On Wednesday Mrs. Grundy mends and puts away the clean clothes and
picks up some of the household stitches which had to be dropped on the
two preceding days. The kitchen must be put in order, the refrigerator
must have its semiweekly cleaning, and the ashes which have accumulated
in the stove removed, a new fire built, and the hearth washed. While
the oven is heating for the mid-week baking there are vestibules and
porches to wash, walks to sweep, the cellar to investigate, and a dozen
little odds and ends to attend to which, with the baking, make a busy
morning. The cleaning of silver dovetails nicely with the Wednesday
work, and during the canning season the preserving of fruit can be done
at this time with the least interference with the other work of the
house, though when it becomes a case of the fruit being ripe, other
work must give way for the nonce. In short, Wednesday is the general
weekly catch-all into which go all the odd jobs for which room cannot
be found elsewhere.
THURSDAY
It is Mrs. Grundy's theory, strengthened by practical experience, that
it is better to extend the weekly sweeping and cleaning over two days
than to condense it all into one; and so Phyllis takes the bedroom
cleaning as her special Thursday work, and armed with broom, dustpan,
pail, and cleaning cloths, she ascends to the upper regions as soon as
she has reduced the lower to their everyday nicety. The daily brushing
up with broom or carpet sweeper removes the surface dirt, but sweeping
day means a good "digging out." She commences operations by sweeping
out the closet and wiping off the floor with a cloth wrung out of hot
borax water. Then she brushes down, rolls or folds all curtains and
draperies, and fastens them up as near the pole as possible, perhaps
slipping a case over each as a protection from the dust. If the bed is
hung with a valance, that, too, is pinned up. All small toilet
articles and knicknacks are dusted and placed on the bed, and covered
with a dust sheet of coarse unbleached muslin, or calico; bowl,
pitcher, and other crockery are washed and dried, inside and out, and
placed in the closet, with dresser and stand covers, which have been
shaken out of the window. These, if soiled, are relegated to the
clothes hamper, to be replaced by fresh ones. Chairs and easily moved
articles of furniture are dusted and set outside of the room. If there
is a fire the ashes are carefully removed and brushed from the stove;
the windows are opened unless there is a strong wind, when they are
opened a little after the cleaning is done, and the sweeping begins.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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