American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1880-05-15
Some Hints i'm House. Cleaning,

In cleaning house a system should al
WAYS be reserved, and only one or two
rooms should be attempted at once,
unless you engage large force and
rush the work through in two or three
days, cleaning one floor of the house at
a time. 1t is well to prepare for the
work before it is commenced by cook
ing a good supply of food. boiling a
ham and roasting meat, ETC., etc.
Don't think that any kind of cold food
will do for house-cleaning time, be-
cause the extra labor demands extra
food. and each meal should have some
special dainty, instead of "hash''
served with cross faces. Carpets in
rooms that are not in constant use need
not be taken up every spring; but if
they are loosened at the edges, and the
dust brushed out. moth-powder or salt
and pepper mixed together and scat
tered over the floor under the edges of
the carpet will keep them nice. Dust
the wallpaper by tying large towel
over the broom and sweeping down
regularly; this takes off all the soil.
Wash the woodwork with cold tea,
if it is grained or oiled. Save the tea
leaves for week and put them into a
large pail, pour boiling water over them.
and boil fifteen minutes. Strain from
the leaves, and use not only for colored
paint, but also for mirrors and windows.
1t is the best thing have ever used for
such purposes.
To clean white paint that is vanished
it is also excellent. If not vanished,
take some powdered whiting on plate,
and with a piece of soft flannel, slightly
moistened, rub off the spots and soil,
then wipe dry with soft cloth.
A n IL H.
rubbing them gently with a cloth dipped
into sweet oil and wiping dry with a
chamois-skin. Black-walnut, rose
furniture can be cleaned with furniture
polish, made by mixing one coffee
cupful of cold-drawn linseed oil, one of
turpentine and one of vinegar, to which
two table-spoonfuls of alcohol should be
added. Put all into a bottle and shake
well. 1t is ready for use at once, but
must always be well shaken when ap-
piled. Pour out a little into a saucer,
dip Il soft lannel into it, and rub the
furniture according to the grain. Pol
ish with a chamois-skin OF dry flannel
rolled up tightly for rubber.
Bedding of all kinds should be aired
in the sun, for there is nothing like sun
shine to freshen and sweeten blankets
and mattresses, etc.
Moths, carpet-bugs and cockroaches
are the great enemies of the house,
keeper, and eternal vigilance is the
price of liberty from their depreda-
tons.
If the carpet-bug is feared, turn back
the edges OF the carpets and sprinkle
strong turpentine on the floor, or dip a
cloth into it and saturate the floor with
it. Turn back the carpet at once and
you need not fear that a bug can live in
it. Do this with windows and doors
open, and the .odor will soon vanish.
Camphor gum can be substituted if tur-
pentine is obnoxious. Fresh camphene
or burning fluid can be turned between
the stuffing of furniture to keep the
carpe thug away. 1t will not stain the
incest fabrics. and the odor will disap-
pear in few hours in well-aired
room.
1nsect-powder, or powdered pyre-
theum, will also kill all kinds of insects.
1t can be blown into crevices of walls
and furniture with small apparatus
that comes with can of the powder.
1t should be put into boxes or trunks
where blankets or wooden stuff5 are
kept to keep out cockroaches, etc.
Scotch snuff or red pepper win keep
red ants from pantry shelves, and
newspapers spread over the shelves are
also disagreeable to. these nuisances.
Leaves of tansy and sprigs of worm
wood will also expel the black and red
ants from their old haunts,
Straw mating should be washed with
strong salt and water. Barely moisten
the doth, and rub it gently. Change
the water as it becomes sOiled.
Silver-plated door-knobs and hinges
can be frightened with kerosene and
whiting. Wet a cloth in the kerosene,
dip it into the powder and rub vigor-
ously. Polish them with q channels
skin. The same article will brighten
tin and pewter ware. Alabaster and
marble can be cleaned with pumice-
stone soap. Rub q wet cloth upon the
soap and scrub the marble. Wash off
with clean water. Freestone hearths
are best cleaned with sheets of sand.
paper. Lddies' Floral Cabinet.
SSIHMEN-(rymnasts