Chapter I: Part 1

Useful Household Books

THE COOK BOOK OF LEFT-OVERS By Helen Carroll Clarke, former instructor
in cookery in Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, and Phoebe Deyo Rulon,
former instructor in invalid cookery and dietetics in Bellevue
Hospital, New York City. Illustrated with Photographs. 16mo, Special
Waterproof Cloth, Uniform with “The Expert Waitress,” $1.00 net.

SIMPLE ITALIAN COOKERY By Antonia Isola. A collection of recipes showing
how to cook macaroni, rice, soups, meats, vegetables, sweets, etc.
16mo, Cloth, 50 cents net.

HYGIENE FOR MOTHER AND CHILD By Francis H. MacCarthy, M.D., Attending
Physician to the Out-Patient Department for Children, Massachusetts
Homoeopathic Hospital. A manual for mothers and nurses. Post 8vo,
Cloth, $1.25 net.

THE BABY: HIS CARE AND TRAINING By Marianna Wheeler. (New and Revised
Edition.) Everything mother should know regarding the food,
clothing, and bringing-up of the baby. Illustrated. 16mo, Cloth,
$1.00 net.

MANNERS AND SOCIAL USAGES It covers the entire field of what to do and
what not to do in social affairs. Illustrated. Post 8vo, Cloth,
$1.25.

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HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK

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_HARPER’S
HOUSEHOLD
HANDBOOK_

A GUIDE TO EASY WAYS
OF DOING WOMAN’S WORK

HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
MCMXIII

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COPYRIGHT, 1913. BY HARPER & BROTHERS
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PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PUBLISHED MARCH, 1913

B-N

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CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

I. WASH-DAY WISDOM, NURSING, AND 1
SICKROOM

II. INSIDE A ROOM 24

III. EQUIPMENT AND RENOVATORS 41

IV. CHINA, GLASS, AND FURNITURE 56

V. MAKING WHOLE 74

VI. MAKING AND MAKING OVER 95

VII. REMEDYING SPOTS, STAINS, AND 113
TARNISH

VIII. FOOD: CHOOSING AND KEEPING 129

IX. HOUSE PLANTS, WINDOW BOXES, 145
CUT FLOWERS

X. DISINFECTANTS, INSECTS, 163
INSECTICIDES

XI. CARE OF PETS 179

XII. IN EMERGENCIES 192

INDEX 201

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HARPER’S
HOUSEHOLD HANDBOOK

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HARPER’S
HOUSEHOLD HANDBOOK

I

WASH-DAY WISDOM, NURSING, AND SICKROOM

=Water=: Soften hard water with either washing-soda or lye, taking care not to use too much. Turbid or milky water can be cleared to a degree with alum. Dissolve a tablespoonful in a pint of boiling water, and add a cupful to a tub. Ill-smelling water should be dashed with clear lime water—using likewise a cupful to the tub. A teaspoonful of carbolic acid to the tubful is also advisable with wash water under suspicion.

=Soap=: Save money and strength by getting soap in boxfuls, piling it cobhouse fashion on a dry shelf in the air. Borax soaps chap the hands least. Naphtha soaps do the best work with cold water. Cheap yellow soaps, having much resin in them, answer very well if the clothes are well rinsed. Any sort of soap is best made into a jelly. Shave a bar, cover with boiling water, and simmer until soft. If there are very dirty things to wash, add a teaspoonful of borax in powder, and as much washing-soda to the cake of soap. This is for rubbing on dirty spots. Other things had better be washed in suds, made by putting a handful of jelly in a tub of water.

=Washing Fluids=: Use for boys’ clothes, working-men’s shirts, and overalls turpentine, kerosene, and lime water, equal quantities, shaken well together. Wet thoroughly, let stand an hour, then wash in warm suds. Turpentine and spirits of ammonia, half and half, shaken hard together, will make easier the cleansing of colored woolens.

=Bleaching=: Clothes that are yellow from lying should be wet in boiling water dashed with oxalic acid (see section Renovators), putting two tablespoonfuls to the gallon. Wring out, dry in sunshine, and wash as usual. To bleach faded things white, as prints, lawns or linens, wash very clean, using extra-strong suds, then boil in a solution of cream of tartar, a heaping tablespoonful to the gallon. Boil half an hour; lift up; if not white, boil as long again. Keep the boiler filled and the garments well under water. Rinse in two waters after boiling, and dry in sunlight before ironing.

=Temperature=: Keep the water temperature reasonably even throughout a wash—violent alternations “full” every sort of fabric more or less. Very fine flannels washed in cold water throughout with naphtha suds—soap must never touch them—and dried quickly, hardly shrink at all. Flannels generally are best washed in blood-warm suds, with rinse water the least bit hotter. Yet the beginning of wash-day wisdom is to wet everything thoroughly with cold water before washing. Also put clothes to boil in cold water.

