Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-02-11
ny GEORGE BoYNTON CHILD
In the Delinentor.


My kitchen floor shows every spot.
What can I do to make 1t more easily
cared for?" wrote a young housekeeper
the other day. She went on to explain
that the floor was of maple and had
been filled In with boiled hnseed oil, and
that IL was almost impossible to get
grease spots out after they once got IN.
Her query carried me back TO the early
days of my own housekeeping, when 1
was doing my own work and spending
many weary hours each week trying to
keep my kitchen floor immaculate. 1t
also was OF hard wood. a good grade Of
edge-grain pine. and looked very nice
with the smart varnish finish which IT
had when we first took possession. The
varnish soon wore off. and lie grease
spots began TO appear My struggles
with the kitchen floor were my first In
itiation into the difficulties of house
keeping.
Effort Wasted ON Floors.
As 1 look back now over the wasted
human labor spent cleaning that kitchen
floor for three years. feel that we
really lost money by trying to save
money so I wrote to the young house
8 keeper that she would find it well worth
while to cover the maple floor with
linoleum. AS her kitchen was small she
could get a good grade in the size she
needed for S11.
OF course, IL she had known this be-
fore her new kitchen was built. the floor
could have been made of a less expensive
material than maple Any durable, strong
wood. evenly laid, makes a good founda-
tion for the linoleum. therefore by saving
money on the foundation flooring one
can have the surface covered at very
little extra expense.
It is important Il have the floor evenly
laid and planed smooth, so that there
will be no ridges under the surface OF
the linoleum to make IL wear out. II Is
also desirable to have the closets and
pantries opening off the kitchen covered
in the same way. as they also receive
hard wear.
Very often one moves into rented
house with a large kitchen of irregular
outlines, and It seems an impossible ex-
pense to spend the money to buy a COW
ering for so large a room In that case.
do not make the mistake of buying an
inferior grade of linoleum, or using oil
cloth, as experience proves that only the
best grade Of inlaid linoleum will stand
hard and continuous service.
Mark Off n Border.
A better plan is to mark off a border
around the edge OF the kitchen floor,
twelve to eighteen inches wide. and
treat It Just as you would a border
around any rug. Then buy a square OF
oblong piece OF linoleum for the center
BY doing this under such conditions you
gain in several ways:
First. the linoleum rug costs much
less than II would cost to cover the
whole floor with this material.
Second. you save the expense OF having
the iinoleum fitted to the outline of the
room and laid by an expert.
Third. the rug can be taken up when
you move, and. IL carefully handled. will
be ready for your next kitchen.
Precautions I'm Buyfng Linoleum.
Inlaid linoleum comes six feet wide and
six feet six inches long. fact one must
take into consideration in planning the
size OF a rug IL one wants to avoid waste
By making the border Of the wood around
the rug a little wider one can select q
size OF rug that cuts to advantage
piece six by nine feet. for instance OIL
six and one-hah by four and cne-hali
feet.
1t makes an immense difference IN the
wearing quality whether you get the