And so, when the young housekeeper"s nicely arranged plans for each day in the week are suddenly turned topsy-turvy, let her take heart of grace, remembering that there are whole days that "ain"t teched yet,"
and begin again.
MONDAY
The chief objection to washing on Monday is that it necessitates sorting and putting the soiled linen to soak on Sunday, which not only violates the religious principles of many households, but shortens and spoils the flavor of the maid"s free Sabbath evening. Then, too, the sorting of the linen often reveals holes and rents which should properly be repaired before laundering increases the damage, and a Tuesday washing makes this possible, with the straightening out and readjustment generally necessary after Sunday. On the other hand, the longer the linen remains unlaundered the more difficult it is to cleanse, with the risk that good drying days may tarry and the ironing thus linger along till the end of the week, which is inconvenient and bothersome all round. Therefore it seems quite advisable for Mrs.
Grundy to wash on Monday, and an occasional postponement until Tuesday will not then be a matter of any great moment. The routine work of every day--the airing, brushing up, and dusting of the rooms, the preparation and serving of meals at their regular hours, the chamber work, dish-washing, in short, all the have-to-be-dones, must not, and need not, be interfered with by the special work which belongs to each day. There are hours enough for both, and rest time, too, unless the housekeeper or maid be cut after the pattern of Chaucer"s Sergeant of the Law:
"Nowher so bisy a man as he ther nas, And yet he semed bisier than he was."
Wash day is always somewhat of an ordeal, and a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together is necessary to carry it successfully through. A simple breakfast will give the maid an opportunity to sort and put the clothes to soak, if this was not done the night previous, heat water for the washing, and perhaps prepare vegetables for the day"s meals, before breakfast is served; and if her mistress lends a helping hand with the dishes, dusting, or other regular work of the day, she can go to her tubs just that much earlier. Getting up in the wee sma" hours and working by early candle light is misdirected ambition. The maid needs her rest to fit her for her day"s labors, and washing well done requires the light of day. Set the breakfast hour ahead half an hour and so gain a little extra time. Foresight and extra planning on Sat.u.r.day will provide certain left-overs from Sunday"s meals which can be quickly and easily transformed into Monday"s luncheon. Dinner, too, should be a simple meal, but don"t add to the other trials of the day cold comfort at meal time. A smoking-hot dinner has a certain heartening influence to which we are all more or less susceptible. The doors leading from the room in which the washing is done must be kept closed to exclude the steamy odor from the rest of the house, and the maid allowed to proceed with her work without interruption. By eleven o"clock she will probably have reached a point where she can stop to prepare luncheon. If the family is very small, she can frequently do not only the washing but considerable of the ironing as well on Monday, but that is crowding things a little too much. After the washing is accomplished the line should be drawn at what _must_ be done, and nothing which is not absolutely necessary put into the few remaining hours of the day, for the maid"s back and arms have had quite enough exercise for the time being. If a laundress is employed, the cleaning of the kitchen floor and the laundry and the ironing should be about accomplished by night, unless it seems best to have her clean and do other extra work after the washing is finished.
If the housewife is her own laundress, she must acquire the gentle art of letting things go on the hard days, for she cannot possibly be laundress, maid, and house-mother all in one, and her health and well-being are of prime importance.
TUESDAY
The washing being done on Monday, it naturally follows that Mrs. Grundy irons on Tuesday, after the regular routine work has been dispatched.
The first thought is the fire, if the ironing is done by a coal range.
After breakfast is prepared the fire box should be filled with coal to the top of the lining, and draughts opened, to be closed as soon as the surface coal begins to burn red, the top of the stove brushed off, and the irons set on to heat. This is a good place to sandwich in a little baking, before the fire becomes too hot for cakes or delicate pastry.
