TJic Country Gcntlcivonian 



305 



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HO USEHOL D CL EA NING. 



(Continued from page 215.) 



V. SWEEPING AND DUSTING. 



SWEEPING is an art of a simple nature, 

 but which to do well requires practice 

 and care. The broom in the hands of a 

 thoughtless girl may do more harm than 

 good, by raising the dust from one lodgment 

 only to send it into another, instead of roll- 

 ing it gently along until a mass is collected 

 sufficient to be swept into the dust-pan and 

 carried off. Before beginning to sweep, the 

 housemaid should close the doors and win- 

 dows ; and, by throwing sheets over the fur- 

 niture of the room, protect it from any lodg- 

 ments of dust. 



The floor, whether carpeted or uncovered, 

 must be with prodigal hand sprinkled over 

 with moist tea-leaves. Let the housemaid 

 remember that the tea-leaves should not be 

 mouldy, or they will impart no pleasant fresh- 

 ness to the air of the room, nor dried, or 

 they will be useless in catching the dust. 

 Taking her broom she must first sweep gently 

 the dust collected under the furniture, beds, 

 drawers, &:c. ; and, when sweeping in the 

 open room, she should^avoid lifting her broom 

 hastily or high above the ground, which would 

 impel the dust upwards, but she should en- 

 deavour to check its rising, while she quietly 

 and gently rolls the mass of leaves and dust 

 into one spot, from which she can most readily 

 sweep it into her dust-pan. 



After sweeping, the essential work of dusting 

 should be done. The Avindow-curtains, which 

 had been lifted up considerably above the 

 floor during sweeping, should now be released, 

 opened, shaken, brushed with the proper 

 brush, and properly arranged over the hooks 

 or bands for the day. Tables, sofas, with all 

 the varieties of chairs and seats now in use, 

 are then to be carefully dusted and arranged. 



VOL. I. 



Ledges of wainscots, panels of doors, and 

 window-panes, must be swept with the small 

 brush called the banister brush. Mirrors and 

 pictures, with gilded frames, must be brushed 

 with feathers or silk dusters. A linen rubber 

 spoils them. 



Chimney-piece ornaments must be carefully 

 removed, and the mantel-piece either wiped 

 free from dust, or washed with cold soap and 

 water ; the ornaments, before being replaced, 

 must be carefully wiped with a fine linen 

 duster. 



Sweeping is in most country places a daily 

 business, neither bedroom nor parlour being 

 considered as properly done if this be ne- 

 glected. In London, where the necessity for 

 sweeping daily is still more urgent, it is cus- 

 tomary to sweep the bedrooms twice, and the 

 sitting-rooms only once a-day. 



Under beds, wardrobes, and other mov- 

 able furniture, every particle of dust should 

 be cleared away each day, either by employ- 

 ing a clean damp mop kept for the purpose, 

 or a damp scouring flannel. 



For sweeping boarded floors, the common 

 hair broom is used, which costs in purchas- 

 ing from 3 s. to 4s. 



The carpet broom, or whisk brush, is made 

 of the dried leaves of a tough grass. 



It is not desirable to sweep the carpet with 

 this broom more than once a week, being 

 rather too harsh for daily use. But after a 

 carpet has been well swept with it, the com- 

 mon hair broom will keep it sufficiently clean 

 for several days. The drugget brush, a 

 short-haired broom, answers for stair carpets. 



VI. CLEANING AND PRESERVATION OF CARPETS. 



Carpets, thirty or forty years ago, were 



