Vintage Spring Cleaning
The Book of Household Management
The spring is the usual period set apart for house-cleaning, and removing all the dust and dirt,
Winter curtains should be taken down, and replaced by the summer white ones; and furs and woollen cloths also carefully laid by.
Included, under the general description of house-cleaning, must be understood, turning out all the nooks and corners of drawers, cupboards, lumber-rooms, lofts, &c., with a view of getting rid of all
unnecessary articles, which only create dirt and attract vermin; sweeping of chimneys, taking up carpets, painting and whitewashing the kitchen and offices, papering rooms, when needed, and, generally speaking, the house putting on, with the approaching summer, a bright appearance, and a new face, in unison with nature.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you know that women (and their families) used to spend up to 2 weeks each fall and spring readying their homes for the coming season? This would involve any number of things up to and sometimes including putting in new lineoleum on the floor! Much of this was due in large part to the use of coal as a heating source. The black coal would leave everything in the home covered in a nice fine dust!
Each year women tore apart the their homes in preparation for spring. The scrubbed everything from top to bottom in efforts to remove the layer of coal dust that had collected during the cold winter months.
And of course spring itself meant the coming of bright sunny days and who wouldn’t want a bright home to go a long with it.
Products with names such as Larvex were sold to housewives to aid in moth elimination when putting away woolen blankets and clothing for the summer.
The advent of the vacuum cleaner and the elimination of coal as a heating source did away with most of the drudge of Spring Cleaning but to this day people love the idea of giving their home a new clean look to usher in the warmer days.
It’s still a good idea to give your home a thorough going over once or twice a year. Few people have the time to devote weeks to this type of thorough cleaning but doing a little each week or even each day year round can produce excellent results.
Comments are closed