Harper's Household Handbook: A guide to easy ways of doing woman's work

by Martha McCulloch-Williams

Cleaning Stained Floors: Wipe over hard and quickly with soft cloths wrung very dry out of hot borax soapsuds. Wipe dry and rub with a flannel slightly moistened with crude kerosene. Beware of using too much—it will streak the stain.

Tile Floors: Tile, the same as brick, stone, and mosaic floors, should be washed in warm soapsuds, taking pains not to slop, rinsed well, and rubbed dry with a thick cloth fastened firmly over a flat mop. Be sure no water is left standing—it will destroy the setting.

A Matted Floor: Sweep twice, the last time with a bagged broom. Then wipe quickly with salt water, and as quickly rinse with fresh. Both waters should be tepid. If there is grime, use borax water instead of salt. A yearly wiping with fresh, sweet milk, followed by a tepid rinsing, makes matting last longer by keeping the straw pliant. Rinsing is, however, imperative; without it the milk draws a pest of flies.

Carpeted Floors: Damp with a fine sprinkler before using a sweeper, or dip the broom tip in warm water and shake very dry. Then wipe with a thick towel pinned tight over a stubby broom, washing it out if it gets very dirty. A little borax dissolved in the sprinkling-water brightens the carpet. So does fine, dry snow sprinkled on and swept off so quickly it has not time to melt. But the best thing to renew color and freshness is clarified ox gall dissolved in blood-warm water. Wash the carpet with it, after sweeping as clean as possible, using the solution the same as suds and taking pains against slopping.

Rugs: When possible, sun rugs before sweeping, beating, or vacuum-cleaning them. Spread smooth and wipe over with warm, weak borax soapsuds, followed by a tepid rinsing. Go over both sides, and let dry well before putting down. Half yearly wipe them over either with the ox-gall solution or fresh sweet milk. Rinse after either, but wait an hour to do it. The animal matter makes the wool more alive. Beware of stretching rugs cornerwise. Hang them always with the warp threads across the line or the pole.

Walls, Windows, Ceilings—Walls: The first thing is to make them sound and firm. Fill breaks great or small with plaster (see section Renovators). Fasten loose trim neatly in place, spread tarpaulin or paper well over the floor, then with a broom or long-handled stiff brush go over everything—walls, ceiling, woodwork, and molding. Painted walls must be washed clean before repainting. Whitewashed ones need to have as much as possible of the old whitewash swept off. Old paper must be sprayed with boiling water, let stand till soft, then scraped off. Paper will not stick to either hard-finished or whitewashed surfaces unless they are washed over with strong vinegar or strong alum water, and let dry, then sized either with glue or vegetable size (see section Renovators). Put windows in repair before touching the walls, and, of course, freshen the ceilings. Remove all the litter before beginning on the walls—the less dust there is under your new coverings, the longer they stay fresh.

Wall Hangings: Paper-hanging is so simple and easy it needs few directions. Strike a plumb line before beginning it. Suspend a compact weight by a chalked cord from the ceiling to the floor, hold it taut there, pull out the cord and let it strike back on the wall. With a beginning absolutely perpendicular you can make your figures run straight. Have the paper trimmed in the shop, cutting the left-hand selvage. Measure in generous lengths, taking care, if there are figures, that they match exactly. Lay the lengths, face down, a dozen or so together, flat upon a table or scaffold, and cover thickly on the wrong side with paper-hanger’s paste (see section Renovators). Beware of pasting too many at once—lying makes paper tender. Fold back each length on itself, pasted sides together. Open up as you apply to the wall, with the edge true with the plumb line. Smooth the middle first, taking care to leave no blisters, then work toward the edges, using a soft, clean cloth in each hand. Put on three or four lengths, then trim along the baseboard. With a border, the top is not a matter of concern, but with a molding finish it must be extra neat and firm in place. Make door and window casing serve as their own patterns, by pressing wet paper around them on the wall. If a corner out of plumb starts your paper askew, strike a new plumb line beyond it, about half a foot, split a length of paper, trimming it so the figures shall fit those in the length already on the corner, lap it from the plumb line over the skewed length, then go on keeping the seams straight.

Choice of Paper: Here dogmatism is worse than idle. But, in a general way, remember blue in all its tones, blue-gray, and granite-gray are cool, that yellow warms a north light and goes beautifully with oak finish, that red should be eschewed except for rooms used mostly by artificial light and furnished in very dark wood, that green in all save most vivid shades is restful, that soft wood-browns are excellent indeed to soften a glaring light, that white-enameled papers, with the faintest relief of gilt in the picture moldings, make the finest possible backgrounds for old prints and etchings, and, most important, that only plain papers will bear having pictures hung upon them, unless indeed the pattern is so soft as to be indistinguishable. Bedroom papers ought to be light and cheerful, but not staring. A plain ground with a border, deep or shallow, makes a wall that does war with furnishings. A painted wall with a cut-out border matching the ground tone is a very excellent choice for bedrooms. It gives the color value of paper, and is more sanitary and more secure against invasion.

Burlaps, Cretonne, Linen, and Silk: All are easily and quickly applied to walls, but the fitting which goes before may be a bit bothersome. Strike a plumb line same as for paper. Measure lengths, cutting so as to match figures. Aim to have the cutting, top and bottom, strike exactly in the middle of the pattern—this obviates any waste. Allow an inch for turning under top and bottom, unless the finish is to be molding—for that tack single. Have your gimp on reels so it will not snarl, and provide a great plenty of tacks. Sew lengths together on the machine, using flax thread, but not too coarse, a moderately long stitch and tension that does not draw. Take pains to match figures and fit the lengths to the wall as several are sewn together. This is trouble that may save worse, as a boggle discovered quickly is half remedied. Burlaps can be pasted on, the same as paper. Other things must be tacked on, and the edges covered with molding or narrow gimp matching their colors. Tack loosely at first, holding the cloth smooth but taking care not to stretch it. The threads in it must run true. At inequalities of wall, as in corners, take a tuck on the wrong side, press it flat, and put a line of fine tacks in the seam. Use barely enough tacks in the wall cover to hold it firmly in place—those in the gimp, which must be set evenly and not too far apart, will secure it. Burlap, even when pasted, looks better with a line of brass tacks at top and bottom. Cloth is a fine wall covering for halls, parlors, dining-rooms, even living-rooms, if they are never slept in. But in bedrooms, no matter how careful the housekeeping, it is not desirable.

Painted Walls: To paint a clean wall requires nothing beyond a brush, a step ladder, a can of ready-mixed paint, and a right good will. Stir the paint well before taking out any, and keep it stirred well to the end. Otherwise your wall will be like Joseph’s coat of many colors—earth paints have a trick of settling, no matter what they are mixed in. Begin at the top, use steady strokes of the brush, join them well, and rub back and forth to an even, smooth surface. Paint as far as you can reach handily, then step down a rung, paint below, and repeat. A new wall will take two coats; one already painted, unless very much defaced, needs but one. The paint can be varnished after it is dry; but the self-finish is pleasanter. Calcimine is put on exactly the same as paint, but the first coat must be very thin, the second thicker than cream, and the color if any, stirred well through the last coat. Remember, with either paint or calcimine, the dry wall will show much lighter than the paint in the pot.