=Mordants=: Set colors before washing new garments. Most of the aniline colors require acid—either alum water or vinegar. Put four ounces of alum to a large tub of water, or add to it a pint of strong vinegar. Soak things for ten minutes, then wash. Set madder colors with sugar of lead, putting an ounce to a gallon of hot water. Soak twenty minutes. Soak blacks, black and whites, and grays in strong salt water, but only a few minutes. Buff, tan, and gray linens keep fresh longer if well wet before washing with strong black-pepper tea.

=Wash Frocks=: Put no soap on wash frocks—suds suffice after spots have been removed (see section Spots and Stains). With delicate colors use bran water instead of suds. Tie wheat bran loosely in thin cloth, and rub the clothes with it. Use lukewarm water, and work quickly. Rinse instantly and hang to dry in shade, but opened out so the drying will be quick. Hang carefully—pulling while wet ruins lines, besides weakening the fabric—especially if it is starched.

=Table Linen=: Wash in suds, first removing stains and grease (see section Spots and Stains). Boil only occasionally. Wash first. Never starch. Hang out very straight, warp threads across the line. Take down when barely damp, fold, keeping threads true, roll smoothly, iron dry, first on the wrong side, then on the right. Use irons below scorching heat. In ironing napkins do not pinch the folds with the iron—also iron them first the warp way. Instead of folding table cloths roll them after ironing upon heavy cardboard mailing-tubes that have been covered with white stuff and furnished with wash ribbons at the ends for tying. Tie napkins by sixes with ribbons matching those of the table cloths.

=Doing Up Shirts, Cuffs, and Collars=: Soak in blood-warm water until starched parts are soft, wash clean, shake out, pull all double surfaces straight, pat bosom, collars, and cuffs so the various plies will lie together, hang to dry, straight. When bone-dry fold the bosom lengthwise down the middle, dip in hot starch reinforced with gum water, rub the starch well into the cloth, wring, hang straight, slip a hand underneath the bosom and wipe over with a damp, clean cloth, then pat well together, pin-pricking any blisters. Starch collars and cuffs the same. Let dry, then spread sheets flat, sprinkle lightly, fold tails upward, sprinkle again, then, beginning at the neck band, roll up tight and smooth and let stand an hour.

Fold lengthwise down the middle of the back, iron body, back, and front; iron sleeves from the sloped seam back; press wrist bands first upon wrong side, then on right. Do the same with the yoke and neck band—fasten it, put in bosom board, spread bosom smooth upon it, keeping threads exactly square. Wet lightly with starch water; wipe over with a damp cloth. Have an iron just below scorching heat, begin work in the middle, at the bottom, hold the bosom taut with the left hand and iron toward the neck. Go all over; if any smears come wipe off with tepid water. Do the same for wrinkles or warped spots. Hold hard along the edges—the stitching draws. Polish with a special polishing-iron, a little cooler than the others.

Iron collars and cuffs upon the wrong side until half dry. Press hard over the right side and polish. Curl collars around the iron as it moves. Finish the band before ironing the outside. With cuffs the main thing is to prevent blisters and wry corners—do that by ironing the edges first and holding them taut.

=Clear Starching:= For fine lawns and laces. Dip in gum water (see section Renovators) a cupful to a quart of boiling water, squeeze without wringing, and hang smoothly to dry. Take down when barely damp, roll tight and smoothly, loosen a smallish space, and pat between the hands until dry. Sprinkle lightly—with an atomizer if possible—and iron on the wrong side with moderate heat. Laces need not be ironed—in fact, should not be.

=Starches:= A heaped tablespoonful of raw starch to a gallon of water makes rather stiff starch—if wanted very stiff use a teaspoonful additional. Bring the water to a bubbling boil in rather a wide kettle, wet the starch smooth, and thicker than cream, in cold water; take the boiling water from fire and stir the wetted starch into it. Stir hard—it will form no lumps, hence need no straining. A little lard put in while hot and stirred well makes things iron smoother. For starching tinted things—as écru linens or brown or buff lawns—color the water with clear coffee or hay tea before putting in the starch. Use the black starch sold in the shops for mourning prints, or any black-grounded ones. Never dip a blueing-rag in starch of any sort. Make blue-water as deep as possible, strain, and add to the hot starch. Even with liquid blue it is well to strain—specks of blueing, once dry, are hard to get out.

=Curtains:= Dip cream net or madras in hay tea or weak coffee water, after rinsing—this keeps the color. Make the tea by boiling a handful of bright hay in two gallons of water for twenty minutes. Strain, and add a pinch of alum in powder. Most curtains should not be starched. Many are better not ironed. Real lace curtains should be dried on sheets spread on the floor, every point pinned smooth. Or they can be clapped dry as though clear-starched. So can net ones. Frame drying is quickest and easiest, therefore to be chosen for all but the finest sorts. Very stretchy net should be dried on sheets, lying lightly crumpled. A very little gum in the rinse water gives it more body. This applies also to madras. Iron madras on the wrong side, taking pains not to warp or stretch it. Tucks in curtains, or anywhere, need to be held taut before the iron. Sewing of any kind puckers for wetting. Put the least bit of starch in muslin ruffles to be fluted. Hold insertions the same as tucks. Iron cretonne on the wrong side, when it is barely damp. Chintz is exceptional in requiring a thin starch and in looking best when ironed on its face.

