Care Of The Kitchen Floor

A linoleum covered floor is the most easily kept clean. The hardwood floor is the next best. Anything spilled should be wiped up at once. Grease-spots on wood or stone should be covered with flour, starch or powdered chalk to absorb the grease. Or if you pour cold water on the grease as soon as it is spilled, to harden it, the greater part may then be scraped off. Sweep the floor thoroughly once a day. With care it will not need washing or scrubbing oftener than once a week.

Care Of Hardwood Floor

Never use water on a hardwood floor. Wipe it with a cloth moistened with very little kerosene - a teaspoon or two to begin with, and as much more when that has evaporated. Rub hard with another cloth until the wood is perfectly dry. Window sills and all hardwood finish should be cleaned in the same way.

Care Of Oil Cloth

Wash oil cloth with warm water and milk. Use one cup of skim milk to one gallon of water. Wipe dry with a clean cloth.

Cleaning Paint

Take a little whiting on a clean, damp cloth and rub it on the surface to be cleaned. Take care not to let drops of water trickle down the paint. Wash off with a second cloth and clean water. Wipe dry with a third cloth. Clean a little at a time, leaving the cleaned part dry before going on.

Care Of Sink

Neglect of sink causes bad odors and attracts water-bugs and roaches. Keep it at all times free from scraps. When the dishes have been washed, scour it with a good scouring soap. Wipe the woodwork and tiling. Wash strainer, soapdish and other sink utensils. Wash the cloth. Scrub the draining-board and rinse the sink. If it is of iron and is to be left for several hours, wipe it dry. If rusty, use kerosene, or grease it with mutton-fat or lard, sprinkle with lime, and leave over night.

Care Of Faucets

Clean brass faucets with flannel dipped in vinegar or lemon juice and rub thoroughly with rottenstone and oil, then polish with a dry cloth, or apply putz pomade or some similar preparation; rub it off with another cloth, and polish with a third one. If the faucets are greasy, wash them with soap-suds or sal-soda solution before" using anything else. Nickel faucets and trimmings need only to be wiped.

Special Instructions

Do not put knife-handles in water. Water discolors and cracks ivory and bone handles, and may loosen wooden ones. After washing knives, scour them with bath brick. Do not wash bread-board or rolling pin at an iron sink. The iron will leave marks on them. Wash them at the table. Be careful not to wet the cogs of a Dover egg-beater. Wash the lower part, and wipe off the handles with a damp cloth. Water washes the oil from the cogs, making the beater hard to turn. Dry the seams of a double-boiler carefully. Do not waste time polishing tins. It is sufficient to have them clean and dry. Dip glasses into hot water, so that they will be wet inside and outside at the same time. Silver and glass are brightest if wiped directly from clean, hot suds, without being rinsed. A damp towel makes dull spoons and glasses. Scald and rinse with boiling water all vessels that have contained milk. Wash teapot and coffee-pot in clean, hot water without soap, and wipe dry. Clean the spout carefully. Let them stand for awhile with covers off. Wash dishpan and rinsing-pan, and wipe dry with a towel, not with the dish-cloth. Where running hot water is plentiful, time and towels can be saved by placing the dishes as they are washed in a wire rack, rinsing them with very hot water. Wipe glasses and silver. China and other ware will need only a polish with towel or strip of paper toweling. For success with this method, the dishes must be washed in clean, hot suds, and rinsed quickly. If washed in greasy water, or allowed to cool before being rinsed, they will not dry clean. Caution: Gold-decorated china should not be washed in this way. Very hot water may injure it.