The Washington times., 1925-06-01
Household Hints
Caring for Beds and Bedding
nv SALLY e DAVIDSON

against the housewife, carelessly
made bed is perhaps the most con.
demning. Judgment is passed-upon
her and our. suspicious as to, the
cleanliness of the bed are aroused.
Often not even the clean, crisp
sheets and pillow cases prove suf-
ficiently reassuring. It may not be
! fair to criticize ones hostess, but
doesn't such hostess court
criticism?
Usually there are just two rea-
sons for carelessly appearing beds.
The first is bedding Of inferior quail
ity which soon becomes shapeless
and lumpy, fatal fault to the ap-
pearance OF any bed, and the Sec
ond is due entirely to carelessness,
a lack of skill in bed making, or
both
There is mighty little reason for
either Cheap bedding with proper
care can be made to last a fairly
long time by frequent turning. All
beds should be eNaired for two hours
at least, and the mattress turned.
daily. One day turn lit from side
to side, the next from head to foot.
Then once a week 1t should be
gone over carefully with the electric
cleaner using the flexible hose and
drapery tool attachment. This clean
! ing has two purposes. 1t serves to
| fluff up the mattress which is essen
| tial where putting mattresses out
to sun Is impossible, and also the
cleaner, If used correctly, will re-
move any undesirable tenants which
may berchance have been brought
, into the house. This is not at all
unusual and happens frequently. In
public laundries where everybody s
wash is washed, such vermin are
occasionally passed on to bed linen
from the most carefully kept house.
Anyway, an ounce OF prevention,
as the saying goes, is better than
a pound OF cure at all times.
When you have gone over the
mattress and the springs thorough
| ly with the electric cleaner do not
leave the dirt in the bag, but turn
| II into metal garbage pail, ash
can or, better still, burn 1t. This
last way is the only sure means OF
destroying any vermin.
An acquaintance of mine who
keeps five servants has made 1t
part of the chambermaid's work TO
| sprinkle deadly powder over every
bed once q month, leave it on for
several hours, and later remove i
with the electric cleaner and burn
the contents OF the bag.
Hotels do this on the average OF
two and three times each week, SO
that they are not obliged to destroy
quantities of bedding each year. !.
pillows also should be aired and
summed frequently and gone aver
regularly with the cleaner, which
will help to keep them SOFT ana
fluffy.
| Bed making is almost an art
(which must be cultivated II the
lbest results are desired. The first
step which consider essential and
which / have already mentioned IS
the airing OF beds and bedding. In
| NV house the bedding is removed
from the bed and draped over
chairs which are placed near an
Iopen window while the mattress
and springs are exposed. Usually
this takes at least two hours. The
mattress is then turned and the
first sheet put on. tuck 1t under
well at one side, then at top and
bottom, and last pull the loose
side taut and tuck under the mat
Itress. This holds the mattress in
shape. Then comes the second
sheet, the top hem reaching the
head posts and the bottom tucked
! well under at the foot to prevent
this sheet from pulling out during
the night.
Then 1 place my blankets on the
bed about foot from the head, turn
the sheet down, the foot OF the blan-
lkets in then disposed Of in the same
way as the sheet and the ends OF
both are then brought up even with
the bottom of the mattress and dis
posed OF by tucking under. This ef-
fects bias fold OF the bedding which
ie the latter is not too long may be
left to hang over the sides OF the
bed under the spread, or it may be
tucked into the sides.
The once popular standing pillow
has disappeared entirely. It now
lies flat and is covered either with
the top Of the spread which in such
case should be folded under little
to give it bolster effect, or with
an individual cover. But the cover
is the least of bed making. 1t is the
sheets and blankets and the way
they are handled that counts. AL
most without exception good house
wives are cranks on the appearance
of their beds because they know the
story told by a ,well.made bed.