=Knitted Woolens:= Knitted things like scarfs, sacks, sweaters, capes must be washed quickly in white soapsuds, lukewarm, else in cold naphtha suds, rinsed, blued if white, and dried in a crumpled heap in the sun. Hanging ruins them. Very fluffy things had better be dry-cleaned or washed in gasolene. Do this also with knitted silk hoods and neck scarfs.

=Lace and Embroidery:= If very much soiled put in a glass or earthen vessel, cover with white soapsuds, and set all day in full sunshine. Rinse in cold water, press lace smooth between the hands, and wind it while damp about a glass jar covered with old linen. Let dry, but do not iron. Iron embroidery on the wrong side, upon its special padded board (see section Equipment). Made-up lace, as fichus, collars, and so on, must be spread smoothly upon a hard cushion, pinned, and dried in air. Things lightly soiled can be dry-cleaned by lying buried a week in corn starch mixed equally with calcined magnesia. Shake out, brush gently, and press under light weight. Moderate soiling is best remedied with gasolene, changing it as it grows dirty. Hang several days in air, under a thin cover—this takes away scent and prevents collecting dust. Silk embroidery on all grounds demands gasolene-cleaning. Spots must be taken out (see section Spots and Stains) before cleaning. Press very lightly on the wrong side. Treat wool embroidery the same way. Embroidered cushion covers must be taken off, well brushed and shaken, also turned inside out before cleaning. But clean them right side out.

=Laundry Aprons:= Make laundry aprons of strong stuff, but sleazy—crash, denim, or colored linen. Cut kimona shape, with roomy sleeves, and to slip on over the head. Set a deep pocket on each side, within handy reach. Set a smaller pocket across the front just below the waist. Carry clothes pins in the big pockets, safety pins, a handkerchief, and wiping-rags in the other. Make wide enough for free motion, but not enough to sag under foot when the wearer stoops. Let come almost to the instep.

=Ironing-tables:= Make board or table suit your height, so you need neither stoop at the work nor hunch your shoulders. Set a table too low upon bricks or blocks—if it is too high, have something stable to stand on. Make tight-fitting covers for the table of unbleached muslin, sewed double at one end, to be slipped over the table edge, and with the other end long enough to lap over and safety-pin firmly in place. Have a double blanket under the cover, laid very smooth.

In using a board, set it high or low, as your height requires.

=As to Soaking:= Long soaking of clothes is undesirable—it loosens dirt but passes it throughout the fabric. An hour is sufficient. Cover things that must stand overnight with cold water rather than hot. Nursery wash in need of soaking must be kept to itself. So should things from a sickroom that are badly fouled.

=As to Boiling:= Boiling is not absolutely essential to clean clothes, still a means of grace toward them. Have separate boiling-bags for table linen, for handkerchiefs, for fine things like caps and collars. In boilers the best is the costliest—namely, copper. Next ranks the cheapest—a deep iron pot. Copper-bottomed tin answers with good usage. Iron pots will crack if allowed to get very hot before water is put in. Any boiler should have at least an inch of water in it before going over the fire. Likewise it must be kept clean, dry, and wash-worthy by constant vigilance for holes and cracks.

=Irons:= Test by pressing your cheek against the face—if rough, reject. Five to six pounds is a good weight. Half a dozen will be none too many. Keep clean and dry. Beware of setting them face down upon live coals or red-hot iron—heat pits them microscopically, but enough to make them stick. Polishing-irons are somewhat lighter and rather different in shape. Have an asbestos pad or wire trivet to set irons on. Have several holders, if you lack a patent handle, and shift as they grow hot.

=A Sickroom:= Disfurnish of every unessential. Leave nothing that can be knocked off or over, or that clatters or rattles. Remove rugs from a bare floor, but keep a small one handy for the patient’s feet. Cover a carpet with a smooth sheet of something washable. In case of contagion take away draperies and pictures. Have the bedstead light and firm-standing, not too low, single or of three-quarter size. Set it so there is free passage all round it, but not so light glares into sick eyes. Place the head at least six inches from the wall, and set beside it a small solid table. A couch or single bed, a spacious dresser, a bigger table, and at most three chairs are complete equipment. Give up the dresser to the patient’s clothes, bed clothes, towels, table covers, and so forth. Have three changes of clothes, a dressing-gown, a light shawl, slippers, many clean handkerchiefs. A dressing-room attached is a godsend—next to it a bathroom easily reached. Lacking either, a washstand fully furnished is necessary, also an alcohol or oil stove for hot water.

