The Washington times., 1923-09-10
HOUSE CLEANED
EASILY WITH
ELECTRICITY
Women Find Equipment Saves
Most Hard Labor During
Annual Cleanup.

just as soon as the grass, ike du
illimitable army Of sturdy upstand-
| ing soldiers, takes possession Of the
land overnight. and the morning air
from an opened window touches
Mrs. Housekeeper's cheek with soft
fingers instead of the stinging slap
she had anticipated, she and several
millions Of her sisters get ready
! to clean house.
Housecleaning isn't what it used
to be. More praise to the jolly old
theory of modern efficiency! We do
not go through these long-drawn-
out, agonizing, semi-annual orgies
of ripping carpets up and draperies
down and dumping these, along with
most of the furniture of our homes,
| in a mad maelstrom in the back
yard every morning for a couple of
| weeks. dragging them in again at
night lest the spring rains take an
officious hand in the cleaning pro-
cess.
On the contrary, most of US have
learned, like Alice-in-W Wonderland, TO
keep our order in one room and
our disorder in another" when we
clean house. Still, clean house we
| must. There isn't a woman living
who doesn't want to turn some Of
her things out doors to the sunny
air of springtime after a long winter
of confinement and coal dust.
1t Is good, when the furnace or
steam-heating plant (which ought TO
be but isn't innocent of the crime
of sending through the house daily
! contributions of grime) is finally
turned off for the season. to have a
grand turnover of all the furnish.
ings which have stood in the way
Of this sooty breath and to fit these
| for "a summer of roses and"-not
wine, but whatever substitute we
can find in our nice, clean, electri-
fled icebox.
The shops, which are so clever in
| fitting their wares to the fancy of
the moment, are fitting their Of
ferings just now to the well-known
habits of housewives. They feature
all manner of housecleaning tools
and equipment Always, Of course,
the efficient electric cleaner is the
central figure in these displays.
The daily use of electric equip
ment has done away with most OF
the hard labor of housekeeping.
Homes have been kept comparative
Iy free from loose dust all through
the year by the hungry cleaner,
which understanding hands have
directed not only over rugs and
hangings, but into all kinds of
hooks and crannies where dust likes
to lurk and then pop out mockingiy
when a breeze passes its hiding
place. But in this spring cleaning,
it will be found desirable to give
nd lat eR0f
right down to bedrock, taking out
the last vestige of dust from places
where in the regular weekly or
daily cleanings it has not been con-
venient or practical to attack.
If walls are not being repapered,
it will be well to wipe these with
one of the long-handled lambs We.
brushes sold for this purpose. This
does not mark wall paper as other
brushes do; but it must be kept
clean. Being washable. this IL quite
easy. Before this process. however,
one should clean all picture mould
ings, tops of window and door
frames, and other ledges in the con-
struction of the room up above
the range of ordinary cleaning
days. with the electric cleaner at
tachment and the length of hose
pIOVIupU IOT IHlS puI OSc. II 10 NCAE
easy to do this cleaning at the right
time; the artificial fingers of the de-
vice lifts the little mats of dust
from these high spots carefully and
cleverly. without throwing it back
in the face of it's director or over
her other furnishings.
In high cupbOards. behind and
around drawers, on closet shelves, in
creVices where baseboards are loose,
into bedsprings and across the stats
supporting these, dust NAV be re-
moved easily and in a sanitary man.
ner with the same attachment Dust
in bedsprngs accumulates fast. and
though one does not come in direct
contact with it. yet it is bound to
sift down to tlSn G0or or TO be
thrown upward into the mattress
with every slight jar or movement
of the bed. The mattress itself
will be better for having the up
holstery attachment run over it
while removal ton is going on.
Another place dust is hard to
attack successfully is around the
felt hammers and under the wires
Of an Opentop grand piano. Here
again the slender nosed hose fed at
tachment of the electric cleaner does
splendid service. Dust is destruc-
tive to the fine mechanism of a
piano. and should be removed
Housecleaning Is really more a.
ma tier of cha nging and renewing,
these days. than of heavy work
With the cleaner there is another
device-it might be called the clean
er's twin sister-which will scrub
floors electrically. and then by the
changing of brush will wax and
polish these floors. This makes it
possible to remove old finish by
using strong solutions of washing
soda or soap and lye, without in1ur-
ing the hands or doing any hard