ADVICE  FROM  MRS.  RAND:

    Flannel cloths are best for cleaning wallpaper, and for smoky places I use bread with very good results.  If the paper or straw under the carpets are removed carefully, very little dust will rise to the paper, and what dust is left on the floor can be more quickly gotten rid of with mop and water than with the broom.  If, however, it is too thick to treat in that way, I would subdue it with a sprinkling of moistened saw-dust before sweeping.  Even if one uses straw under a carpet, instead of paper, one layer of common newspaper spread under this will save a great deal of dust and labor at house-cleaning time.

HOW TO PAPER A ROOM

    Old paper may be removed by wetting thoroughly with water, and when soaked, it will easily strip off.  If lime-wash has been used on a wall on which it is desired to paper, the paper may be made to stick by washing the wall with vinegar, or water which ahs been made sour by the admixture of sulphuric acid (Oil of Vitriol).  Papering is very easily done by making a bench on which to paste, of boards placed on two empty flour-barrels.  Common flour-paste is made by mixing smoothly in cold water wheat or rye flour (rye makes the strongest paste) until a thin, creamy liquid is made; it should then be boiled, when it will thicken; if too thick, it may be thinned by adding boiling water.

    All curtains should be removed, washed, starched an ironed.  Windows should be washed, curtain rods polished and woodwork scrubbed.
    Ceilings should be “swept” with a cloth covered broom to remove dust and spider webs.
    Stoves may be removed and stored in the wash house until fall.  Chimmeys should be desooted and the ashes carried out.  These jobs should be left to the male department.

    Feather ticks and straw ticks should be removed from the beds and taken outside.  The feather ticks should be hung over the clothesline and beaten like the rugs.  The straw ticks should be emptied and new straw stuffed inside.  The boys of the family will handle the job nicely. 
    If rooms need to be prepared, spring is the best time to complete this job because rooms will be emptied of rugs and furniture moved.

Explorations in Iowa History Project
Malcolm Price Laboratory School
University Of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, Iowa
©COPYRIGHT 2003 University of Northern Iowa
Lynn.Nielsen@uni.edu
Duplication for Instructional purposes only.
Credits: Logo and site design by ITS CET
Documents courtesy of the State Historical Society of Iowa