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House Cleaning: Take

Meantime apply suitable moth destroyers to the insides of the drawers, wardrobes, and boxes that have been emptied. Take off the wall paper in the closets, as behind the wall paper is where you will find the nests of moths and other vermin. Wash the floors and walls with moth destroyers, and apply suitable preventives to cracks and openings. Wash out the insides of the drawers, and take them out to dry in the sun.

Save fine towels that are too worn for further use and lay them in the bottom of the drawers, with lavender between the folds.

While the clothes on the line are airing, pack flannels, furs, feathers, etc., in moth-proof paper bags or boxes to be stored away in the attic, and before the dew falls at night return cotton and other fabrics required for summer use to the drawers and wardrobes that have been cleansed and aired.

Destroy with a hard heart every useless thing, and burn everything that you see no probability of needing in the near future. With the best of care odds and ends will accumulate, and the labor of handling and preserving them in the hope of finding use for them by and by is often more than they are worth.

But remember, if similar objects are classified and kept together, many uses may be found for them collectively. A lot of old stockings may be turned into a quilt. Old underwear is useful for dusters and many other purposes. Hence sort, classify, and arrange as much as you can, but when odds and ends are left over, throw them away.

Drawers that Stick. - Now is the time to remedy the bureau drawer that sticks. If it is not quite dry when returned to its place, you will discover the spot that in damp weather is likely to swell and make trouble. Take a piece of common yellow soap, moisten it, and rub freely the parts which are too tight. Also soap the under part of the drawer where it slides. Or apply a tallow candle. Or rub the parts freely with bacon rind.

But the soap is likely to effect the more permanent cure.

Periodicals. Each spring the attic will reveal a pile of magazines and papers. Some of these may be thrown away, but in others there will be one or more stories or articles of especial interest. Take out the wire fasteners and sort the contents into fiction, & Pile of Magazines." travel, biography, history, and the like.

Take out of each pile only what is really wanted. Thus, for example, the best short stories may be collected and made into a valuable book. To bind these articles together, cut strips of manila paper 1½ to 2 inches in width and the length of the magazines. Fold these lengthwise in the middle, and paste on either side. Slip the back edge of the printed pages into the crease thus formed, fastening it securely with paste. Now thread a needle with strong thread and sew the pages through and through to this reënforcement. Place as many of the separate stories as desired together, bore holes through them½ inch from the back edge near the top, bottom, and in the middle, and lace them together with strong cord. Draw over the outside of all a strong manila cover, pasting it liberally to the back. Or the sheets may be sent to a bookbinder and at a slight expense made into an interesting and valuable book.

Or the periodicals will always be welcome at hospitals, schools, and other institutions, which in many cases will send for them if notified that they may be had at the expense of removal.

Curtains and Draperies. - Take down all curtains and draperies; launder, fold, and store them before the house cleaning begins. Thus they will be out of the way and ready to be put up when papering, painting, and whitewashing are finished.