The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-04-23
AN ANNUAL MISERY.
It Comes Hard But
We Must Have
1t.

ADril is par excellence the snlOnln loI
!. spring cleaning in this latitude, and in
Vulnerable are the families which are
now enduring the dscomforts Of wet
floors, dismantled rooms and picked-up
meals. Doubtless a great deal Of this
annual misery is unnecessary. Women
go at it in a frenzy, under the Impress
lon that the more apparent the convul-
sion the more thorough the cleaning. So
you find the hall carpet up, the parlor
furniture moved into the middle Of the
room, the dining-room all out doors and
the Kitchen closets uD in arms, at one
and the same time. The husband and
father comes home at 6 o'clock to a
rhilly, damp, disheveled house. every
thing disarranged and out of place ana
the old friendly comfort and cheer de-
parted The meals are cold and Sloppy,
In accordance with the general tone OF
things, and are eaten off the mantel-
piece, or the top of the sewing machine,
5r in any other old place.
Now all this is totally unnecessary.
Instead of displaying the housewife S
capability it demonstrates her reckless
Incapacity. Spring cleaning need not
sntail such inconvenience on house
hold, and it never does il people know
how to go about it in the right way,
And the right way is to take one room
3 day and finish it before you begin on
another Don't pun up all through the
house. Do the hall first, say, then take
lhe attic, or the cellar, or the bathroom,
but wherever you begin and whatever
you do, don't attempt to do everything
all at once. AS the closets are partially
separated from the rooms to which
they belong, it is a good idea to go
through those before the brunt Of the
cleaning is done. 1t will be found a
great help to have these crowded
ratch-alls done before the carpet,
walls, paint and furniture of the room
proper are touched at all
There are a number of simple but
affectual methods of cleaning paint,
woodwork, furniture, etc, which would
prove a blessing to every housekeeper,
not only saving trouble, but also pre-
venting the needless destruction OF ar
iicles and the expense incurred by re-
sorting to the professional cleaner.
For instance, a good polish for hard
wood floors is made by scraping ] OF.
of beeswax into about half a teacupful
of linseed oil, and gradually dissolNing
ii in turpentine till of the thickness of
cream. This is applied with wooden
cioth and afterwards rubbed up with
a soft duster This mixture IS equally
good for linoleum, and for stained
II 1ors Should a floor require re-stain-
Ing, one quart of cold-drawn linseed
oil, well mixed with II o. Of rose pink
and OF. of alkanet root will provide a
very nice stain. 1t should be left stand
ing by the fire for three or four days,
and will then be ready for use. Rub II
on the floor with large whitewash
brush, leave il to dry; repeat process
AZ n 1lf1 { Ia
With the receipt given above for hard-
wood floors. Copper and brass objects
should be rubbed with a little sweet oil
and finely powdered rotten-stone, then
polished with a leather; if, however,
they. are In very bad state, the foil
lowing paste should be used; OF. OK
allie acid, OF. rotten stone, u OF. gum
arabic, made into paste with o.
sweet oil and a little water.
Gilt frames of every description re
nuire great care. and after a thorough
busting Mlth a feather brush, should be
merely sponged with a very little tur-
pentine, not too wet but only just
moist enough to remove the dirt and
the fly marks. Objects made Of steel
may be cleansed with a mixture, o.
castle SOAP cyanide of potassium
whitening and water, applied with a
brush. Lacquered ware needs only a
hath of warm soap suds and run
down with chamois skin. Wrought lron
requires only an occasional wipe witf
paraffine.
A little ammonia should be adGed =
the water in which paint is washed, alle
the water should be warm, not not.
A rub down with a sponge dipped II
clear. cold water, without farther Wlp-
ing, is recommended
Faded carpets may be revived by
rubbing them with strong solution q
salt and water. Grease spots may ottel
be removed by the use OF gasoilne OF
benzine The following mixture rs rec
ommended for cleansing a carpet; Cul
IN 10 lb- of white soap into gallon
OF water, and boil it till the soap Is
dissolved, then add to it OF. OF salts
of tartar After the carpet has beer
well shaken, apply this mixture While
hot with a brush, covering not more
than square yard at time, and dry
ing well with a coarse towel.
Several LAYERS of newspaper are Det-
ter for the lining of a carpet than the
rnothproof paper, which gathers the
dust while not preventing moths. Be
side keeping the dust from going
through newspapers contain con-
siderable warmth. When they are in
place, sprinkle some good insect pow
der copiously around the mopboards
and in places where furniture STANDS
mat cannot readily be moved. Wher
LAYING a new carpet, always work il
lengthwise instead of crosswise, ano
make il. especially # a rag carpet, 9
few inches shorter than the length Of
the room. A new carpet should be wei
stretched, else it will in a short time
work up into wrinkles A carpet thai
quite covers the floor at the first laying
will almost invariably need to De dou-
bIed under at the second. Mattings may
be improved whens soiled by spongln9
with strong solution Of salt anc
water.
ADEcIDEDLY USEFUL FRUIT,