Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 163, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 July 1913 — HOW TO MAKE A BED [ARTICLE]

HOW TO MAKE A BED

feoMFORT AND SANITATION ARE FIRST CONSIDERATIONS. Passion for Airing Bedding Every Day Is Passport to Clear Skin—Bedmaking Not a Job for Children. That beds should be comfortable and sleeping rooms sanitary is admitted by everyone in view of the fact that we pass eight or nine hours out of every twenty-four in them; A passion for airing bedding thoroughly every day is almost a passport to a clear skin and good health. Housewives who are in the habit of making up their beds early in the morning run the terrible risks of illness and are not as tidy as they think they are. This is because* pounds of waste matter and insensible perspiration leave the body during sleep. This is absorbed- by the night clothes, bedding and drapery in< the room. It can only be dispelled by a current of fresh air, by washing apd cleaning. Maids cannot often be trusted to air beds as painstakingly as the house mistress likes, therefore it is a good plan to ask each member of the familyXo remove the covers from their befl before they leave their rooms in the morning. This only takes a moment’s time and is a great factor in the family’s good health.

Too often bed-making is relegated to the children of the family. If there are two of them this may answer, but it is not possible for one small person to make a bed properly, unassisted. In the first place' as I have intimated, the mattresses should be turned back to allow a circulation of air beneath them, and the covers laid over chairs before open windows. There is wisdom in having hair * mattresses and the best quality of bedding, for it outlasts poor goods four to one and is more comfortable. The mattress should be washed when dtisty. After the mattress is in place lay on the pad, then the lower sheet, Sheets are usually made with a wide hem at the top and a narrow one at the foot, but some persons prefer mat-king the top of the sheet with initials. It is Important to have some way of telling which is the top and which the bottom. This under sheet cannot be drawn too tightly nor too snugly tucked under the mattress. Upon its smoothness and firmness depends the appearance and comfort of the completed bed. *" Now put on the upper sheet and coverlets and turn them down neatly. Tuck the sides and endß under the smooth out every crease before putting on the upper spread. Marseilles spreads are Still the handsomest of all. They do not crumple and frequent washings only improve their snowy whiteness. Now come the pillows. Punch them with your fists and shake them until they seem full of fresh air and well puffed out. Now pat them Into shape and lay them in place with the open ends toward the sides of the bed. Shams and bolsters have gone out of fashion and we are glad of this, for made much extra work, were never useful and seldom ornamental. When making sheets, cut them so they will be long enough to tuck beneath the mattress at least four inches, top and bottom. They should extend well over the covers when the bed is mad# and turned down, not only to protect the comforts and quilts, but to keep the covers from touching the sleeper’s face.