Toilet ware of white enamel is lighter and safer than china. Have in addition a foot tub and a deep covered bucket. Soaps, powder, scents at discretion—insist, though, upon clean wash clothes, a good sponge, also bottles of grain alcohol, aromatic ammonia, lavender water, and camphor. Insist also upon a demi-john of disinfectant solution—chloride-of-lime for ordinary illness, bichloride of mercury in cases of contagion (see section Disinfectants).

=A Sickbed:= Should have a good spring and a light, elastic mattress. Lay upon the mattress a pad of cotton tacked between cheesecloth, and change it daily. The mattress should have a white cover. Over the pad stretch smooth a sheet big enough to tuck in all round and be fastened underneath with safety pins. Pin the upper sheet only across the bottom, and lay a fold three inches wide in it there, to save cramping the toes. Do the same with the blankets. They should be light, not heavy. Down or puffy cotton comforts should supply extra warmth at need. Lay blankets so the upper edge will come a foot below the headboard. The sheet must be turned over them half a foot at least and be met by an outer spread light and smooth. Have a bolster rather hard, and three pillows of varying softness. Change slips daily. Change sheets likewise, save in desperate cases where the patient cannot bear moving. Space permitting, such cases should have two beds, fitted alike. Shifting can be done by setting them together and easing the sufferer on the fresh couch.

=Heat and Ventilation:= Open fires help mightily toward keeping a sickroom fresh. Burn wood that does not snap nor give out any pungent smell. Coal should be free-burning. Put it in small paper bags—thus it can be laid in the grate without noise or dust. Dampen ashes before removing, and keep hearth and fixtures clean by a daily washing. Keep the heat steady—the temperature that is ordered. Where there is distress of breathing, keep a clean kettle simmering on the fire, the spout turned outward—vapor softens air. Furnace heat coming through a floor register should be softened by setting on the register a small pan of water. With a wall register, fasten in front of it a big sponge, and wet it every hour or so. Radiators should have water on top, in something wide and shallow.

If windows must be opened at top, set an extra shade at the bottom with a hook to hold it in the middle of the upper casing. Roll up the top shade, lower the sash sufficiently, then raise the lower shade till the edge is level with the edge of the sash. Thus air has free ingress without rattling the upper shade. A window which must be raised ought to have a light board pivoted into the casing, so it can be turned outward at need, letting in air but preventing draughts. With a board a foot wide raise the window about ten inches. One window open at top, another at bottom will be far more effectual than a single window spread wide. Note what is outside; if at any time smoke or the smell of food comes in, shut the window. Allow no odors in a sickroom—neither fruit, flowers, spiced food, nor scented visitors. This in severe cases; mild ones and convalescence demand no such rigors.

=Care and Keeping:= Keep floors clean by wiping with cloths wrung out of hot water barely dashed with carbolic acid. The smell passes quickly—and is wholesome. Take off dust with damp cloths—litter must be prevented. Keep a waste basket handy, also a bigger basket for soiled things. Have them removed at once. Put half a cup of disinfectant in any vessel before using it, adding enough to cover discharges as soon as it has been used. Remove as quickly as possible. Do not keep such things in a closet. Rather ambush them behind a light screen set across a corner.

Have a table outside to receive trays, cups, glasses, uneaten food. Let nothing stand inside the room. The bigger table is for medicines, clean spoons and glasses, alcohol stove, and a supply of ice. Gas light fouls air so quickly, avoid it if possible. Electric light has the drawback of being hard to graduate. Oil lamps require the nicest care. Candles are better. Beware of lighting or extinguishing either inside the room. Strike no matches there if possible to avoid it. Even in lighting a fire, do it from a candle lighted outside. Keep filled candlesticks on the outer table with matches in plenty, and extinguishers handy. Take lamps there to put them out.

=Ice=: A nursery refrigerator is well worth its cost. Since it is not always to be had, here is a good substitute. Set a high wire trivet inside a deep agate pan, lay a lump of ice on it, then turn over it a clean flower pot. Plug the hole in the flower pot, and cover thickly with a folded blanket if in haste. Time permitting, make a cozy of cheesecloth thickly padded with cotton batting and big enough to come to the table outside the pan. Empty the pan several times a day. With an awl and a toy hammer slivers of ice can be broken as needed.

=Contagion=: Filth diseases—diphtheria, typhoid, etc.—spread through effluvia. Discharges of all sorts should be deluged with bichloride (see section Disinfectants). Even bath water needs a dose of it before emptying it. All manner of soiled things—towels, sheets, clothes—must be sunk in a tub of it as soon as taken off, and soaked several hours before washing. They need to be well boiled and dried in wind and sun. Eruptive ails—measles, smallpox, scarlet fever—have two periods of danger—in the fever stage before eruption, and when peeling. Measles and smallpox are most dangerous in fever; scarlet fever at the beginning of convalescence. Rub a patient in that stage well over with vaseline at least twice a day, bathing afterward with warm suds and putting on fresh clothes. Change bed linen the same; disinfect with extra thoroughness. Put bichloride in the water that wets the floor cloths, and be sure no dust is allowed to blow outside the room.

