How to sweep a carpet

The Century Cookbook circa 1894

It is an easy matter to sweep well, at any rate, if we may judge by experience; for when a broom is put into the hands of the uninitiated, more harm than good generally results from the use of it.

Without the greatest care and some little knowledge, furniture and paint, by being knocked about with the broom , may soon receive irreparable amount of damage.

Before sweeping rooms, the floors should be strewed with a good amount of dry tea leaves, which should be saved for the purpose; these will attract the dust and save much harm to the other furniture, which, as far as possible, should be covered up during the process.

Tea leaves also may be used with advantage upon drugget and short-piled carpets.

Light sweeping and soft brooms are here desirable. Many a carpet is prematurely worn out by judicious sweeping. Stiff carpet brooms and stout arms of inexperienced servants are their destruction.

In sweeping thick-piled carpets, such as Axminster and Turkey carpets, the servant should be instructed to brush always the way of the pile; by so doing they may be kept clean for years; but if the broom is used in a different way, all the dust will enter the carpet and soon spoil it.

Items worth remembering

The Everyday Cookbook circa 1887

A sun-bath is of more worth than much warming by the fire

Books exposed to the atmosphere keep in better condition than if confined in a book-case.

Pictures are both for use and ornament. They serve to recall pleasant memories and scenes; they harmonize with the furnishing of the rooms. If they serve neither of these purposes they are worse than useless; they only help fill space which would look better empty, or gather dust and make work to keep them clean.

A room filled with quantities of trifling ornaments has a look of a bazaar and displays neither good taste nor good sense. Artistic excellence aims to have all the furnishings of a high order of workmanship combined with simplicity, while good sense understands the folly of dusting a lot of rubbish.

A poor book had best be burned to give place to a better, or even to an empty shelf, for the fire destroys its poison, and puts it out of the way of doing harm.

Better economize in purchasing of furniture or carpets than scrimp in buying good books or papers.

Our sitting-rooms need never be empty of guests or our libraries of society if the company of good books is admitted to them.