The advantages of chaff beds are many. Real chaff, not chopped straw, is used for them, and they are cheap, easily filled, and easily renewed; the latter should be done once a year. Delightfully soft, and at the same time supporting, they have not the stuffy heat of feathers, but are warmer than mattresses. A chaff pillow and bolster to those suffering from headaches are luxuries. In making the bed, chaff must be well shaken.
The horsehair mattress is now usually preferred, and is an agreeable substitute, being cooler, more comfortable, and far better than the feather bed from a sanitary point of view. Then there is the wool or flock mattress, much less expensive, and very commonly found in servants’ rooms and in the dwellings of the poorer classes. It soon, however, wears flat, and even with care becomes lumpy after a short time, and moth is very likely to attack it. Even when mixed with hair, it makes an unsatisfactory bed, and loses much of the springiness which is so pleasant a sensation in one of superior horsehair. It must be owned, however, that not a little of the discomfort of wool mattresses is owing to the carelessness with which they are treated. If now and again they were unpicked, and the wool well carded, they could easily be restored to their first state and made clean and comfortable—for the tick which contains the wool is capable of being washed during the picking and carding process. French mattresses are irreproachable. It is the custom throughout France to renew the mattress once a year; and taking advantage of the summer months, they remove the tick covering, and pick, card, and pull the wool or hair until they have restored it to its original elasticity. The tick or covering is then replaced by a clean one, and very wholesome and pleasant is the result. The wool mattress is not at any time so pleasant as one made of horsehair, nor is it so durable; and indeed it is well to bear in mind, that the most economical method in the end is invariably to purchase the best material.
The housemaid should have strict injunctions to beat, shake, and turn all mattresses each morning, and they should be brushed all over from to time, in order to prevent dust and flue from accumulating underneath the little leather stars through which the thread for ticking the mattress down is passed. To prevent the edge of the mattress from becoming soiled, it is an admirable plan to sew or tack a border of glazed holland all round the palliasse and mattresses; and a still better one is to have them put into large white covers, after the fashion of a pillow case, as these may be removed and washed at will, keeping the external tick always as good as new.
A straw palliasse is the first thing placed upon the laths of the bed: with a proper amount of care this should last a lifetime. The spring mattress takes the place of it in many instances, being an invention of modern times. It is much more expensive, but is held in high esteem by most housewives, being considered superior in comfort to any other kind. But some housewives still prefer the palliasse, declaring that, with two good hair mattresses placed above it, no bed can be superior to it in elasticity and comfort.
The spring bed has its faults; the wires underneath, not easily reached, collect dust, and they may get out of order, in which case they occasion no small discomfort. The best spring bed is that called the Sommier Tucker—on a new principle, without a covering, so that it can be entirely cleaned and dusted throughout. These beds are undoubtedly cool and have the advantage of giving great elasticity to the bed, as indeed do all of their kind. A hair mattress is always placed on the springs; this, if well brushed and tended, ought to require only occasional renewal, perhaps once in 8-10 years.
The bolster is always of feathers; the pillows may be manufactured either of feathers or down, according to the fancy of the housewife. This is quite a matter of taste; and some like a hard, others a very soft pillow. The shape must also vary, according to the ideas of those most concerned. The oblong is the usual form, but a square cut one, after the French fashion, is a very comfortable style of pillow. The number of blankets must vary, according to each person’s taste and the time of year, but 2 on an average, are enough for temperate weather. Great care should be taken in the purchasing of these: they should be of the best quality, and the wool free from a mixture of cotton. They should be washed at least once a year; but that ought to be enough, as they are impoverished by constant cleansing. For winter wear the Witney blanket is a delightful covering. Sheets may be made either of linen or cotton, and their textures are numerous; varying from the delicate fine linen of the wealthy and luxurious housewife, to the thick, coarse, unbleached cotton of the poorer classes. Linen is the most durable, and is generally used in preference to cotton, as being more pleasant to the touch. It is cooler, preferable for summer wear, and some people are rendered hot and uncomfortable when sleeping in cotton sheets at any time of the year. In winter however, much may be said in their favour. By using them, the chill which first contact with linen invariably gives the skin is avoided. For children’s beds they are much the best, and can be bought of as fine a quality as the housewife desires. Twilled cotton wears the longest, and is a very suitable material for servants’ sheets. For keeping the feet warm there is no covering so pleasant as the eider down quilt, its lightness being its greatest recommendation. But each person has his or her idiosyncrasies on the matter of quilts, and the arrangement of the bed.
Making Beds.—Bear in mind, to begin with, that, unless a bed is properly aired every day, it certainly will not be a place of rest. Remember the instant you get up, to throw back all top clothes, and let the air come freely to the lower sheet. This will be a great help to the housemaid later on. A bed should always be stripped daily.
Every girl should, as a matter of course, learn to make her bed, and it would be very good for her if she had to do it regularly as part of the daily routine. Naturally, while little, she would require help and supervision; but after 14 she ought to make her bed, and be responsible for the general tidiness of her room, with no further interference than the sweeping and a little help in turning the mattresses. Rooms would be more daintily kept if girls were encouraged to see to such things and the housemaid would be saved a good deal of work.
The proper course in bed-making is as follows: The bolster and pillows should, after a slight shake, be laid aside; the mattress freed of the bedclothes, should be raised and allowed to stay in an arch for a few minutes, to let the air get to the palliasse or spring bed; then it should be turned head to foot, or side to side, to equalise the wear, and well kneaded and shaken, to prevent any hard lumps gathering. Next lay the binder blanket smoothly over it, then the sheet, allowing the piece at the top to roll the bolster in, if you do not use a bolster-case, tuck sheet and blanket firmly in at foot and sides; shake and toss the bolster well, and see the feathers are evenly distributed, roll it up in the sheet-end left for that purpose, and tuck the ends in well under the mattress, straining the sheet evenly and carefully to prevent folds and creases. Then lay on the top sheet, tucking it in well first at the foot end. Draw it up straight and even to the top; repeat this process with the blankets and the quilt; fold blankets and sheets well in under the mattress, letting the sides of the quilt hang evenly and loose over them all; then turn back the top of the sheet ½ ft. over blankets and quilt and finally turn all together back just below the bolster; shake the pillows as you did the bolster, place them in position, and then when you have laid the eider down quilt in its place your bed is made. The mattress should be dusted daily, and once a week the whole bed should be brushed and overhauled.