| OCR Text |
Show WOMAN'S WORLD Budget Work According to Energy in Spring Cleaning Brush Up Crumbs ! , V- ., . ; , , " I By Ertta Haley THESE seasonal housecleanings scare most families, and it's j no wonder! The whole house is in ' a great upheaval from attic to cellar, and mother's so tired! ' j The cleaning doesn't have to be done in a day or two, or even a ! week, especially if you have a I large home. Why not parcel it out among several weeks and thus save yourself and the family their loss of comfort? If you have two regular cleaning days every week, you can plan to ' do some of the extra jobs on those days which you would ordinarily save for the seasonal cleaning. : Now, when you have one or two days for laundry: plan to wash some curtains, draperies and slip-! slip-! covers along with the regular laundry. This is far easier on you than doing all these big items at j one time. If you plan to do one or two rooms at one time, this is far better than uprooting every room in the house for two or three days. With your energies as well as work budgeted over a period of time, you'll feel much better, and will thus accom-jplish accom-jplish better results. Are there a lot of things to be put away for the warm months ahead? 'Gather your boxes, paper and labels la-bels ahead of time, and then pack things away as they become clean from your laundry or cleaner. Days on which you ordinarily have only light work can be made a bit heavier with some of the special spe-cial seasonal jobs like a thorough 'washing of the woodwork as well as windows, rugs and draperies. If you're not yet ready to plunge have them cleaned if you cannot have the shrinkage. Nylon lace curtains wash easily and dry quickly. They usually need only slight pressing at the hems. Many Draperies Wash With Complete Safety Use common sense in washing draperies, if you want satisfying results. Unless they are color-fast and pre-shrunk, draperies probably should not be washed as you may lose the whole investment in them. Lined draperies are usually too much of a job to attempt at home unless the linings can be easily removed re-moved and replaced. Overloading the washing machine when you're doing drapes may prevent pre-vent them from becoming cleaned thoroughly. It's foolish to overload too many in, as five minutes in medium warm water is sufficient for most drapes. Thorough rinsing is in order. Before putting through the wringer, fold the draperies flat, to prevent unnecessary wrinkling. Drying draperies in a shady place will prevent undue loss of color. If you have an ironer, you'll find this excellent for pressing them artistically. Heavy and lined draperies which are not due for cleaning can be easily handled by using a vacuum cleaner attachment on the drapes, just as they hang. If you go over them thoroughly with the attachment, attach-ment, not just seasonally, the drapes can be kept quite nicely, thus saving many trips to the cleaners. Partitions Can Add Interest to Rooms Separate rooms for every activity in the home are becoming obsolete. Now we have dining areas combined with living room or kitchen. The bedroom is a hobby room as well as a place for rest. The den or music center or library is often worked into a section of the living room. Whether you build, remodel or just redecorate, bear some of these functions of the rooms in mind. Perhaps you can add charm as well as more livability to the home with simple partitioning. Screens are one of the simplest methods used, but they need not be. dull and colorless. Why not cover the screen with maps or pictures from some of your vacation trips? They're conversation stimulating, as well as an addition to the personality per-sonality of the home. Screens can be covered with menus you've collected. What could be more appropriate for a screen used to enclose a dining area? Another type of partition which is very useful is a chest that can easily be made by simple carpentry work. Use this to separate the kitchen kitch-en from the dinette nook. It's much less expensive than a wall, and you'll get table top space to help in serving the meal, as well as the chest-shelf itself to help store dishes and table accessories. Chests used as partitions can be used to separate living and dining area, and it may even be used to section off the living room for library or music activities. Let Rooms Change With Living Demands All changes, minor or major, should be made with an eye to future use and activity. Dining room rugs require constant con-stant attention to keep them attractive. at-tractive. Plan to use your carpet sweeper on the rug immediately after the meal to remove any crumbs before thev get ground Into the rug fibers. This rug design de-sign is borrowed from that of an ancient sione carver ana comes in beige, grey and two 6hades of green. If any of your curtains are chintz, and you want the colors to be truly delightful and fresh, wash as often as they become soiled. If the chintz has a permanent glaze, the shiny surface sheds dirt well, and the curtains do not need as frequent laundering. Durable finish is unhurt by washing, wash-ing, but it should never be soaked. Lukewarm water and mild suds are indicated, and three to four minutes in the machine are sufficient. suffi-cient. Rinse thoroughly and dry in the shade. Iron the glazed side while' slightly damp with a moderate moder-ate iron. On sheer curtains you may have to allow for a two or three inch ; Use a sponge for woodwork ... i into the actual work, at least get your equipment in order, along with assembling cleaning materials. Let Cleanliness Enhance Your Curtained Windows Clean, sparkling windows and immaculate im-maculate curtains can certainly be a treat to your eyes when you first start looking out at the season coming into buds and greenery. A few minutes washing in the machine is sufficient to clean most of your curtains. Most of them need a lukewarm pre-rinse to remove most of the soot and dust and then be whisked into the machine. For glass or ruffled cotton curtains give them two minutes time, then rinse thoroughly. Light starching will make them crisp as new. Permanent finish curtains, of course, do not need starching. Hang to dry, or use a curtain stretcher to assure straight edges. mimmtr and vacuum cleaner for draperies, (shrinkage during washing if they're not pre-shrunk. You may prefer to |
