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House Cleaning (II)
CLEANING THE CELLAR-CLEANING THE ATTIC AND CLOSETS- CLEANING THE CHAMBERS TO CLEAN FLOOR COVERINGS -CLEANING AND REFINISHING WOOD FLOORS-CLEANING PAINT-WHITEWASHING-PAPER HANGING-CARE OF WALLS- WINDOWS, DOORS, ETC.-CLEANING AND CARE OF FURNI- TURE-CLEANING PICTURE FRAMES-CLEANING BRIC -A-BRAC AND MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS-TO CLEAN MARBLE, BRICK, CLEANING KITCHEN STOVES AND OTHER AND STONE METALS-PACKING - In addition to the daily and weekly routine of housework it is customary to give the house and its furnishings a thorough overhauling and renovating once or twice a year, usually in the spring and fall. But this custom varies in different parts of the country, and in cities is also quite different from what it is in rural neighborhoods. In cities, winter is the season when guests are received and most entertaining takes place; hence the fall house cleaning, as a preparation for the duties and festivities of the winter season, is likely to be the more important.
In rural neighborhoods, however, summer is the period of greatest activity, and the spring house cleaning is usually the more thorough and painstaking.
Spring House Cleaning. - Spring house cleaning should ordinarily be postponed until the weather has become sufficiently settled, so that winter underwear, draperies, carpets, etc., may be stored away if desired, and so that the health of the household need not suffer by reason of the open windows and dampness attendant upon scrubbing floors and walls, whitewashing, painting, and the like. Most women, after constant confinement during the winter months, are more or less run down in the spring, and the change from the bracing temperature of winter to the enervating warmth of the first spring days is likely to result in a lowering of tone that may expose them to serious mischief from overexertion. For these reasons there is a gradual change of sentiment in favor of making spring house cleaning a comparatively simple affair, putting off the heavy work until the fall. But the spring house cleaning must be sufficiently thorough to renovate and protect all woolens, furs, and feathers from the ravages of moths, to remove heavy hangings and draperies, and everything that impedes the free circulation of air during the heated term. room.
Plan of Campaign. -The work of house cleaning will be very much simplified by thinking out in advance a systematic plan of campaign. In a blank book make an inventory of the principal contents of each Measure the floors and the width and length of the window shades needed.
Ascertain the number of yards of carpet or matting, the number of rolls of wall paper and the yards of border required for every room in the house, the amount of paint or stain needed for the various floors; also the size of the dining-room tablecloths, the length and width of sheets, and the size of pillow slips for different pillows. Divide the book in sections, assign a number of pages to each room in the house, take accurate measurements, note them down, and preserve the book for future use. Consult it to determine what changes shall be made in the rooms, what articles shall be stored away, and what, if any, need to be repaired. Provide in advance the requisite amount of materials of all sorts, and have them at hand when the work begins.
William Morris says: "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful." Hence before house cleaning go through the house and critically examine each object. Some of them may have passed their usefulness, or your tastes may have changed and you may no longer regard them as beautiful. Then remove them without question. The art of successful living consists in getting along with as few articles of furniture as possible, rather than in accumulating many different pieces. Remember that every additional one is an additional care. If you decide to retain an article, consider, if it is in order or not, if it can be put in order, and in that case whether it can be done at home. Gather up such pieces as you decide to repair and take them to the family workshop.
Consider the discarded articles to see if they can be given away, sold, or used for fuel, and if not, throw them together to make a bonfire to celebrate with when the house cleaning is finished.
Rules for House Cleaning. It is a good rule in house cleaning to first clean the cellar, because it is the most difficult and often the most neglected part of the house. Afterwards begin with the attic and work down.
Another good rule is to clean thoroughly one room at a time, settling it as you go.
Preparations for House Cleaning. -Experienced housewives arrange for house cleaning by preparing food in Advance, boiling ham, baking beans, pies, bread, and cake, so as to be spared as far as possible the labor of cooking while house cleaning is going on.
While house cleaning, dress appropriately for the work. Some house keepers wear a divided skirt or bloomers made of four widths of heavy dark skirting. These are gathered into bands and buttoned about the ankles and waist. They are valuable protectors for skirts, and facilitate climbing stepladders, scrubbing floors, etc. Pull the sleeves up as far as you want them to go, and put elastic bands on the arms over the sleeves. Trim the finger nails as short as can be borne with comfort. This prevents their being broken or torn when obliged to work without gloves. Wear a dust cap, a big apron, and loose gloves.
Half the disagreeableness of house cleaning is taken away by having a lotion to apply to parboiled and uncomfortable hands. Soak 2 or 3 ounces of quince seed over night, strain through cheese cloth, and add 2 quarts of water and 2 ounces each of glycerin, boracic acid, and witch-hazel. This is one of the best of lotions.
CLEANING THE CELLAR To Clean Cellars. - Begin to clean house with the cellar. It is a hard job, and you may be inclined to neglect it if you wait till the rest of the work has been done. No part of the house cleaning is so important from the standpoint of sanitary cleanliness or, because it is out of sight, more likely to be neglected.
First sweep all dust and cobwebs from rafters and ceiling; sweep the shelves and wash them with strong suds or soda and water; remove, empty, and clean bins and barrels that have contained vegetables, and set them out of doors exposed directly to the air and sunlight. If the cellar admits of thorough drainage, wash down the ceilings, walls, and floor with a hose, or dash water on thens from pails by means of a large dipper. Open the bulkhead windows and HOUSE CLEANING sweep the floor, especially digging out the corners. Remove everything that is not necessary. The fewer objects to accumulate dust and to get in the way when cleaning, the better.
Dissolve 2 pounds of copperas in 1 gallon of water, and sprinkle the walls and floor with this solution by means of an old whisk broom or watering pot having a fine spray. This is a good disinfectant and assists in driving away rats and other vermin. Finally whitewash the walls with an old whitewash brush or old broom, and use plenty of whitewash, to which add copperas at the rate of 1/2 pound to 1 pound for each pailful. - Vegetable Cellars. - If vegetables are kept in barrels or bins in the house cellar, they should be examined from time to time and picked over as soon as they begin to rot. Leaves from cabbage heads, celery tops, and other vegetable stuff not wanted should be carefully removed before they begin to spoil. Decaying organic matter of any kind is the favorite breeding ground of the germs of typhoid fever, diphtheria, and other contagious filth diseases, and decay is much assisted by dampness. Hence unless the cellar is perfectly dry, clean and free from rotten vegetables, those who are responsible for its condition cannot in case of sickness have a clear conscience. An outbreak of black diphtheria which caused the death of five children in a single family was traced by a physician directly to some decayed vegetable matter on the cellar floor.
Or make an outdoor vegetable cellar by sinking a strong cask or box in the ground below the frost line.
Knock out the bottom and let the vegetables rest on the ground. Provide a water-tight cover in two layers, with sawdust or charcoal between. Or throw over the top straw or hay. Thus cabbages, celery, and the like may be kept fresh in winter without danger of contaminating the air of the house.