=Disinfection=: Wet everything well with bichloride solution, remove furniture, burn mattress and comforts, boil and sun blankets. Scrape walls and ceiling, wash well with bichloride, wash floor and woodwork likewise, then scour with carbolic soapsuds. Fill cracks of all sorts with fresh putty, shut doors and windows tight, and paste strips of paper around them. Take off closet doors, but leave inside. Tack a strip of tin on the door of egress so it will lie flat against the casing. Put three bricks in the middle of the floor, set an iron skillet on them, put into it a pound of flowers of sulphur, wet it with alcohol, stick in a short length of fuse, light it, go out quickly, close the door for a minute, look in—if the sulphur is burning, all is well. Shut the door and leave undisturbed for twenty-four hours. Sulphur fumes make an end of germs. They also bleach out colors of all sort.

=Poultices, Hot Cloths, Mustard Plasters=: Keep in stock bags of old linen or muslin, with drawstrings at top, for poultices. Fill them three parts, draw up, and flatten. If they must be hot, have three, keeping two in a steamer, with the water underneath barely simmering. Keep cloths likewise steam-heated, take out with a fork, wrap in a thick towel, and apply over thin flannel to prevent scalding. Wet mustard poultices with white of egg to prevent blistering. If severe burning is needed, wet with pepper vinegar. Make soft and lay thin net or muslin over the face of the poultice. For a slow, gentle burning mix the dry mustard one-half with flour.

=A Bandage Jar=: Tear old linen into strips two to four inches wide, lap ends two inches, and sew together. Make many lengths—half a yard to five. Pull away ravelings, roll smoothly, and fasten. Put a few clean pebbles in the bottom of a glass jar, lay paper over them, pack in rolled bandages till half full, then fill with absorbent cotton, and stand on a plate in a kettle of cold water, which is set over the fire. The water ought to reach the neck of the jar and be kept at a temperature of a hundred and eighty degrees for three hours or more. Take from fire then, screw on jar top, let cool in water, wipe, and set away.

Finger stalls in variety, with narrow tapes for tying, thus sterilized, are a help to mothers. Teach children to suck wounds or bites or stings instantly—it abates pain and takes out dirt and poison. Wash the hurt clean, unless a blood clot has formed—it is nature’s own remedy, respect it. Put on a stall, hold the hurt finger up, and pour upon it either arnica, witch hazel, or turpentine. Draw the edges of a cut together, clap on adhesive plaster, and hold until the plaster sets.

=Stanching Blood=: Blood spurting in bright-red jets means a severed artery—and great danger. A steady, dark-red stream means a cut vein. For either, knot two handkerchiefs hard together, trace the course of the blood vessel, put the biggest knot over it, thrust in a stick, and twist until the knot presses deep into the flesh. In case of an artery, put the knot between the hurt and the trunk. For a vein set it between the wound and the extremities. Work fast—a minute may mean life or death.

=Clothes for Nursing=: Wear nothing that cannot be washed; this is the first commandment. Wear nothing that rattles, rustles, or clings; this is the second, even greater. Light colors are refreshing to sick eyes, violent figures distressing. Have sleeves that can be pushed easily above the elbow, self collars, and trim fastenings. A single pin may scratch your patient. Eschew hard, starchy edges even on an apron. Wear a cap—a sweeping-cap is excellent—and change it daily. A long kimono apron slipping on over the head is useful for such work as bathing, giving alcohol spongings, or massage. One-piece frocks are imperative. The simpler and easier the better all round.

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II

INSIDE A ROOM

=As to Floors—Scrubbing=: Sweep clean, take out grease spots and smudges (see section Spots and Stains). Have a light knee pad, clean brush, a bucket of warm water with a clean, soft cloth in it, and plenty of either sand soap or a good soap powder at hand. Scrub well with a wet brush, putting soap or powder before it. Do not slop—too much water swells boards and warps them. Scrub a strip, rinse with a cloth moderately wet, then wipe with the cloth wrung as dry as possible. Wiping thus quickly takes up the wet dirt clean. Work from each side toward the center, finishing at the door. Never use a wiping-cloth after it sheds lint.

=Staining=: Sweep twice—the last time with a damp cloth pinned over your broom. Give new boards a coat of filler (see section Renovators). Let it dry, sandpaper rough spots, then give one or two coats of oil stain, using a soft brush and working with the grain of the wood. Keep both filler and stain well stirred while applying, otherwise neither filling nor color will be even. Finish with shellac.

=Shellac Floors=: Sweep, dust with a cloth-wrapped broom, moving it the way of the grain. Fill any cracks or crevices; then give a coat of filler, and when it is full dry two coats of shellac. Let the first coat dry for twenty-four hours before adding the second.

