Spring Cleaning

Who loves Spring cleaning? Who has the urge once the days grow longer and lighter to clear out the clutter, dust and clean and tidy throughout the house?

Not me, that's for sure!

And it was while I was debating cleaning up the twins' bedroom or reading a book that I began to browse through a very old copy of 'Mrs. Beeton's Cookery Book'.* This is a wonderful book not only full of recipes - as would be expected - but also full of advice and wisdom for the housewife. There is information on cleaning just about anything.

Do you need to clean your tins? Then "...whiting, moistened with water, and water with a little spirit of ammonia is a good cleansing and polishing paste for tins".

Got a grease spot on your carpet? "One pint of oxgall mixed into 3 gallons of warm water and applied to the stain with a stiff brush...." should do the trick.

Did you know that if your kitchen knife smells of onion, you need only "...thrust it into the earth one or twice to take away the smell."

And be sure to leave your saucepans and fish kettle in front of the fire to dry thoroughly after washing so that "....they may escape the deteriorating influence of rust, and thereby be quickly destroyed."

In addition to numerous household hints, many of which I am sure I will want to share with you again, the list of household chores that faced a housewife back in the early 1900's was daunting. As an example, there is an 'Order of Work' which scares me silly:

Monday
Home Washing
Tuesday
Sweeping and cleaning of servants' bedrooms or one or two other rooms, and stairs cleaned down to the lower floor
Wednesday
The sweeping and cleaning of best bedroom and windows
Thursday
Cleaning and turning out cupboards, and cleaning of passages and remaining stairs.
Friday
Sweeping and cleaning of drawing room, and cleaning of silver
Saturday
Sweeping and cleaning of dining room and kitchen, tins, coppers etc..

Besides these daily tasks, Mrs. Beeton goes on to remind the housewife that in addition she needs to remember "......the bed making, the dusting, the cooking and washing up, and all the hundred and one things that have to be accomplished in the smallest of households............"

Of course, if I was fortunate to have a mansion with many servants I would need only to supervise all of these duties and to ensure "...their proper performance." We are lucky now to have all our machines, and equipment and labor saving devices, and I am quite happy that I sat and wrote this post instead of cleaning the twins' bedroom! I will live to fight another day!

Wendy

*Excerpts from 'Mrs. Beeton's Cookery Book', 1909