If the maid feels that she must devote this time to the preparation of vegetables, or to other work which is liable to interfere with her work later on, madam may choose to step into the breach and try her hand at sundry delectables for the ironing-day luncheon or dinner, both meals being as simple as consistent with comfort and health. The ironing, once commenced, should continue uninterruptedly until time to prepare luncheon, when the irons are pushed back and the fire shaken or raked and replenished. By this time the clothes bars should begin to take on a comfortable look of fullness. It is well to keep them covered with cheesecloth as a protection from dust and soot and, in summer, fly specks. If any frying is to be done, set the bars in another room until it is over and the kitchen thoroughly aired, otherwise the odor will cling to the clothes. After luncheon the range is cleaned and the irons drawn forward to heat for the afternoon session; and by the time the table is cleared, dishes washed, and kitchen brushed up, both they and the maid are ready for the renewed onslaught. Though it may occasionally run over into the next day, the average ironing ought to be completed during the afternoon and remain well spread out on the bars overnight to dry and air. Tuesday, though a full day, is so clean and neat that there is no reason why the maid should not keep herself equally so and be ready to serve the table and attend the door without further preparation than slipping on her white ap.r.o.n--and cap, if she wears one.
WEDNESDAY
On Wednesday Mrs. Grundy mends and puts away the clean clothes and picks up some of the household st.i.tches which had to be dropped on the two preceding days. The kitchen must be put in order, the refrigerator must have its semiweekly cleaning, and the ashes which have acc.u.mulated in the stove removed, a new fire built, and the hearth washed. While the oven is heating for the mid-week baking there are vestibules and porches to wash, walks to sweep, the cellar to investigate, and a dozen little odds and ends to attend to which, with the baking, make a busy morning. The cleaning of silver dovetails nicely with the Wednesday work, and during the canning season the preserving of fruit can be done at this time with the least interference with the other work of the house, though when it becomes a case of the fruit being ripe, other work must give way for the nonce. In short, Wednesday is the general weekly catch-all into which go all the odd jobs for which room cannot be found elsewhere.
THURSDAY
It is Mrs. Grundy"s theory, strengthened by practical experience, that it is better to extend the weekly sweeping and cleaning over two days than to condense it all into one; and so Phyllis takes the bedroom cleaning as her special Thursday work, and armed with broom, dustpan, pail, and cleaning cloths, she ascends to the upper regions as soon as she has reduced the lower to their everyday nicety. The daily brushing up with broom or carpet sweeper removes the surface dirt, but sweeping day means a good "digging out." She commences operations by sweeping out the closet and wiping off the floor with a cloth wrung out of hot borax water. Then she brushes down, rolls or folds all curtains and draperies, and fastens them up as near the pole as possible, perhaps slipping a case over each as a protection from the dust. If the bed is hung with a valance, that, too, is pinned up. All small toilet articles and knicknacks are dusted and placed on the bed, and covered with a dust sheet of coa.r.s.e unbleached muslin, or calico; bowl, pitcher, and other crockery are washed and dried, inside and out, and placed in the closet, with dresser and stand covers, which have been shaken out of the window. These, if soiled, are relegated to the clothes hamper, to be replaced by fresh ones. Chairs and easily moved articles of furniture are dusted and set outside of the room. If there is a fire the ashes are carefully removed and brushed from the stove; the windows are opened unless there is a strong wind, when they are opened a little after the cleaning is done, and the sweeping begins.
The broom should be of about medium weight, held almost perpendicularly and pa.s.sed over the carpet with a long, light stroke and steady pressure which will not scatter the dirt, and turned every few strokes that both sides may receive equal wear. Steps can be saved by sweeping to a central point, going with the nap of the carpet, never against it, taking special care to dislodge the dust which gathers between the edges of the carpet and the baseboard. Shreds of dampened paper, or damp bran scattered over the carpet facilitate its cleaning; or in lieu of these the broom may be wet and shaken as free from water as possible before using. Any method of keeping down the dust saves much cleaning of woodwork, walls, and pictures. Rugs are swept in the same way as carpets. After they are cleaned the edges are turned up and the bare floor gone over with a long-handled hair brush, or with a broom covered with a Canton-flannel bag. If the floor is painted, follow the duster with a damp cloth; if hardwood, rub well with a flannel slightly moistened with crude oil and turpentine. Small rugs are taken out of doors and shaken or beaten. They must be held by the sides, never by the ends. Matting should be swept with a soft broom and wiped over with a damp cloth, using as little water as possible, and no soap, which stains and discolors it. Rubbing with a cloth wrung out of hot water will usually take out the spots which the regular cleaning has failed to remove, while grease spots yield to the application of a thin paste of fuller"s earth left for three days and then brushed off.