=Waxing Hardwood Floors=: Sweep and dust, rub rough spots with sandpaper, take out spots or smears—if faded spaces are left, rub them with sandpaper till a new surface appears, or touch with stain, and let dry. Go over in long strips, working from opposite sides with whatever wax you like, then rub until hot with a wooden floor pad (see section Equipment). A coat of very thin shellac makes cleaning easier, but does not rub to so handsome a surface. Put on the shellac after the wax has stood a day.

=Removing Stain or Varnish=: Use very strong lye, either from wood ashes or commercial potash, with a lump of washing-soda in it. Grease the hands well, so the caustic liquor may not eat them. Apply with a big sponge or coarse soft cloth, following with a damp cloth wrung hard out of warm water.

=Removing Paint=: Metallic paint whose bases are white lead, zinc white, and oxides of chromium, iron, and copper mixed in oil hardens to a very adherent surface, hence differs from water colors, and has to be either burned off with a special torch or planed off. Both processes demand skilled workmen. It is better to bring old paint to a taking surface by wetting it first very well with turpentine, then, after an hour, going over it with wood alcohol and a thick, crumpled cloth. Follow the alcohol by washing with lye or strong soda water. Let dry, sandpaper rough places, then put on new paint—which it will be the part of wisdom to have at least as dark as the old.

=Filling Cracks:= Cracks large or small must be filled before either painting or staining, knotholes likewise. If a crack can be seen through either, fit into it a sliver of wood before filling, or drive in fine brads, leaving the heads projecting across the opening. Bend the heads below floor level, and set the brads alternately, several inches apart. Make putty or paper dough (see section Renovators). Fill small to medium cracks with putty mixed soft enough to squeeze through a paper tube. Make the tube by rolling cornerwise a square of tough waterproof paper, fastening it, and snipping off the pointed end a very little. Use the same as a pastry bag. Else roll lumps of putty between the palms to form rather fat worms, lay the worms end to end along the crack, press them down with a putty knife, or any blunt, broad-bladed one, making the surface smooth and level. If the putty is very soft, sift a little dry whiting upon it and press it lightly. Put in paper dough with a knife or a blunt chisel or screw-driver; smooth the surface by laying on a board and beating it with a hammer. If the dough smears under the hammering, scrape away before it hardens. Plug knotholes with the dough, then drive brads through it, bend down the heads, and put a thin layer over them.

=Cleaning Waxed Hardwood:= Dust daily with a soft old silk duster, sweep with a soft broom in a clean bag once a week, following by hard rubbing with the weighted brush. Every three months go over with a flannel wet in turpentine, working very quickly, and following with a very little boiled linseed oil, applied with a clean, hot cloth. Once a year—not oftener—wash clean with weak warm borax soapsuds, wetting only a yard or so at a time and wiping dry immediately. Wax or oil afresh after the washing, and rub till very hot with a clean pad.

=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.

=Whitewashed Walls=: Brush off loose particles, wash grimy spots clean, take out grease spots (see section Spots and Stains), have your whitewash ready, keep it hot, do the work, if possible, in dry, sunny weather, hot or cold, and provide several brushes—long-handled, short, and medium. Have a bucket of water to stand them in when not in use. In whitewashing above your head, wear glasses and stand upon something stable. Wear also a light hat with a narrow brim, and loose, soft, wash-leather gloves. Save strain by having the whitewash pot of handy size, refilling from the main supply at need. Use either milk whitewash or indoor whitewash (see section Renovators). Wood takes up less whitewash than other things—two-thirds as much as plaster, half as much as brick or stone. Whitewash well dashed with carbolic acid is the best and most sanitary finish for the inside of cellars, stables, and outhouses generally.

=Window Glazing=: Take out sash, break away panes, and remove old putty. If there are whole panes guiltless of putty, take them out carefully and scrape the sash clean, the same as with a broken pane. Lay the sash face down, and fit in new panes. Set a tiny tack on each of the four sides so as to hold the panes. Then put in glazier’s points—to be had at any shop. Small tacks will serve instead. Press in the points, letting them lie flat on the glass. Then lay a worm of putty over glass and points, and smooth it in place with a blunt knife. Dip the knife now and then in cold water—and keep it wiped clean of adherent putty. Smear the glass as little as possible, and wipe away smears as quickly as made. Let lie until the putty hardens a trifle. Paint it as soon as it is firm. Otherwise it will weather and crumble. Indeed, it is the part of wisdom to paint putty over once a year.

=Ceilings=: Papering a ceiling it not easy, still not impossible to amateurs. It demands a tall stable scaffold almost the length of the room—boxes set upon an extension table will answer very well. Cut lengths of paper, matching the figures, paste, fold, and apply quickly. Begin work in the middle of the ceiling—thus it is easier to keep the seams true. Fasten an end lightly to the ceiling, then press lightly along the middle till you come to the other end. Sight, and if this first length is bias or crooked, loosen it and put it on straight. Press on very hard and be sure there are no blisters. Small blisters can be pin-pricked and patted down, but big ones require to have the paper lifted bodily, the air pressed out, then the paper patted back. Ceiling paper ought to have very small figures and delicate tones, much lighter than those of the walls.

