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Show How to Sweep and Dust. To sweep and dust a room properly is an art, and like all fine arts has a right method. Well done, it renovates the whole room, and the occupant takes possession, feeling that "all things have become new." It is not merely a performance to be done by hands, but a work into which taste and [unreadable] - in other words, brains - must [unreadable] . Are these closets opening [unreadable] to be swept? Arrange the shelves, drawers or clothing preparatory to sweeping day, then let this be the first to be swept. Cover the bed with soiled sheets, as also all heavy articles that cannot be removed; first, however, having carefully dusted and brushed them. Remove all the furniture that can easily be set in the hall or adjoining room, having first dusted it; then take a step-ladder, begin to sweep, or brush, or wipe the cornice and picture cords and pictures. Draw the shades to the top of the window, or if there are inside blinds, dust them carefully. Open the windows. All the dust left in the room now is in the carpet or air, and the windows will soon settle it. Now begin to sweep, not towards a door or corner but from the outer edge of the room toward the center, where due dust will be taken up with a small brush and dust pan. Go over the room once more; this time with a dampened broom; that removes the last bit of dust, and it gives the carpet a new, bright appearance. Replace the articles of furniture as soon as the air is entirely free from dust, uncover the rest, and the room is new and clear. All this seems an easy thing to do, but there is not one in a hundred will follow out the details. Some will sweep the dust into the hall, or from one room into another, and then wonder why their house is so dusty again. Others forget cornices and pictures, and thus leave a seed of future annoyance; while a third class will do all but using the damp broom, which is as the finishing touches to a picture. |