Rooms not in daily use do not need a thorough sweeping oftener than every two weeks, a whisk broom and carpet sweeper sufficing between times.
While the dust is settling put a fresh bag or a clean, soft duster on the broom and brush off ceiling and walls, using a straight downward stroke for the latter. The cloth must be renewed when it becomes soiled. A long-handled feather duster is handy for cleaning moldings and cornices. This, by the way, is the only legitimate use to which a feather duster can be put, in addition to dusting books and the backs and wires of pictures. Instead of taking up the dust, it simply sets it free to settle elsewhere, making a lingering trouble, long drawn out; for though one may whisk around with it and then enjoy the conscious virtue which comes with having "one more thing out of the way," the complacency is short-lived and the cheesecloth duster finally has to come to the rescue. All dusters should be hemmed, otherwise the ravelings are apt to catch and pull down the bric-a-brac. After the walls Phyllis dusts the woodwork and goes over it with a clean, damp cloth, not omitting doork.n.o.bs, and looking out for finger marks in likely places. If these are stubborn, a little kerosene in the cleaning water will help on the good work. She brushes and wipes off the window casings and gas fixtures, dusts and replaces the furniture, polishes the mirrors, and washes the windows the last thing, provided the sun is not shining on them at this time. If so, the work will have to be deferred and slipped in with special work of some other time. In localities where there is little smoke the weekly washing may be dispensed with, dusting off each pane with a soft cloth being all that is necessary. In freezing weather this is the only cleaning possible, though if the gla.s.s is much soiled it can be gone over with a sponge wet with alcohol; or with whiting mixed with diluted alcohol or ammonia, followed by much the same rubbing process employed in cleaning silver, with a final polishing with soft paper, tissue preferably, which gives the finest possible shine to any vitreous surface. If there are inside or outside blinds, they must be well brushed, and casings and sills which are much soiled washed, before the gla.s.s is cleaned. The requirements for successful window cleaning are a third of a pail of hot water containing a little ammonia or borax, plenty of clean, soft cloths free from lint, a complete absence of soap, and a decided presence of energy--aye, there"s the rub! The less water used the better. Instead of allowing it to run down in tears, squeeze the cloth out nearly dry, going quickly over one pane at a time, following immediately with a dry cloth, and then polishing. Wrap the cleaning cloth around a skewer and go into the corners and around the edges of the gla.s.s. Nothing is more productive of distorted vision than looking through a gla.s.s darkly. Wherefore, for the sake of the mental as well as the physical eye, see that Phyllis"s window cleaning is a success.
After the bedrooms are in order the halls and pa.s.sages on the same floor, and the bathroom, are swept and cleaned.
FRIDAY
On Friday Mrs. Grundy"s living rooms and first-floor halls are treated to their weekly renovation, which is similar to that which the bedrooms receive, only there is more of it. The preparation of the drawing-room for sweeping is more elaborate, containing, as it does, more pieces of furniture and bric-a-brac to be cared for. All movable pieces are dusted and taken from the room. Upholstered furniture must be well brushed, going down into the tufts and puffs with a pointed brush similar to that used by painters, and pieces which are too large to move covered with a dust sheet. A vigorous brushing with a whisk broom will be necessary around the edges of the carpet, in the corners, and under the heavy furniture. Mirrors must be polished, gla.s.ses, frames, backs, and wires of pictures wiped off, and fancy carving which the duster will not reach cleaned out with a soft brush.
If the room contains a marble mantel, it can be cleaned with sapolio or almost any good scouring powder, and tiles washed with soap and water.
The fireplace should be cleaned out before the sweeping is done, and the hearth brushed, with a bath afterwards. Bra.s.s tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs and utensils in use about the grate can be easily kept clean by rubbing first with kerosene and then with red pomade; but if neglected and allowed to become tarnished, it is somewhat of an undertaking to restore them to their pristine brightness. In an extreme case rub with vinegar and salt, wash off quickly, and follow with some good polish.
Results obtained in this way are not lasting, and the vinegar and salt should be resorted to only after other well-tried means have failed.
