=Carpeted Floors:= Damp with a fine sprinkler before using a sweeper, or dip the broom tip in warm water and shake very dry. Then wipe with a thick towel pinned tight over a stubby broom, washing it out if it gets very dirty. A little borax dissolved in the sprinkling-water brightens the carpet. So does fine, dry snow sprinkled on and swept off so quickly it has not time to melt. But the best thing to renew color and freshness is clarified ox gall dissolved in blood-warm water. Wash the carpet with it, after sweeping as clean as possible, using the solution the same as suds and taking pains against slopping. =Rugs=: When possible, sun rugs before sweeping, beating, or vacuum-cleaning them. Spread smooth and wipe over with warm, weak borax soapsuds, followed by a tepid rinsing. Go over both sides, and let dry well before putting down. Half yearly wipe them over either with the ox-gall solution or fresh sweet milk. Rinse after either, but wait an hour to do it. The animal matter makes the wool more alive. Beware of stretching rugs cornerwise. Hang them always with the warp threads across the line or the pole. =Walls, Windows, Ceilings—Walls=: The first thing is to make them sound and firm. Fill breaks great or small with plaster (see section Renovators). Fasten loose trim neatly in place, spread tarpaulin or paper well over the floor, then with a broom or long-handled stiff brush go over everything—walls, ceiling, woodwork, and molding. Painted walls must be washed clean before repainting. Whitewashed ones need to have as much as possible of the old whitewash swept off. Old paper must be sprayed with boiling water, let stand till soft, then scraped off. Paper will not stick to either hard-finished or whitewashed surfaces unless they are washed over with strong vinegar or strong alum water, and let dry, then sized either with glue or vegetable size (see section Renovators). Put windows in repair before touching the walls, and, of course, freshen the ceilings. Remove all the litter before beginning on the walls—the less dust there is under your new coverings, the longer they stay fresh.