Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 October 1891 — Dusting. [ARTICLE]

Dusting.

Every housekeeper knows how hard 1 it is to persuade a servant that attention to trifles increases the family comfort. Dusting is a trifle, compared with more important domestic work; but not one servant in fifty knows how to dust, and almost as few of their mistresses. They simply know how "to “provoke the silent dust.” The Illustrated American shows how dusting should be done: In the first place the bunch of tur-key-tail feathers hanging behind the door, alleged to be an implement for removing dust, should not be allowed to remain in a well-kept household. A minute’s reflection will prove that it merely agitates the dust, filling the air with molecules, which, after chok|ing one’s lungs, settle again to vex ,the cleaner’s soul. Now, if one’s menage is carefully [directed, it should not be necessary to sweep every portion of the house oftener than once in seven days. But when the broom is introduced, every small piece of furniture, with all the hri-a-brac, should be first thoroughly wiped free of dust with a clean cloth, and then covered with an unbleached cotton sheet reserved for the purpose, or else removed altogether from the room. Nothing is so injurious to books,, pictures, and ornaments as to be exposed to the dust while carpets,, mattings, or even bare floors are being brushed.. No matter how scrupulously they may be clfeansed. afterward, the minute atoms are ground; in and soon, destroy their first freshness. It is- a good rule to carry into the next room every light chair,, table*, easel, etc., so that when the sweeping begins there may be no obstructions whatever.. The next thing is to have a paper of pins, and go from, window to- door securing all the drapery from the dust. It is taken for granted that divan-covers, sofapillows, mantel lambrequins,, and tidies are protected. The competent maid will then throw every window wide open, and examine all the crevices for cobwebs before she starts with the broom. Ttearleavea and coffee-grounds, if no* too wet, will do much to arrest the dust; but too often they are carelessly used, to the injury at delicate colors. When a room is being freshened for a week’s steady occupation, it is well to pass a soft white doth over as much of the walls as is possible. By doing this, one will be astonished to discover what an amount of dirt is removed. Then every inch of woodwork should be wiped, one section at a time, and the duster taken to the window and shaken free of lint before starting afresh. Where domestic affairs are well ordered, dusters are neatly hemmed, marked, and numbered like towels, are boiled In the weekly wash, and given out from the linen closets as the needs require.