Fabrics of any sort are best applied to ceilings in separate lengths and the joins covered with heavy moldings put on with brass-headed nails. This gives much the effect of a beamed ceiling at lower cost. A ceiling that crumbles badly should have strips of smooth deal nailed fast to it at even distances. The fabric can then be tacked to these with no fear of falling.

If a ceiling is too high, never put anything striped on the wall. A heavy border apparently lowers a ceiling—all the more if it is put on several inches below the ceiling proper, and the wall space finished to match overhead.

=Calcimine and Whitewash=: Both are applied the same way—with soft, broad brushes slapped back and forth until no grain shows. The surface must be clean and free of loose particles. Wash off old calcimine with strong soda water and let dry before applying fresh. Put on three coats, the same as for walls. The prepared cakes are cheap and handy, but there is more certainty and more satisfaction in home-mixing (see section Renovators).

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III

EQUIPMENT AND RENOVATORS

=Equipment=: These things will make house-work easier by saving strength and temper. Being neither costly nor cumbersome, the simplest home may well find room for them or such part of them as it needs.

=A Knee Pad=: Make of stout cloth twenty inches by twelve, stuff two inches thick, tack in lines to hold flat, and sew oilcloth upon the under side.

=A Foot Pad=: Make two feet square, stuff an inch and a half thick, and tack flat. Stand on it when ironing, washing, or preparing food. It saves strength and prevents cold feet.

=A Floor Pad=: For rubbing waxed hardwood or stained floors. Get a block of wood, brick-shaped, hollow the upper edges on both sides so it can be grasped, put a strap across, then cover the lower face with many thicknesses of flannel and chamois skin. Alternate them and have leather outside. Keep dry and away from dust.

=A Water Wagon=: Screw castors to the corners of a board a foot square. A pail set on it can be pushed about much easier than lifted.

=Broom Bags=: Have a set of six—two each of crash, Turkish toweling, and outing flannel. Keep clean, and be sure the drawing-tapes are not left knotted or broken.

=Brooms=: Have at least two brooms—one stiff, one pliant. Choose fine straw of a greenish cast rather than yellow. Eschew painted handles; sandpaper is the remedy for rough places. Put a screw eye in the tip of the handles and hang the brooms from hooks. Wash before hanging up.

=Floor Brushes=: A weighted brush needs to be kept dry and clean and so set that the bristles do not crush. Choose it light rather than heavy. See that the handle is set at the angle to suit your height and that the bristles are of the very best quality.

=Dust Cloths=: Make of many sorts and sizes, from a foot square to half a yard. Cheesecloth, flannel, old silk, and crash—all answer well. Overcast edges loosely instead of hemming. Keep clean and dry in a box or drawer.

=Dust Swabs=: Tie a handful of cotton, excelsior, or even crumpled paper inside a soft cloth and about the end of a light rod. Use to dust walls, floors, and ceilings, changing the cloth as it gets dirty. Sprinkling the cloth with alcohol, turpentine, or gasolene makes it more effective where the dust is grimy.

=A Silk Duster=: Crumple soft old silk into a big floppy rosette and fasten to a rod. Use upon pictures and picture moldings, also on waxed floors newly polished.

=Ironing-boards=: Shape the blanket, sew up, and fit smoothly, letting the small end of the board project bare an inch or two. Draw taut over the wide end and sew with flax thread. Make shaped covers of unbleached cotton, open at the small end, rounded to fit the other and hemmed. Draw on a cover and pin tight at the broad end. Let the seams come along the edge of the board. Change covers after use. Have a smaller board, similarly covered, to use when sitting down—it is laid on the knees. Have also a covered bosom board if shirts are home-ironed, and a smooth straight board of handy size, covered with two thicknesses of flannel and one of clean cotton, for ironing embroidery or anything raised.

=Sprinklers=: Keep a tin sprinkler with a fine rose for dampening clean clothes or sprinkling floors or carpets. If ammonia or alcohol is put into the sprinkling-water, rinse the sprinkler well before putting it away.

=A Tool Box=: Fill cracks with putty to keep out dampness, hinge on a cover, and furnish with a padlock. Keep in it a sharp fine saw, a hatchet, tack hammer, brace and assorted bits, chisel, monkey wrench, screw-driver, and gimlets. Also assorted brads, tacks, wire nails, screw hooks, screw eyes, and picture wire. A putty knife is useful. A T-square and foot rule are indispensable. Keep the box stationary, and insist that whatever is taken from it shall be put back in good condition.

=A Wax Board=: Cover a small clean board with flannel, sewing it firmly, rub the flannel well over with softened—not melted—paraffine, and keep for smoothing irons.