Another home cure for tarnished bra.s.s and other metals is a mixture of whiting, four pounds; cream of tartar, one quarter pound; and calcinated magnesia, three ounces. Apply with a damp cloth.
The dust will settle while the bra.s.ses are being cleaned, and then the carpet or rug should be brushed over a second time, lightly, and may be brightened once a month or so by rubbing, a small s.p.a.ce at a time, with a stiff scrubbing brush dipped in ammonia water--two tablespoons of ammonia to a gallon of water--and then quickly wiping over with a dry cloth. The chandeliers and gas fixtures should be wiped with a cloth wrung from weak suds, the globes dusted or washed as required, and a doubled coa.r.s.e thread drawn back and forth through the gas tips, if gas is in use. Registers should be wiped out and dusted every sweeping day to prevent the acc.u.mulation of dust. All woodwork, if painted, is dusted and then wiped down with a damp cloth; if hardwood, use the crude oil and turpentine, going into grooves and corners with a skewer, and rub hard with a second clean flannel. Hardwood floors receive the same treatment after being swept, and it is a good plan to go over all the furniture in the same way to preserve the life and fine finish of the wood, but it is imperative that the wood be rubbed _absolutely dry_.
When the windows have been washed, furniture replaced, and everything is in apple-pie order in the drawing-room, each of the remaining rooms is cleaned in like manner, ending with the hall, where each stair is brushed with a whisk broom into the dust pan, and carpet, walls, ceiling, and woodwork attended to as in the other rooms. The dusting cloths and broom bags should go regularly into the weekly wash. It is far better to do one room complete at a time than to have a whole floor torn up at once. Just because it is sweeping day is no reason for turning the family into a whole flock of Noah"s doves, with no place for the soles of their feet. It is very easy to transform black Friday into good Friday by a little judicious manipulation of the household helm. The cleaning, in addition to the routine work, is about all Friday can hold, without crowding. A few anxious thoughts for the morrow"s baking will provide all things necessary to it, so there will be no delay about commencing it; for--
SAt.u.r.dAY
Sat.u.r.day Mrs. Grundy devotes to providing for the wants of the inner man. The heaviest part of the day"s work is the preparation of food for two or three days. Then the refrigerator must have its second cleaning, and the pantry, too, probably requires renovating by this time. Entries must be cleaned, a second tour of inspection of the cellar made, and the house put in trim for the "day that comes betwixt a Sat.u.r.day and Monday."
HOUSE CLEANING
This is not the domestic bugbear it used to be, when one mighty spasm of cleanliness shook the house from garret to cellar and threw its inmates into a fever of discomfort and dismay. The modern house-cleaning season is one of indolence and ease compared with what it once was, when not only the cleaning and living problem, but the man problem as well, had to be solved; when the master sighed for a spot in some vast wilderness, vaguely wondering, as he dined lunch-counter fashion and then gingerly wound his weary way through a labyrinth of furniture, boxes, and rolls of carpet to his humble couch set up behind the piano or in some other unlikely place, if marriage were a failure, while contact with the business end of a tack gave point to his thoughts. No, indeed! The spring and autumn of his discontent are made glorious summer now by the more civilized system which, beginning at the attic and working downward, cleans one room, or perhaps two at a time, as a day"s work, restoring everything to order before a new attack is made.
PREPARATION
The task of cleaning a house in which the regular work is systematically carried on is not so very arduous, and follows the general plan of the weekly cleaning. Before the real work begins have a general overhauling and weeding out of cubbies, boxes, and trunks, scrub out drawers and reline with clean paper, and clean clothespresses, wardrobes, and closets. In the spring, there will be furs and flannels to shake, brush, and put away, and in the fall, summer clothing. Before the spring cleaning the stoves must be taken down and cleaned out, stovepipes cleaned and rubbed with boiled oil to prevent rust, and both put away in the attic. Chimneys, too, must be cleaned, and if the heating is by furnace, it should be put in order and all its parts swept free from soot, covering the registers during the operation. This is better done in the spring so the summer winds cannot scatter the dust and soot through the house. The supply of coal and wood for the ensuing year should be put into the cellar, and then the preliminaries are over. The fall cleaning must be delayed until the canning and pickling are all done, and the "busy, curious, thirsty fly" is pretty well extinct. Now is the best time for painting, whitewashing, papering, and other decorating and repairing. If done in the spring, its freshness is bound to be more or less spoiled by insects during the summer, be as careful as one may.
