AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
April, 1906 
House Hygiene 
Housecleaning 
By Ralph Ernest Blake 
ANITARY text books, as a rule, give little 
attention to the subject of housecleaning, 
notwithstanding the fact that this topic is of 
great sanitary importance. [he most ap- 
proved of appliances, the best of apparatus, 
the most trustworthy of devices will fail if 
not kept in perfect order all the time. Constant care and 
watchfulness is the watchword of all good housekeeping, and 
housekeeping to be successful must be maintained on sanitary 
lines. ‘This care must be exercised at all times, but once a 
year, in the spring, a special occasion for housecleaning pre- 
sents itself, which tradition regards as one of the irremovable 
feasts in housekeeping. It is frequently supplemented with 
an autumn festival of like ilk, but the autumn cleaning is not 
always considered as imperative as the spring cleaning, which 
no good housewife would avoid and which comes as regu- 
larly as the spring opens. 
The sanitarian will exclaim, and with perfect justness, that 
once a year, or even twice a year, is not sufficient for a 
thorough overhauling of the house. Possibly this is true, yet 
the most vigorous of housekeepers quails before more than 
the one great annual cleaning, and the other occupants of 
the house are apt to look upon it with even more disfavor. 
Whether often enough or not, it is at least an excellent thing 
to subject the house to one good cleaning every year, a clean- 
ing that is thorough in every respect, which extends from 
attic to cellar, burrows into every closet, searches every cor- 
ner, and leaves the house for once at least in a thoroughly 
spick and span condition. 
Housecleaning is so usually regarded as a development of 
feminine activity in housekeeping that its methods, aims and 
results are apt to be left entirely to her own hard working 
will. Asa matter of fact, like most human occupations, it is 
best conducted in an orderly, systematic manner with the def- 
nite aim of accomplishing the best results with the least dis- 
turbance to the family life. This latter is a most important 
element, and the housecleaner who performs her task with 
the least disturbance can congratulate herself on having done 
something both meritorious and unusual. 
It is a first essential that housecleaning should be conducted 
in a systematic way. Sporadic efforts accomplish nothing and 
are highly injurious in the annoyance they create. One must, 
first of all, think out a programme, and the work will be 
helped very much if this is written down and carefully con- 
sidered. And at every point the question of convenience and 
disturbance must be taken into account, for unless that is fully 
heeded there will be endless confusion and much unnecessary 
discomfort. 
[t is a good plan to get work that must be done by outside 
help out of the way before anything else is done. If the car- 
penter is needed the work should begin with him. And it is 
well to look into the necessity for his assistance, for there is 
often work for him to do. The painter is also sometimes 
needed, but he should never be turned into a room until it has 
first been washed out and cleaned, even though a second 
cleaning will be needed after he has finished. The paper 
hanger may also have to be considered, and fresh paper when 
it can be afforded, is always beneficial and helpful to a house. 
Both the paper hanger and the painter call for a very com- 
plete cleaning up after they have done their work. 
If the housecleaning is to be especially thorough, bags of 
accumulated material, closets filled with discarded garments 
and similar material may well be examined before the more 
active work is begun, and much valuable labor performed 
in a quiet way and without any disturbance. ‘This done, the 
notes of procedure should be consulted and the work begun in 
the most orderly and quiet way possible. 
Never try to do too much, and never try to get everything 
done in one day. A complete housecleaning is a work that 
will take some time, and in the end it will be found better to 
do it piecemeal with as little disturbance as possible rather 
than in a wholesale fashion, everything cleared out at once, 
the whole house in confusion, everything upset for a day or 
two. ‘The putting to rights after such an upheaval is a more 
serious matter than sems at first, and there is no reason at all 
why the annual housecleaning should be regarded with ha- 
tred and regret by every one affected by it. As a matter of 
fact it is a most necessary operation and quite essential to the 
hygiene of the house. 
Due preparation having been made—and it should be 
noted that this must include the laying in of ample supplies 
of brushes, pails, soap, mops and other articles used, while if 
the family must be fed, provision for feeding it should not be 
overlooked—the work should be undertaken part at a time. 
The attic is a good place to begin with, perhaps the very best 
place. After that has been finished the cellar is probably the 
next best part to do. The cellar is apt to be a very neglected 
part of the house in all cleaning operations, but as a matter 
of fact it requires attention and care, and as frequent cleaning 
as any other part. The annual cleaning should be especially 
thorough. All barrels and boxes that may have contained 
vegetables and fruits should be removed, cleaned and thor- 
oughly aired before being put back. Litter of every sort, 
discarded bottles and other articles which naturally drift to 
the cellar should be thrown out unless a speedy use is known 
for them. Accumulations of this sort are apt to be rapid and 
nothing should be kept for possible use that is not really of 
value. Dark corners should be sprinkled with chloride of 
lime, and the cellar whitewashed at least once a year. The 
cleaning of the furnace may come later, for the fire may not 
be out at the time of the general overhauling. It should 
always be perfectly cleaned and any needed repairs made in 
the spring after the fire is dispensed with. 
These two widely separated parts of the house completed, 
the various rooms should be taken in such order as attention 
to household convenience may determine. One room at a 
time is likely to be found the better method, although some 
housekeepers prefer to get all the closets cleaned before any 
room work is undertaken. Individual circumstances will best 
govern the system adopted, but the single room idea is ob- 
viously to be commended. 
There is nothing easy in any of the work that is to be done, 
and this consists in thoroughly cleaning every part. The 
walls should be brushed down with a long handled hair 
broom, or with an ordinary broom covered with a cloth. The 
picture rail should be wiped off, especially in the upper hol- 
low. If the carpet is taken up the floor should be thoroughly 
scrubbed by hand; it may be rinsed with a long-handled 
brush. If the carpet is not taken up it should be well swept, 
using several handfuls of coarse salt. 
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