Taking up and Cleaning Carpets.
Have two strong sheets made of unbleached cotton. Remove the carpet tacks with a tack-lifter, being careful to put every one of them in a box or bowl. It is not only extremely painful, but also dangerous, to step on a rusty tack, and the housekeeper should make it a matter of conscience to see to it that none are left lying about. When all the tacks have been removed fold the carpet carefully, lengthwise; then roll it up and put it in one of the sheets, tying this. Put the linings in the other sheet. Take both sheets into the yard or some field near by, and after spreading the linings, sweep them on both sides, pile them up, and cover with the sheet. Spread the carpet and beat with a rattan or long switch. Sweep it, and then turn it over and beat again. Let it lie on the grass, wrong side up, until the room is ready.
The small yards in city houses are not the proper places for cleaning carpets, as the dust rises and enters all the surrounding houses. There is in some cities a law against beating carpets in such narrow quarters.