The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1880-09-21
SSRs SSRs gIoon'firlD gin'es.
HOUSE. FARM AND GARDEN.
Cleaning Floors.

her skill. But some of the good ladies
makea sad mistake In their praiseworthy
efforts, and make work for themselves,
as we'll as injure their floors, and keep
them looking grey and dirty.
One day saw a young housewife
take her dish of soft soap and spread 1t
over her floor, which had been newly
painted but few weeks before; then
she went on her knees and commenced
scrubbing with brush and hand-mop.
oh, how she did work and how tired
she looked and how her back ached
watched her till could stand 1t no
longer.
said: "Don't you like your painted
floor, the reason you are scrubbing the
paint Off"
81 want to keep 1t bright and clean
paint wears off SO quick, it hardly pays
to get it painted"
Il should think not at the rate you
take it off. You just spoil the paint and
floor, too"
"Why so: don't understand what
you mean ?"
snow look here, there is nothing that
will take off paint like soap. Where
your soap lies the paint will be off before
a week. You should never use paint in
that way. 1 Isupposed you were trying
to get it off; there is no quicker way to
do it."
"Well wish had known it before.
My husband says he never saw such
poor paint"
''I expect the paint is good enough, it
is the way you manage it. Now this
room was all grained and vanished
very nicely just before you came here,
you could see your face in the doors,
they were so bright. You ought to have
kept it SO for half dozen years. Now
see how it looks, half the paint rubbed
off, and not bit of shine"
ooh, grandmother do you think I
did it on purpose?"
"Bless you child, no You knew no
better, so 1 thought L would tell you;
you are running the looks of your neat
kitchen, and killing yourself all for
nothing"
She looked sober. was really sorry
for her, and told her to take a long han
died mop and wash the soap all off, and
then would show her how to mop her
floor.
So tucked up my dress and rinsed all
the suds out of the pail and mop and
took some clean water, and washed up
the other half of the floor and then took
some clear water and wiped it up dry
Well she had to own that the half
washed was ever so much cleaner than
her part.
Afterward we sat down and talked
about it; she was real nice little wom-
an and did just as well as she knew how
and spared neither time nor strength to
keep things neat and tidy. 1 expected
there are plenty more young women,
who waste their health, strength, soap
and time just as foolishly as she did.
If you have painted floor, keep soap
and soapsuds off of it for it spoils the
brightness of the paint, makes it soft
and then it peels off, leaving the floor
looking worse than if it had not been
painted.
If your floor has not been painted,
keep soap off of it for it gives it dirty,
grimy look, and keeps growing worse all
the time. Just take clean, hot water,
put in teaspoonful of spirits of ammo
MIA into three-gallon pail of water, and
with clean, long-handled mop, rub the
floor all over, then wipe it off with
clean water. 1t will take little while
to get the gray out of the boards, but it
will come out after time, and you will
find it far easier to keep your floor white
and nice, than it was when cleaned with
soap or suds.
Another thing, when you get your
floor all washed, if you would rinse your
mop out in clean water, and go around
the room and wipe the drips of the base
boards, and take part of the mop, and
wipe out the erevices, you would save
great deal of hard work and back-ache
too"
"Oh, grandmother am so glad you
have told me how to do it easier and bet
ter; I do want to be a good housekeeper
and be economical but it seems SO hard
when one does not know how to do it.
and / get cross sometimes about the dirt
tracks that mark it all over. Iti is dis
couraging to have a floor all marked up
before it has time to dry. Don't you
think 80 2''
6 Yes ] know all about it; but it is
nothing to what it would bell the boots
were hnnU I'M In the nloaat and the faak