CLEANING DRAPERIES, RUGS, CARPETS
The first step in the real cleaning is to take down draperies, shake well, hang out on the line, right side under, and beat out the dust with a dog- or riding-whip. Follow with a hard brushing on the wrong side and wipe down quickly with a damp cloth, following the nap, if there is one. Lace and muslin curtains are repaired, if necessary, and laundered, or sent to the cleaner. If only slightly soiled, they can be freshened by folding, after shaking, and sprinkling all the folds thickly with magnesia. Let this remain three or four days and then brush out thoroughly. Next rugs and carpets come out and are well swept on both sides, then hung on the line and beaten with a flail--one of two feet of rubber hose partially slipped over a round stick and split lengthwise into four parts, being the best--until no vestige of dust remains. Heavy carpets, Brussels, velvets, Wiltons, Axminsters, and Moquettes, need not be lifted oftener than every two or three years, unless the presence of moths about bindings, corners, or seams is detected, when they must come up at once. The ravage of moths can be prevented by drawing the tacks occasionally, turning back the edge of the carpet half a yard or so, laying a cloth wrung out of hot water on the wrong side, and pressing with a very hot iron, holding the iron on until the cloth is dry and then moving on until all the edges are thoroughly steamed and dried. This will not injure the carpet and kills the eggs and larvae. Follow this up by washing the floor with hot borax water, dry thoroughly, sprinkle with black pepper, and retack the carpet. Sometimes small pieces of cotton batting dipped in turpentine and slipped under the edges of the carpet will keep the moths away. If there are cracks at the juncture of baseboard and floor, pour in benzine and fill with plaster of Paris. Three-ply or ingrain carpets can be steamed and ironed without removing the tacks.
CLEANING MATTINGS AND WOODWORK
Mattings must be lifted, shaken, swept, wiped off with a cloth dampened in borax water, and left on the lawn to sun. No soap should be used on linoleum, and but little water. Clean by rubbing with a damp cloth till no soil comes off, and polish with a very little linseed oil. All upholstered furniture should be taken out, covered with a cloth, and thoroughly beaten with a rattan, shaking the cloth as it becomes dusty.
Before rugs and carpets go down, walls, woodwork, and floors are cleaned. Walls, if painted, are washed with hot water containing a little kerosene, a square yard at a time, which is dried before moving on to the next area. Rubbing down with the inside of the crust of bread a day old will clean papered walls. Painted woodwork is best cleaned with whiting mixed to a thick cream with cold water, rubbed on with a cloth wrung out of hot water, following the grain of the wood.
Wash off the whiting with a second cloth, rub dry, and polish with flannel. Painted walls may also be treated in this way, beginning at the top and working down. If soap is preferred, use the suds, rubbing the soap itself only on very much soiled spots. Kerosene in the water obviates the necessity for soap. Enameled paint requires only a cloth wrung out of hot water, followed by a rubbing with a dry cloth. Avoid using water on hardwood, boiled oil or turpentine and oil being best for woodwork and floors. Now is the time to scrub floors, if pine, with hot borax suds, and to rewax or varnish hardwood floors if they require it.
CLEANING BEDS
Beds come to pieces and go out of doors, where the slats are washed with carbolic-acid water, and springs and woodwork thoroughly brushed and sprinkled with corrosive sublimate and alcohol, if traces of bugs are found. If the beds are enameled, they are washed entire, with the exception of the bra.s.s tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs, with hot water and ammonia, and wiped dry. Bedclothes, mattresses, and pillows are hung out and sunned, mattresses and pillows both beaten, and the former carefully brushed, going into each tuft and crevice. Shades which have become soiled at the bottom can be reversed. House cleaning is not an unmixed joy, but if done systematically, one room at a time, it is soon accomplished and becomes a part of that biography which all housekeeping is at last--a biography which should be written in characters of gold, its pages richly illumined with crosses, and palms, and laurels, and at its end a jeweled crown bearing the inscription:
"She hath done what she couldn"t!"