The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-04-19
A Prize Essay on House Cleaning


Charlotte Hall, in Philadelphia Press.
One of the difficulties of housekeeping is in
finding the right place to begin. Start with the
men of the house. Let them understand that
women do not clean house for their own amuse
ment, but that it is an imp ortant work which
must be performed, and which will be finished
with as little delay and annoyance to others as
possible. By preserving an even temper we can
spare the tempers of those about us. Have a
perfect understanding that the work is not to
be subject to whims or Indigestion, or made the
occasion of selfish complainings and then push
ahead quietly, quickly and thoroughly to the
end.
PREPARATORY.
Every spring and fall overhaul all old clothing,
empty the rag bags and dispose of the contents
and all other rubbish. In the spring pack away
all heavy clothing. Wrap each article separate
ly with camphor in old newspapers to protect the
clothing from moths. In the fall have the
mer clothing washed and put away without
starchng as starch eats the clothes and turns
white goods yellow.
HOUSE CLEANING PROPER.
Beginning with the upper story take each
room separately, that the whol9xhouse may not
be in confusion at the same eNme Then, in
case of sudden illness or any unforeseen inter
ruption some of the rooms will be habitabe.
Remove all pictures and fancy articles, care
fully brush and wipe them free from dust, and,
with soft, damp CLOTH polish each article that
will not be injured by the application of water.
Then cover and put them away until the room
is cleaned. This plan of cleaning as thoroughly
as possible all articles before removing them
from the room, avoids carrying dust from one
place to another. The next thing is to take the
clothing from the closets, bureaus and ward
robes, cleaning each receptacle thoroughly. Re-
move all the furniture possible from the room,
wiping off the dust before doing so, and care
fully covering what remains. Brush the bed
ding with small whisk broom before taking it
out of the room.
Nv %o1Yo xIo s. b.
have the tacks drawn from the carpet the day
before, it saves time after the cleaning is act
ually begun. If in the country. have the car
pets taken out of doors, we'll beaten, shaken and
swept upon both sides. If in the city the car
pet-cleaning houses do the work very thoroughly
and with little expense. Slightly sprinkle the
bare floor with water and sweep twice. With
large, clean, soft cloth wipe the dust from the
walls and ceiling Have bucket of warm
water, slightly soapy, and with a clean, soft
scrubbing brush go over the paint carefully. Do
not let any water touch the wall paper. Wipe
the paint dry with soft CLOTH to give it an even
polish. Soap used directly paint makes it
yellow and takes it off. With clear water and
soft cloth wash the window panes and polish
dry with chamois skin or clean, soft linen
CLOTH Old newspapers are excellent for this
purpose. Have the floor we'll scrubbed, and
when it is perfectly dry have the carpet laid and
replace the things belonging to the room. Close
the room doors and proceed with the next room,
and so on until all the apartments on the upper
story have been cleaned. Next clean the entries
and starways of that floor. 1t is better to leave
the entry and stairway carpets until the whole
house has been cleaned, when they can all be
put down at once. Take the rooms, entries and
stairways of each floor SUCCESSFULLY until the eel
lar is reached.
If your house is heated by furnace, have all
the registers through the house closed while the
cellar is being swept and cleaned of rubbish as
the dust will ascend through the hues. The
cellar should be we'll whitewashed. and lime be
scattered near the walls
MISCELLANEOUS
When the dining-room and kitchen are being
cleaned the pantries, dressers. and sideboards
should be done first. All the kitchen utensils
must be cleaned and polished and the range
blackened before any thing else is DONE If the
work is being done in the country, where stoves
are used instead of furnace, clean out the
stoves, biacken, cover and set them aside in
some dry plac until the fall cleaning is finished,
or until fires are agsin needed. when they will be
ready to put in their proper places. The latter
part of May is the best time for the spring
cleaning. The fall cleaning should be done in
October.
Awarded the first prize in a competition.