpet, sew across the rags back and forth before cutting.

This prevents the carpet from raveling when cut, and the edges of the good pieces may be sewed together with the seam held down.