The Washington times., 1922-04-23

thoroughly and finish It, and then
start on the second room, etc. The
plan | have found to work out best
in a house of moderate size Is 20
do the same process or kind Of
work in one room after another.
mean by that, take closets, and
clean the closets first in one room
and then in another all through
the house.
In this way all clothes will be
put away, waste or discarded ar
ticles carried down to a special box
or barrel reserved for that purpose,
and a good deal of basic straight
ening' put through. ] find 1t is not
the actual cleaning of surfaces or
polishing Of furniture that is the
most work. but, instead, the laying
away Of Winter apparel, the sort
ing Of drawers and the extensive
handling of small articles. IL this
is done first it leaves the room
cleared for actual cleaning work.
Again, if curtains or blankets are
10 be washed at home, it is best to
devote an entire day to this special
work. II is much quicker to cleanse
six pairs of blankets or six sets OF
curtains in one operation than II
is to do so at six separate times!
Various other special tasks, like
laying away Winter rugs, putting
Winter furs to air, placing wooden
garments in protected, mothproof
bags. should also be done sepa-
rately. In other cases, the clean
ing. of the chimney iue. the thor
ogh cleaning out of the furnace
or steam plant and such Jobs should
be done before anything else.
And in my plan the cellar is
cleaned first. This may seem
strange, but | have found that If
left to the last, then its cleaning,
which is always very dust,raising
job, makes the upper part Of the
house again unclean. Whereas, II
the furnace is cleaned out-prefer.
ably the Winters supply of coal
laid in, and the cellar ceiling and
pipes brushed OFF and any waste
articles or boxes removed, that the
work upstairs may be done to bet.
ter advantage.
Perhaps too frequently the home
maker cleaning house forgets TO
be thrifty or that many of the
articles she may Carelessly throw
away" or burn, would be of service
to others. Get in touch with the
collection department of the Sal
vation Army, or other organiza-
tions with similar bureaus, and
drop them a postal to call for
waste magazines, discarded cloth
ing, rugs, etc. Very often aged or
disabled persons work over" such
discarded material into new arti
cles which may be sold or help TO
support them. Old rags and paper
make new roofing, old paper can
be made into new and other arti-
cles utilized far beyond what the
careless housekeeper may suppose.
Keep notebook for jotting
down articles that must be re-
plenished, china and utensils which
must be bought, furnishing that
need to be repaired, or clothing
which needs remodelling. In the
old days the housekeeper or chate-
laine is always pictured with a
large bunch of keys at her belt ]
would add a thick notebook and
pencil to the keys so that she can
keep careful track of supplies
needed, things needing attention
and renovations TO be noted.
Before starting any period of
special cleaning il is also well to
look to the household food supply
and plan menus which will be
quick and easy to prepare and take
the least effort. II the housekeep-
er is doing much Of this cleaning
work herself she will not have
time to cook extensively, and yet
the family must be fed. A whole
ham boiled, jar Of cookies or
bookkeeping spice cake, a meat
loaf, Jar OF salad dressing, either
a pot of baked beans or several
cans of the same-all these will
make meal serving rapid. A large
ten-quart kettle OF homemade soup
should keep the family supplied
for several meals, as such hearty
fare will he needed, indeed de.
manded, by the scrub lady or other
by-the-day worker, TO whom meals
are an event not to be sighted.
See that cleaning tools are clean
before use. No fine work can be
done with dirty brushes, carpet
sweepers full OF hair and threads,
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