Guide to Hotel Housekeeping

by Mary E. Palmer

If the brass trays under the cuspidors are very badly stained, the stains may be easily removed with a solution of vinegar and salt, to which has been added a little flour. Have the mixture boiling hot; rub the tray with the mixture with a flannel cloth, then wash the tray with hot water and wipe dry with a cloth. After this, it may be polished with a good mineral paste or some of the special preparations made for the purpose, using a flannel cloth for polishing.

The high dusting is done with a long handled broom. Tie a bag made of cotton flannel over the broom and brush the walls downward. Brush the dust off the cornice and over the doors and windows. Then, using a clean cheesecloth duster, go over the doors, window sills, mantles, and furniture, changing the soiled dust-cloth frequently for a clean one. The housekeeper must see that the parlor-maid is supplied with plenty of clean dust-cloths.

The Maid's Many Duties.

If the fireplace is finished with tile, the parlor-maid should wash these with soap and water. She should polish the brass and replace it. The curtains and silk draperies should be taken down and hung in the open air and brushed with a whisk-broom. The rugs should be rolled up and the houseman should take them to a flat roof where they should be laid flat and swept. They should not be whipped or beaten, as "whipping" will ruin an expensive rug. When sweeping the stairs of the ladies' entrance, the parlor-maid should use the whisk-broom and dust-pan. The ladies' toilet-room requires some care to keep it always neat and clean. After sweeping the floor and dusting the doors, the bowls should be washed inside and out with the toilet-brush and a disinfectant put in. The stationary wash-basins should be scrubbed with sapolio and the faucets polished. There should be kept always on hand clean towels and soap, a comb and brush, a box of face-powder—the English prepared chalk is the best for toilet-rooms. The public baths on the parlor floor come under the parlor-maid's charge. She should keep the tubs and the floor clean, and see that soap and towels are supplied.

The writing rooms should be cleaned before breakfast. The sweeping should be done the first thing in the morning. The desks should be supplied with fresh pen points, paper and ink once a day. The waste paper baskets should be emptied as often as is necessary, and the cuspidors should be cleaned at least four times a day.

Keeps Assembly-Room in Order.

It is usually the parlor maid's duty to take care of the casino, more familiarly called the assembly-hall. The casino floor requires very careful cleaning. No scrubbing or sweeping with ordinary brooms is permissible on a polished hardwood floor. It should be carefully swept with a bristle broom and the dust taken up on the dust-pan. The floor should then be dusted with a broom, over which has been tied the cotton-flannel bag made for the purpose. If there are any spots on the floor, they will have to be washed up, but this will take off the polish; therefore, it must be restored by the weighted brush or weighted box with brussels carpet tacked on the bottom of it. The original polish is restored by pulling the box back and forth over the floor. A housekeeper will make a sad mistake if she attempts to scrub the ballroom floor.

Waxing the Ballroom Floor.

In most every hotel, it is left to the housekeeper to wax the ballroom floor before the opening of the "hop." The wax is sprinkled over the floor.

In very large hotels in large cities where there are three or four public parlors, and where three or four parlor-maids are employed, their work is confined to the parlors. The parlor-maid waits on the ladies, helps them on and off with their wraps, and caters to their comfort both physically and mentally; keeps the parlor clean, and does many little acts which go to make a great big hotel seem like home.