Memory Monday: The Proper Way to Sweep a Room

My grandparents' wedding picture

THE PROPER WAY TO SWEEP A ROOM

This is in the book from 1913 titled Things My Mother Used to Make. This book came out a little while after my grandparents married in 1910.

How to Properly Sweep a Room

Dust the furniture and put it in another room. Dust bric-a-brac and put on the bed if you are sweeping a sleeping room, if another room put them on the table, or in an adjoining room. Brush the draperies, take down and lay on the bed or table. Cover these and bric-a-brac with a sheet. Wet a newspaper, tear into small pieces and spread on the rug or carpet. Now you are ready for sweeping. If the floor is carpeted, sweep all dirt to the center of the room. Sweep the corners with a small whisk broom. Move every piece of furniture lest there be dirt left underneath. Open the windows before sweeping. When the dust is settled take a pail of warm water, put in a tablespoonful of ammonia, then with a clean cloth wrung from this, wipe the window glass, mirror and pictures; polish with dry cloth. Wipe all finger marks from doors and mop boards.

Now take a pail of clean water, with ammonia, and with a small scrubbing brush go over the rug or carpet, to remove dust and brighten the colors. Re­place furniture, bric-a-brac and draperies and your room will be sweet and clean. With care, once in two or three weeks, will be often enough to do this. p. 98.

            When I read this one, I had to stop and think for a minute. This isn’t the way I do things, not since I got married, not now. First of all, we don’t have bric-a-brac, so that part is out. Second, I read, somewhere years ago in some household hints, that if you put your shelves just above eye-level, there is no need to dust. I thought that made since and did it that way. Third, our newspaper comes digitally, so we have no newspapers to wet and put down on the carpets (to gather the dust there, I’m guessing).

 Fourth, we have a vacuum cleaner so I don’t sweep my carpets, and it has attachments that work for corners so there’s no need for that little whisk broom.  As far as moving all the furniture to get the dust underneath it, re-read the plan for putting shelves above eye-level—works for underneath big pieces of furniture as well—out of sight, doesn’t exist.  And for all that glass and mirrors, the stuff in the spray bottle works wonders.

By the way, I don’t worry about any of this stuff now anyway. When my husband retired several years ago, he said he would take over all the housework to give me time to write. Gotta love that man!