=A Laundry Cabinet=: Have a laundry cabinet if it is no more than starch boxes set one on the other. Keep in it starch, soap, blueing, Javelle water for stains, soap powder, washing-soda, irons and holders, the wax board, and sandpaper, which is sovereign for roughened irons. Keep also a filled pin cushion and a bundle of clean rags. Close with a roller shade instead of door or curtain.

=A Clothes Drainer=: Tack coarse burlap over a big wooden hoop so loosely it sags smartly. Nail stout legs to the hoop, spreading them so a tub can be set underneath. Drop clothes sopping wet from the rinse into the hoop, and save time, strength, and wear.

=A Lead Swab=: For use on marble, brick, or stone—especially good for removing smoke and rust stains. Sew a pound of buckshot rather tightly inside stout canvas, tie the canvas in chamois skin, and change the leather as it grows soiled.

=Sawdust=: Get a peck of clean non-resinous sawdust, sift, and sun or oven-dry. Keep dry. Use on floors, also for drying and polishing intricate surfaces. Heat for use, but do not scorch.

=Pine Needles=: Clean pine needles, if available, should be kept for polishing floors, either hardwood or stained. Heat very slightly and strew them in front of the weighted brush or broom.

=Brick Dust=: Beat a soft brick to powder, sift it and keep dry. Use with a chamois dipped in oil, else upon the cut surface of a raw potato. Especially useful for spots on steel or for polishing pewter and copper.

=A Wall Mop=: Cut washed cheesecloth into even strips, tack as many as can be firmly fastened to the end of a light rod, and shake free of lint. Clean by dipping up and down in soapsuds or gasolene after use.

=Care of Brushes=: All manner of brushes, especially floor and vegetable ones, should be washed clean, scalded by dipping to the back, no deeper, in boiling water, then dried, brush down, in open air, and kept dry. Whisk brooms should hang the same as full-grown ones, likewise hearth brooms. Stand clothes and hair brushes bristles down—this so they may not collect dust. The safest wash for them is gasolene, letting it come only to the back, not over it. Hot borax soapsuds, likewise used, clean without loosening the bristles.

=Renovators—Filler for New Wood=: Sift twice together half a pint of powdered corn starch and as much whiting. Stir gradually into a half gallon of raw linseed oil mixed with the same quantity of turpentine. Take care there are no lumps and keep well stirred while putting on.

=Oil Stains=: Use the same mixture of oil and turpentine. For cherry put into the gallon an ounce of Indian red, stir well through, test, if too pale add more color. If too deep, add oil and turpentine. Work with the wood grain in putting on any sort of stain.

=Mahogany Stain=: Four parts Indian red, three parts burnt sienna. Mix dry and stir evenly through the oil and turpentine. Use half sienna for a dull tone. To make stains dry quickly add a pint more turpentine and half a pint less oil.

=Walnut Stain=: Use burnt umber, an ounce to the gallon. A little dry ocher mixed with the umber gives a livelier tone. Red or yellow, or both, can be put in, but must be very well mixed.

=Oak Stain=: Raw umber is the basis of oak stain; proportion and mix like the others. Antique oak requires burnt sienna mixed well with a very little lampblack, also to have two parts of turpentine to one of oil. Apply it with a sponge or swab of cotton waste and rub into the grain lines, leaving the spaces between bare.

=Wax Finish for Stained or Hardwood=: Melt over boiling water half a pound of yellow beeswax with half a pint of sweet oil. Beat hard a minute, take from fire, add half a cup of turpentine, and beat until nearly cold. Keep covered in glass or earthenware. Apply soft, but not liquid, with a clean flannel, and polish by rubbing until hot.

=Dancing-wax=: Used on Colonial ballrooms. Melt together over boiling water a pound of yellow beeswax and half a pint of filtered neat’s-foot oil. Add resin the size of a walnut melted in half a cup of new unsalted butter. Beat well, take from fire, stir in a cup of turpentine, and keep covered. Apply soft, and polish with hard rubbing.

=Furniture Polish No. 1=: Equal parts of sweet oil, choloroform, and alcohol shaken hard together, rubbed on quickly, then polished by rubbing until hot.

=Piano Polish=: Shake hard together equal parts of sweet oil, turpentine, and vinegar. Add a very little naphtha, apply with silk or flannel, and rub hard afterward.

=French Polish=: For dark wood, especially old mahogany. Melt together over hot water ten parts pale resin, ten parts palm oil. Mix, take from fire, add eighty parts benzine, one part essence peppermint, and half a part essence of verbena. Keep sealed in glass, away from heat. Use away from light or fire. Apply with soft old silk, and polish by rubbing with very soft silk or flannel.

=The Glue Pot=: Melt glue only as required. Cover dry glue with cold water after breaking up well, put salt water in the bath outside, bring to a boil, then simmer until the glue ropes a little. Thin with hot vinegar. To mend things white or light-colored, melt the clearest glue in a china cup inside a saucepan, and thin after melting with gin instead of vinegar.