The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1894-01-24
THE FALL CLEANING.
How 10 Combine Thoronghness with the
Minimum of Friction

The fall cleaning, wherever one lives,
north or south, should he based as to
thorouzhness upon the previous clean
ing of the spring. Every house needs
a thorough administration OF brooms,
scrubbing-brushes. and whisks at least
once a year, this of course taking for
granted a regular weekly sweeping
and dusting, and much polishing OF
window-panes, and general keeping up
of affairs, as good housekeeper must
II She would satisfy her conscience
II in the spring carpets were taken
from the floors and thoroughly beaten
10 free them from dust and the eggs OF
moths, this need not be done again in
the autumn. Heavy carpets do not re-
quire removal from the floors oftener
than once in two years Halls and
stairs, being thoroughfares for the
family and guests, should often be
thoroughly cleaned. for sanitary rea'
sons especially, and the removal and
destruction of disease germs. Curtains
rugs, portieres of every description.
wooden fabrics being especially indl-
Gated here, should be taken down
every month and left out of doors for
some hours The trouble which this
means is not slight but it is amply re-
paid in the freshness and sweetness
brought into the house with the thor
oughly aired draperies
In the fall, before lighting fires for
the season, it is well to have the fur
mace and fues inspected by a man
from stove store or foundry.
The cellar must be regarded with
suspicion, and no nook or corner
of il left unvisited If it be
the custom of the house to use any part
of the cellar as a store room, great vigl-
lance is imperative, lest some decaying
fruit or vegetables shall prove the
cause of illness in the family. Let the
fall cleaning include the attic, the eel
lar, every closet. every tuck-away
place, and start in for winter with no
foes concealed in bins or on shelves
A part of the work belonging TO the
fall cleaning should be the examination
of mattresses which have been in use
during the summer. These require
making over from time TO time, the hair
picked and pulled out, the ticking re-
newed, the tufting done again so that
the old mattress is as good as new, and
really more comfortable than it was
when new, II that is possible.
Now let the careful house-mOther
look to the various small repairs that
are always waiting TO be done. Here
hinge loose; there a door needs easing.
Are the pictures nails firm and strong?
Is the picture m1'diag right Does
the third story blcR need new paper,
and would the parlors be improved by
touches in the way of paint or varnish?
II anything is hopelessly shabby-few
things ever are-the fall is the time to
discard il in favor of something better.
Please, If you are a dweller in the
city, refrain from beating your carpets
in the back yard. In most towns, city
ordinance forbids the doing of this, and
in most towns, unhappily, people go on
doing it in utter disregard to the law.
The clouds of dust float over neighbor-
ing yards; the incessant fiail-like noise
drives nervous invalids to che verge
# distraction, and impedes the improve
ment Of convalescentS The domestic
method of carpet cleaning in this man
ner is less thorough than that of the
man whose business it is, and il costs
nearly as much. In the evaporation
Of its effects on the minds of those who
suffer from it, who can estimate its cost?
Probably nobody nowadays insists
on uDsetting the whole house at once
for the sake of either the spring or the
fall cleaning. This is seldom necessary.
A woman with the talent for manage
nent can administer upon a whole
house, with the minimum OF friction To
her whole family; that the men of the
house should be aware of what is be-
ing done is quite needless, if a single
room be taken at time, AMI p-oP>r
precautions used against discomfort
a women of genuine tact can. how
ever. give q certain picnic effect to
family living under difficulties, robbing
Il OF the idea of mere discomfort by 4
little favor of fun, and by refusing %
Yield to irritability, though carpets are
up and pictures are down -Harpers
RSzar